Different Types of Feedback
A general rule of thumb to providing feedback to students is to respond to their messages within 24 hours after they contact you. However, that's not always realistic when you are grading assignments. Instead, it's helpful to keep in mind that there are different types of feedback:
- Messages that provide information or evaluative feedback
- Messages of quick acknowledgment
Informative feedback might be a graded assignment or an answer to a student's question. Acknowledgment feedback can give a simple acknowledgment that you have received what a student has sent to you. Sending a quick, simple response when students send you an email can let them know that you have received it. This way, you don't have to several messages asking, "Did you get my email?"
Using Discussion Boards for Feedback
You can use the forums in your discussion boards to give feedback that is ok for the rest of the class to read. This works well for general answers to questions that come up in discussion. For example, explaining a point in a place where it's going to be read by more than one student. On the other hand, feedback like personal grades and commentary on how a student is doing in the course will need to be taken off the boards and handled individually to protect the student's privacy.
Consistency is Key
It's a good idea to have an idea how you want to handle feedback to your students before the course begins, and a targeted degree of response time for the sake of consistency. If something comes up and you can't respond within that time frame, let students know when they can expect a response.
In general, it will mean a lot to your students when they receive messages from you, even if it's just a small, brief response to a question or a statement that you've received their assignment. For students whose interaction with the course and instructor has to come through a computer rather than f2f interaction, every little bit of feedback reflects humanity.
permissions by: http://introductiononlinepedagogy.pbworks.com/w/page/20123541/Giving%20Prompt%20Feedback.