Record feedback on a student submission
Spoken feedback over a student’s work can carry tone and reasoning that margin comments lose. It also puts a student’s work and name into a video file, so it needs the same care as a gradebook.
Privacy comes first
Student work is personal information. Follow your school’s policy on recording and storing feedback, and deliver the video through the channel your school uses for private feedback, such as its learning platform, not a public link.
Before recording, check what else is on screen. A class list, a gradebook column or a message preview from another student can appear in the corner of a full-screen recording. On iPad and iPhone, Reel records the whole screen, so prepare a clean workspace, review Focus exceptions and check the finished file for interruptions.
Use the rubric as the structure
Open the rubric beside the work or show it at the start. Refer to criteria by name so the student can connect your comments to their grade. Then keep three parts separate:
- What works: one or two specific strengths, pointing at where they appear.
- Corrections: the most important one or two problems, with the reason each matters for the criterion.
- Next action: one thing to do in the next draft or assignment.
Annotate while you speak
On iPad, you can open the work in an app that supports drawing and mark it with Apple Pencil as you talk. Apple’s Notes guide describes handwriting and markup tools, including options that refine handwriting as you write. A circle round a sentence and the words “this is your strongest evidence” is clearer than either alone.
Make a short test recording first to confirm the annotation app appears in the capture and the ink is readable at the size the student will watch.
Worked example: a history essay
Writing the next action in the platform’s comment box as well means the student can find it without rewatching.
- Show the rubric: Argument, Evidence, Organisation.
- Strength: circle the paragraph using the 1851 census figures — “this is specific evidence that supports your claim.”
- Correction 1, Evidence: underline a quotation with no source — “add where this comes from, otherwise I can’t judge it.”
- Correction 2, Organisation: draw an arrow from the conclusion to paragraph two — “your conclusion introduces a new argument; move it up.”
- Next action: “In the next essay, check each quotation has a source before you submit.”
Camera, length and access
A small camera overlay can make critical comments feel less harsh; keep it in a margin so it does not cover the text. Reel’s camera background blur affects your camera image only, not the student work on screen.
Keep the feedback focused on a few actionable changes. Provide accurate captions for the spoken feedback and essential sounds, and put the complete actionable feedback in writing. A brief summary alone may omit information a student needs. Describe important visual marks in the narration as well.
Can I reuse a feedback video as a class example?
Only with the student’s work removed or with whatever consent your school requires. A better option is to recreate the example with invented work.
Does recorded feedback replace written comments?
It works best alongside a short written summary, which students can search and refer back to.
