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This research aims to explore digital feedback needs/preferences in online education during lockdown and the implications for post-pandemic education.

An empirical study approach was used to explore feedback needs and experiences from educational institutions in the Netherlands and Germany (N = 247) using a survey method.

The results showed that instruments supporting features for effortless interactivity are among the highly preferred options for giving/receiving feedback in online/hybrid classrooms, which are in addition also opted for post-pandemic education. The analysis also showed that, when communicating feedback digitally, more inclusive formats are preferred, e.g. informing learners about how they perform compared to peers. The increased need for comparative performance-oriented feedback, however, may affect students' goal orientations. In general, the results of this study suggest that while interactivity features of online instruments are key to ensuring social presence when using digital forms of feedback, balancing online with offline approaches should be recommended.

This research contributes to the gap in the scientific literature on feedback digitalization. Most of the existing research are in the domain of automated feedback generated by various learning environments, while literature on digital feedback in online classrooms, e.g. empirical studies on preferences for typology, formats and communication channels for digital feedback, to the best of the authors’ knowledge is largely lacking. The findings and recommendations of this study extend their relevance to post-pandemic education for which hybrid classroom is opted among the highly preferred formats by survey respondents.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four visualizations that represent affective states of students.

An empirical-experimental study approach was used to assess the usability of affective state visualizations in a learning context. The first study was conducted with students who had knowledge of visualization techniques (n=10). The insights from this pilot study were used to improve the interpretability and ease of use of the visualizations. The second study was conducted with the improved visualizations with students who had no or limited knowledge of visualization techniques (n=105).

The results indicate that usability, measured by perceived usefulness and insight, is overall acceptable. However, the findings also suggest that interpretability of some visualizations, in terms of the capability to support emotional awareness, still needs to be improved. The level of students’ awareness of their emotions during learning activities based on the visualization interpretation varied depending on previous knowledge of information visualization techniques. Awareness was found to be high for the most frequently experienced emotions and activities that were the most frustrating, but lower for more complex insights such as interpreting differences with peers. Furthermore, simpler visualizations resulted in better outcomes than more complex techniques.

Detection of affective states of students and visualizations of these states in computer-based learning environments have been proposed to support student awareness and improve learning. However, the evaluation of visualizations of these affective states with students to support awareness in real life settings is an open issue.