Introduction

In this past year and a half of teaching partially or exclusively online, we have tried out many digital tools to build community, enhance learning, and improve how we manage our work. The following teaching technique explains how to use the tool, Edpuzzle, to provide multimodal feedback to international TAs on video-recorded presentations given in person or through Zoom. It was given as part of the ITAIS/SPLIS/CALLIS Intersection session at TESOL 2021.

What is Edpuzzle?

Edpuzzle is a free video overlay program that allows instructors to create quiz questions that pop up throughout the videos they select. It is similar to Kaltura but, unlike Kaltura, can be used outside of a learning management system such as Canvas or Blackboard. Instructors create accounts to use Edpuzzle, and they have the option of creating “classes” of students with (free) accounts to whom they can assign videos; students without accounts can also access shared videos, but their quiz results are not recorded.

How is it usually used?

As it is commonly used, an instructor selects a short video in Edpuzzle from an outside source, such as TED Talks, YouTube, or their own homemade creations, and then uses Edpuzzle’s EDIT feature to create a quiz related to the video. Quiz question format options include multiple choice, open-ended, and comments, which can be written or audio. In ESL contexts, Edpuzzle is popular for checking listening comprehension; it is more widely used in K-12 schools to check the understanding of content (of, say, a lesson about physics). The video that students watch pauses for each quiz question and then resumes when the question is either answered or skipped.

How can one use it for student feedback?

In order to give ITAs feedback on class presentations, one first records the online presentation in Zoom or the live presentation with one’s phone and then uploads that video to Edpuzzle. Using the EDIT tool, the instructor plays the presentation, pausing it where appropriate to insert comments or ask questions that the student later responds to, enabling a dialog that doesn’t exist in other feedback formats. For example, if a student mispronounces a key word, the instructor can leave an audio comment with the correct pronunciation and ask the student to repeat (which the instructor won’t hear) or perhaps write the dictionary pronunciation of the word in the open-ended answer field. Another option is to have a student edit his/her own presentation video, providing self-analysis and self-correction throughout.

Why use Edpuzzle?

Oftentimes, an instructor watches a presentation, takes notes, and then provides oral or written feedback at the end of the presentation, when the student might not recall the moments of the presentation that are being referred to, especially if nervous or focusing on content rather than delivery. The strongest reason to use Edpuzzle is that it enables the instructor to offer feedback throughout a presentation instead of at the end. It also provides the student the opportunity to respond to individual items, such as a quiz question about a missing article if your focus happens to be grammatical accuracy; the student’s quiz answer helps one know whether the mistake was merely one of the moment or an unclear understanding of the grammar topic as demonstrated by the response. It is precisely the quiz feature that aids the instructor in assessing how well the student understands the feedback. This option for providing timely presentation feedback that encourages interaction is preferable to the traditional response of handing a student notes after a presentation - for both the instructor and the student. Whether continuing online or moving back to in-person courses, this digital tool is a keeper.

For a 10-minute video from the TESOL 2021 ITAIS/SPLIS/CALLIS intersection session demonstrating how to use Edpuzzle to provide feedback, go to https://tinyurl.com/usingEdpuzzleforfeedback.