Camtasia in the Classroom: Student Attitudes and Preferences for Video Commentary or Microsoft Word Comments During the Revision Process

In the last ten years, libraries, individual departments, and professors have experimented with screen-capture software to develop edited tutorials, record in-class lectures via presentation software, and record think-aloud rationale for difficult problem sets. Moreover, screen-capture software has been used to provide visual/audio feedback for student writing. Currently, there is scant research on visual/audio feedback via screen-capture software in writing courses. The present study examines student perceptions and attitudes about two different modes and media of teacher feedback: Microsoft Word comments versus visual/audio commentary. The results indicate that the mode and medium of teacher feedback had an impact on students’ perceptions about the rhetorical context of the revision process and perceptions about the teacher/student relationship. Students who preferred the visual/audio modality of the teacher commentary videos cited their conversational quality, clarification of expectations, and reference to more global issues in writing. On the other hand, students who preferred the Microsoft Word comments were more apt to discuss its indexical quality in that students could easily revise surface level features or locate the “problem” sentence. The results also indicate that an either/or approach to teacher feedback is not necessary. Students articulated the relevance of using a combination approach in which Microsoft Word comments and the teacher commentary videos could be used for different elements or stages of the writing process. As instructors transition to teaching within online contexts and experiment with new technologies, it is important to examine the significance of the mode and medium of teacher feedback in student perceptions, participation, and writing practices.