My audio comments, on average, are approximately ten minutes
in length per student essay. Ten minutes of spoken feedback allows me
to do several things I simply cannot do in the margins and endnotes of
a student's paper in that same amount of time: continue and
individualize classroom instruction to help the student understand
problems in the paper--issues like content development, focus,
argumentation, or writing errors. In addition, the added space allows
for more specificity: I can offer students concrete suggestions and
occasional examples concerning how they might improve portions of the
paper in revision; I can elaborate on the things they do well so that
they are better able to recognize successes and repeat them in the
future. This added detail, specificity, and length, in turn, not only
provides students with more extensive feedback, but clearer feedback,
as well. Furthermore, the fact that audio commentary is closer in style
to conversation than handwritten allows the instructor to adopt a more
relaxed approach to the student audience, thus making this method more
enjoyable for the instructor and better received and more highly valued
by most students.