Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1487796
M A R T H A S T E I N A N D J E N N I F E R G O M E Z co-teach a two-hour World History/English class at Claremont High School in San Gabriel Valley, in one large room with 70 students. With so many essays to grade, the duo felt overwhelmed at the amount of time it took to provide specific, helpful feedback to students. Being tired and cranky from overwork inspired them to create their own app — Keyset for Education — which provides instant, detailed feedback to students at the touch of a button. The entrepre- neurial pair have made the app available to teachers everywhere. Keyset allows teachers to create a variety of comments, obser- vations and questions — as well as links to articles and videos explaining concepts or showing examples — and insert them into essays or student work with just one keystroke. So instead of writ- ing, " That's a really good start, and you're on the right track, but I'd like you to consider exploring the question I've posed with more depth. Here's a link to an example," teachers just hit a computer key and voila — they can insert that feedback instantly. Educators can create their own comment banks — and also bor- row and modify pre-designed comments by Stein and Gomez, both Claremont Faculty Association (CFA) members. Feedback can also be inserted while students are working on assignments, providing direction as they move forward. Similar programs allow teachers to insert comments, but only within that particular program. Keyset, however, is a Google Chrome extension, so it can be used in many online programs including Google Classroom, Flipgrid, Canvas, School Loop, Turnitin.com, Remind, Outlook, Schoolology and more. "It allows me to provide constructive, specific feedback to stu- dents and have more 'me time,''' says Gomez, who teaches world Jennifer Gomez, left, and Martha Stein, right, giving feedback to students both face-to-face and digitally. " Since giving and receiving quality feedback becomes part of the classroom culture, students begin to understand how to construct their own feedback that is focused and clear." —Martha Stein JENNIFER GOMEZ AND MARTHA STEIN Claremont Faculty Association 28 cta.org A stroke of genius: Instant feedback made easy The Innovation Issue