Just as there are many philosophies amongst online instructors regarding late policies, there are also numerous philosophies regarding the use of canned comments in the online classroom.
Canned comments are those that are typically saved in a file and the instructor copies and pastes (or uses a quick key) to insert them into the grade book, discussion thread, or within the body of the student’s paper when grading. These type of comments do have their place in the online classroom. Many students make similar errors within their work, discussion questions focus on the same core topics in each course, etc. In these instances, it seems silly for instructors to re-invent the wheel within each course.
However, it is important to stress that in order to be useful, canned comments must be used effectively by being individualized for students. For example, within one of my courses, students really struggle with their thesis statements. I have developed a paragraph of information regarding thesis statements that I can copy and paste as a comment within the body of the paper for any student who I see making this common error. My base comment says: “Your thesis statement was not sufficiently developed. While elements of the thesis were there, the wording was not clear or appropriate for formal writing. A strong thesis statement should be a maximum of 25 words and clearly state the topic and your position. A thesis statement should never be a question.”
Not all students receive this comment on their paper, and those that do have it tailored to meet their needs. It isn’t often that I am able to directly copy the comment and leave it. Usually it needs to be tweaked in some way to fit the specific student, specific paper, and specific instance being addressed. For example, I might add a line asking students to address the topic in more detail. “How does this topic relate to the concept of federalism?” Or I might change the wording or delete sentences. If it is clear the student understands that a thesis should not be a question, that sentence can be eliminated.
Utilizing the canned comment does save time over typing similar paragraphs on 30 papers during each course, but it definitely isn’t as simple as a quick copy and paste.
My beef with canned comments is when instructors use these instead of individualizing feedback for each student. Posting “Good job on this assignment!” in the grade book comment box for all students may be quick and efficient, but it doesn’t tell students what they did well on the assignment, how they can improve, or give them any true feedback to move forward. Instructors who utilize these techniques make all online instructors look bad – and encourage administrators to banned canned comments – even those that are used effectively.
Some instructors argue that utilizing quick and ineffective canned comments can give instructors more time to interact with students personally via phone, email, etc. To me, this seems like a cop-out. Proper feedback and discussion, approached in the correct way (and even utilizing effective canned comments) can be very personalized and student specific.
While I understand that not utilizing any type of canned comment within the classroom is unrealistic, the quality of the comments used is vital to helping students succeed – both in our courses and in the future. I would highly encourage instructors to value the feedback they are providing to students and realize that the feedback given is one key way to help students improve and learn.
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
