How to Give Video Feedback on Student Work

Written feedback on student work is time-consuming to write and often poorly understood by students. Video feedback — recording your screen while talking through a student's work — takes less time, communicates far more clearly and students act on it more consistently. This guide shows you how to set up an efficient video feedback workflow using Loom.

Why Video Feedback Is More Effective Than Written Comments

Research published in the British Journal of Educational Technology found that students who received video feedback were significantly more likely to read and act on it compared to written comments. Students describe video feedback as "more personal," "easier to understand" and "more like a real conversation." The ability to hear tone of voice eliminates the ambiguity that plagues written feedback — students cannot mishear encouragement as criticism.

From the teacher's perspective, most teachers can articulate 3–4 minutes of verbal feedback faster than they can type the equivalent written commentary. The time savings are significant at scale — particularly for extended written work or creative projects.

Setting Up Your Loom Feedback Workflow

Open the student's work — a Google Doc, a Canva design, a PDF, a video recording — on one half of your screen. Open Loom on the other. Click Record, select "Screen + Cam" and begin. Talk the student through your feedback while pointing at specific parts of their work with your cursor. Loom highlights cursor movements automatically, so students can follow exactly what you are referring to.

Keep each feedback video under 4 minutes. Structure it: start with what is genuinely working well (1 minute), address the most important improvement area (2 minutes), and close with a specific next step (1 minute). Students find shorter, focused feedback easier to act on than comprehensive catalogues of every issue.

Organising and Distributing Feedback Videos

In Loom, create a folder for each class or assignment. As you record each student's feedback, rename the video with their name and the assignment. Copy the individual Loom link and paste it into your grade book comment, Google Classroom private comment, or directly into the student's shared Google Doc as a comment.

Students receive a notification and click the link to watch their feedback in the browser without needing a Loom account. Loom's analytics show you who has watched — allowing you to follow up with students who have not engaged with their feedback.

Using Video Feedback for Group Work

For group projects, record one feedback video that all group members can watch. Ask groups to discuss the video together and post a brief response: "Here is what we are going to change based on your feedback." This accountability step increases the likelihood that feedback translates into revision.

Student Response to Video Feedback

Require students to respond to video feedback before submitting a revised draft. A simple Google Form works: What did your teacher highlight as working well? What was the key improvement suggestion? What specific change will you make? How will you make that change? This response process forces students to actively process the feedback rather than passively watching it.