The Impact of Online Feedback Practice on Pre-Service English Teachers During the Pandemic

Introduction

The global emergency caused by the new corona virus from 2020 to 2022 had a significant impact on education and led to the need to find new ways and models of teaching, learning, and assessment to enable the continuity of educational activities, now with digital means of communication and interaction. In this context, according to Zocaratto and Quevedo-Camargo (2022), the use of feedback is fundamental for the success of teaching and learning, as it drives improvement and supports the continuous progress of both processes. Feedback has considerable potential to promote interaction in virtual environments and provides accurate information about the conditions under which learning is taking place and the degree of success of the pedagogical work being done. However, it is important to emphasize that the use of feedback must be carefully evaluated to ensure that it is effective and constructive for students and does not hurt their self-esteem or discourage their engagement in learning.

For prospective teachers, the feedback they receive from professors for instance during activities to enhance their professional development is of utmost importance as such input significantly influences their thoughts and behaviors in certain educational situations (Yang et al., 2021). The training tasks they experience gradually improve their performance through continuous guidance, which is certainly the case with online feedback in teacher education programs (Prilop et al., 2021a). In online learning environments, expert feedback plays a crucial role in shaping the professional vision of classroom management for pre-service teachers. Therefore, it is essential to develop and refine their online feedback literacy, critical thinking, and reflective skills as they serve as a valuable source of feedback in their future practice. By improving their online feedback experience, prospective English teachers can benefit from enhanced professional learning (Yang et al., 2021).

Nonetheless, Fluminhan et al. (2013) show that although feedback is considered an important communication resource, it is still neglected for a variety of reasons, such as lack of time and knowledge or the inability to use it regularly, consistently, and appropriately, leading pre-service teachers to refrain from practicing it. In addition, the authors point out that there is little research addressing this issue to “explore the opportunities for monitoring, instruction, and correction offered by this important pedagogical tool” (Fluminhan et al., 2013, p. 721).

In light of such considerations and the sparse identification of research examining feedback practices in the context of teacher education in virtual environments (Koşar, 2021; Mahapatra, 2021; Zocaratto & Quevedo-Camargo, 2022), this study aims to understand the contribution of the use of feedback in the development of English teachers' learning in initial education and in the construction of their perceptions about this practice in the pandemic context. As a result, the following specific aims were formulated: to explore English teachers' perceptions of feedback; to identify possible effects of feedback practice on participants' learning; and to determine to what extent experiences with feedback practice contributed to the construction of new perspectives in online feedback.

Due to the emergency remote teaching during COVID-19 pandemic, the pedagogical work in the subject investigated, named English 6, was conducted through synchronous one-hour meetings once a week on Google Meet and asynchronous activities on online platforms such as Google Classroom, Padlet, and Flipgrid. The instructor frequently provided constructive feedback on these assignments, ensuring that students received timely support for their learning. This approach allowed for a flexible and dynamic learning environment that met the needs of the students and the circumstances presented by the pandemic.