Undoubtedly, the academic and student campuses have gone through a couple of years of uncertainty. The implementation of a forced virtual model, which later changed to hybrid, confronted professors and students in contexts for which they were not prepared and many institutions had to improvise. After all this restructuring, the educational world not only had to react quickly, but was forced to find a new way to ensure learning, guarantee quality teaching and strengthen communication between the actors involved to promote values such as responsibility , integrity and ethics, especially in virtual environments.
And although everything is currently settling back into place, the challenges do not stop. Different today than those of yesterday and possibly those of tomorrow, technology has become a great ally for institutions, teachers and students. However, as María Belén Correa, Director for LATAM at Turnitin, comments, “technological development not only advances in a positive way to solve problems, as innovative solutions are implemented, innovative ways are also created to evade them or give them inappropriate use” .
If all these changes have put something on the table, it is the ease with which students today can take shortcuts in their teaching process through the use of tools available at their fingertips on the Internet. This problem and how to transform these situations into training opportunities are the topics that Edtech Turnitin will address in the new version of the online seminarTurnitin Summit Americas 2022.
“It is very important for the teaching-learning process to encourage instances of formative feedback. Improving communication channels and taking the time to guide students is key to avoiding academic misconduct. The problem is that academics don’t often have time to give this quality feedback,” says Correa.
But what can teachers and institutions do to encourage formative feedback? The Turnitin specialist recommends:
Establish more than one communication channel
“As diverse and adaptable communication channels are opened to the scenarios of each student, the teacher can feel the pulse of the strengths and weaknesses of the groups and can better guide the student’s path. Encouraging communication through ways that are most comfortable for students can build trust and “feel heard,” says the Turnitin Regional Director.
- Transform evaluation into a learning instance
Assessment does not have to be a time of stress, neither for teachers nor for students. On the contrary, it is a training instance with a student-centered approach. “When students feel seen on the learning path, they have more confidence when asking the teacher before the final delivery and with this, improve their work. In addition, it is always much better to carry out brief evaluations and in different formats instead of a large final evaluation in order to assess the progress of the group”, adds the professional.
- Implement a code of ethics
To reaffirm the commitment of the students and avoid the bad practices that are increasingly at hand, implementing a code of ethics for the course or the institution is key to make clear what is allowed and what is not and what are the consequences of doing so. every act.
- Feedback and more feedback
Generating constant feedback loops can help improve student outcomes. “It is known that with all that teachers have to do, it is unlikely that they will have unlimited time to provide feedback. However, there are softwares like Feedback Studio that allow comments to be generated in an easy, personalized and automated way”, says Correa.
- Technology to facilitate processes
It is that everything that surrounds education implies time. Review time, time to rate, time for feedback, time to communicate and analyze. However, technology like Gradescope Reduces grading time by up to 50% thanks to the use of Artificial Intelligence or Draft Coach that allows students to self-review their work, marking text similarities and missing grammar or spelling before it reaches the final review. “Technology is a great ally to reduce stress and improve the teaching-learning process. It is to combat bad practices based on technology with training innovation”, explains María Belén.
Turnitin Summit Americas 2022
In this new annual version of the regional meeting of academics organized by Turnitin, these problems and how to solve them with innovation will be the center of conversation. Speakers from different educational institutions in Latin America will be present to address and discuss how to promote learning in an innovative way.
Academics and experts in new educational trends from entities such as Cornell University, University of Monterrey, University of Santa Fé, Argentina; Universidad Area Andina de Colombia, University of California and the Edtech Turnitin will be sharing with academic leaders from the entire region and solving doubts to face today’s challenges.
The event will be held online between October 04 and 06 and can be heard simultaneously in English, Spanish and Portuguese. To attend this event you must register at the following link.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.