Too Little? Too Much? Enough?
Many of us were first introduced to the simplicity of three rating choices when we read the Goldilocks story. After testing each of three items (first the food, then a chair, and finally the bed) in the various settings of the story, Goldilocks determines that one of them is too much in one extreme, one is too much in the opposite extreme, and one is "just right."
Today, the Goldilocks principle is applied across many disciplines and industries. It states that something must fall within certain margins as opposed to reaching extremes.
When is something just right? While preparing your electronic portfolio, the feedback of peers, advisors, and others who have an investment in your success can be a great help in answering that. The technical term is "formative feedback" but you'll never know how much it helps if you don't ask!
Asking for feedback is one way to learn if your eFolio content has value to others or if they have suggestions to help you improve its presentation. The tools in myeFolio make it easy to post an "ask" at the site, page or object level. In today's post, you'll learn how.
1. Determine what feedback you'll be asking viewers to provide. Options may include:
- Overall impression of the eFolio site (layout, content, navigation)
- Reaction to a page in the site (relevance, section fit, retention)
- Specific response relevant to posted content (characteristics, critique, suggestions)
- Display a 10-star Scale with uniquely labeled min/max values
- Display a Question that can be answered by one of two posted responses
- Display a free-form Notes Field for visitor comments
3. View and control feedback after it has been received. (Advanced settings configure additional editing and posting controls.) Some specific "Feedback Actions" that site authors manage are:
- View feedback
- Set public display of unique feedback to "on" or "off"
- Retain or delete feedback entry
Try it on your own! Add a feedback link to your site.
You can check the settings outlined above as you experience adding feedback using our sample feedback links. You'll soon want to add feedback requests within your personal eFolio account. Step-by-step help is available in an online Resource Guide (posted as a printable PDF file).
Feedback systems were most likely far from his intent when the English poet by the name of Robert Southey authored the immortal children's classic, The Story of the Three Bears, the original Goldilocks story. For a moment, compare the phrases "Too hot or too cold; too big; too hard or too soft and just right" with today's trend of clicking "like" and "dislike" buttons in social media. There is a strange similarity.
Rarely will limited feedback, however natural it becomes, provide enough help for those who attempt to create or post meaningful content. It limits the degree of substance we seek in narrative comments or more defined survey responses as we try to improve the quality of our efforts.
Ultimately, the choice is yours! When you're ready to ask for feedback relevant to your site content, myeFolio feedback properties will assist you with the process!
Additional Note: If you are reading this as an instructor or program director, we know that your organization may need to assess and collect specific evaluation data external to the owner's site. You might be more interested in summative evaluation than in formative feedback as has been presented in today's post. Be assured that myeFolio offers a solution for that. Ask about our permissions-based submissions and assessments that can be accessed, processed and reported online through a secure portal. Contact us at info@myefolio.com for more details and licensing information.