The document summarizes a study on using audio feedback to increase student engagement (e-connectivity) in online courses. The study hypothesized that providing audio feedback using Vocaroo would result in higher e-connectivity compared to only written feedback. Some preliminary positive results were found, though few students participated. Students and instructors felt audio feedback was generally more effective but took more instructor time. The literature review discussed how audio feedback can improve understanding and provide a more personal touch compared to impersonal written comments alone.

2. Background

3. Overview
• qualitative study
• student perceptions of
connection and engagement
(e-connectivity)
• audio feedback

4. Hypothesis
• providing audio feedback via Vocaroo
would result in increased e-connectivity
(social connection-engagement)
• management, marketing, and
accounting courses
• undergraduate
• graduate

5. Innovative
Free
Vocaroo

6. E-Connectivity
Announce
ments
Instructor
Guidance
Lectures Feedback

7. Student Engagement
•Online educators strive for
student engagement in
higher education.
•Using Vocaroo may increase
overall student satisfaction.

8. Research Summary

9. Research Summary -- Purpose
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify the student perceptions of connection and
engagement (e-connectivity) when listening to audio feedback provided through the free
software, Vocaroo (a web-based service for sending voice messages).
The working hypothesis is that providing audio feedback via Vocaroo will result in increased e-
connectivity (social connection-engagement).
The proposed study will seek the opinions of online graduate and undergraduate students in the
Forbes School of Business and Technology, Ashford University.
H0 = The use of vocal feedback does not increase e-connectivity.
H1 = The use of vocal feedback does increase e-connectivity.

10. Literature Review

11. Research Summary -- Significance
SIGNIFICANCE
Faculty want to ensure
students are engaged in the
online classroom.
RESEARCH
• Achieving a social connection (e-connectivity)
with their students (Muirhead, 2000; Slagter
van Tryon & Bishop, 2006)
• Increasing interactivity that “will help the
students' with their understanding” (Swanson,
2010, p. 121).

12. Literature Review
Swanson et al. (2010) stated,
Participants in a study agreed that faculty should be warm,
available to answer questions;
hold students to a high standard, remain flexible to adult
learners;
honest in all of their interactions, and demonstrate a
caring nature in the online classroom. (p. 119)

13. Literature Review – E-Immediacy
Slagter van Tryon and Bishop (2006) as cited in Swanson et al.
(2010), defined the unique term, “e-immediacy”
as the feeling of social connectivity between two online individuals
(whether instructors or classmates).
Engagement and the feelings of social connectedness are what the
students’ desire (Slagter van Tryon & Bishop, 2006; Swanson et al.,
2010). Student engagement can be increased by including vocal
feedback.

14. The Flaw in Traditional Feedback
• negatively impact students’ self-
motivation
• lead to a potential conflict
situation when it comes to
students’ perception of the
professors’ judgement.
• impersonal
• template driven
• too objective

15. The Value of Audio or Video Feedback
•Audio feedback should be positioned as a
“feed-forward “engine engaging students in a
manner that encourages them to do better on
the next assignment focusing on the areas of
improvement more so than written feedback
was able to do (Rodway-Dyer, Knight & Dunne,
2011).
•The key is to provide a variety of feedback
combining the written with audio elements in
order to adjust feedback model to different
students’ learning styles (Wolff-Hilliard &
Baethe, 2013).
Perception
Effective
Good

16. Research Recommends -- Jing
•Use video feedback, such as, Jing
which adds another communication
layer – visual aspect which by its
very nature should provide higher
levels of connectivity and
engagement in an online setting
(Sekyere, 2010).

17. Another Study Used – Wimba Voice 6.0
• Audio has been found to be an
effective feedback tool due to
removing the cryptic interpretation
perceived by some students
(Macgregor et al., 2011).
• Some advantages of audio feedback
also include:
• less time
• more detail (Macgregor et al. 2011).

18. Study Results – Extremely High
Satisfaction
Ice, Curtis, Phillips, and Wells (2007)
conducted a study regarding replacing text
feedback with audio feedback.
“Our findings revealed extremely high student
satisfaction with embedded asynchronous
audio feedback as compared to asynchronous
text only feedback” (Ice et al., 2007, abstract).
The result of the study demonstrated four
themes:
1) Audio feedback was perceived to be more
effective for conveying nuances;
2) Audio feedback was related with feelings of
increased participation and improved
learning community collaborations;
3) Audio feedback was positively correlated
with increased retention of content; and,
4) Audio feedback was related to the belief
that the instructor cared more about the
student (Ice et al., 2007).

19. Methodology

24. Log for Recordings (Sample)

25. Results

26. Results
Although the study led to positive results, the researchers had difficulty finding
students willing to participate.
One student expressed that it would take too much time for him or her to
review the written feedback and listen to the audio file (although the file would
have been less than 5 minutes and could be listened to while reviewing the
feedback).
Most students responded that this was an effective method for receiving
constructive feedback. Most of the instructors felt that this was effective, but a
bit more time was involved in producing the feedback.

27. Student 1
Thank you for the audio comments!
After ten years of not being in school, I
was starving for feedback on my
writing and this was the first time I got
something concrete I could work on. I
want to have an A in the class so
knowing how I can improve goes a long
way for my grade and for me
personally. Thank you again!!

28. Student 2
Thank you again for the audio feedback. I
continue to get so much out of it. I addressed
the points you mentioned from the last
assignment except I thought you said
paragraphs had to be 48 sentences which
seemed long but I didn't question and
purposefully tried to make my paragraphs
longer. Now this week, I heard that you said 4
to 8 sentences. Haha! That makes WAY more
sense. Now I feel silly for not asking.
Regardless, I am happy my grade improved
significantly thanks to your notes. I am aiming
for a perfect paper this week :-)

29. Student 3
I think the Vocaroo pilot is a fantastic
idea, and really works to bridge the
disconnect that students may feel in an
online course. Having the verbal
review of an assignment, along with
the Waypoint markup creates more of
a holistic experience and I can honestly
say I would have enjoyed having this
opportunity throughout the duration
of my program. I sincerely hope the
finding prove useful and that the audio
tool is employed across all programs.

30. Questions
References available