T4L blog - Assessment and feedback hacks with Microsoft technologies

When using the Assignments feature in Class Teams, you can create a powerful feedback loop by reviewing and returning an assignment each time a student turns it in. When a student hands in work, a teacher can provide feedback directly onto the file if it’s an Office file, they can use the Office comment tool, or they can leave feedback using the Teams reusable grading rubrics. An important trick to be aware of is that if you would like to have students resubmit their work based on your feedback, you should ensure you use the Return button and then students will be able to make changes, and resubmit their work for further feedback. You can then continue this process up until the due date or close date, if you have set one. Using Microsoft Teams Assignments in this way provides a deeper feedback experience ensuring students receive dedicated support from their teacher in a timely fashion.

Minecraft: Education Edition has proved to be an amazing learning tool for students with thousands of students from across NSW DoE schools engaged with Minecraft projects each year. For teachers who are new to Minecraft, it could be difficult to fathom how you would assess student work in Minecraft when you’re not a gamer yourself! One trick, is to encourage the use of the Book and Quill tool as the final product for assessment. The Book & Quill is used for housing pictures with captions and longer text giving students an opportunity to record adventures, tell stories, and demonstrate knowledge. The Book & Quill provides more space for text which allows for deeper student reflection and makes it a great tool to be used for any subject area. With the Book and Quill, pictures can be added from your Minecraft Camera into the book, and pages can be edited and revised until it is signed. The Book & Quill tool is a great way for students to demonstrate learning and exporting the book into a PDF file makes collecting and assessing student work easy. So before you think you need to know how to explore the worlds that students create, consider asking them to record their builds, reflections, and knowledge using the Book and Quill tool instead.

Online Resources to Explore

Course: Microsoft Forms: Creating Authentic Assessments

Deliver your own PD: Create adaptive assessments in Forms

Deliver your own PD: Teams Assignments and feedback

Course: Minecraft Learn to Play: Assessment and Feedback Tools