Peer editing can be very constructive. The video, What Is Peer Editing?, offers a few helpful tips on how to effectively edit a classmate's work. The key is to stay positive and be specific about the corrections you're suggesting. Reviewing a classmate's work can make some students uncomfortable, but receiving feedback from a peer provides a fresh perspective and can be a valuable resource.
Keys to Quality Peer Editing:
1. Compliments
Pick out things you like about the piece and be specific.
2. Make Suggestions
What specific things could they do to make it better? (Content, topic, organization)
3. Give Corrections
Point out grammar, punctuation, capitalization and spelling errors.
Tone is a very important factor in peer editing. It can be easy to misinterpret meaning of text comments, so it's key to be mindful of the way comments come across. Staying positive and aware of how your remarks could be interpreted is really important. Comments should always come from a positive place!
Generally, the method I would use to suggest revisions to peers would vary depending on the correction and the situation. If I knew that someone was particularly shy or had low confidence about his or her writing, I would make my suggestions privately. While I would never want to embarrass anyone, I also don't think I would be doing this person any favors by never critiquing him or her publicly. I think it's important to use judgement and find a balance.
While in EDM 310, my comments on fellow group member's blogs will mostly be public. We're adults in a learning environment and I think its helpful to other students to be able to look through the blogs and read reviews from classmates.
Thoughtful. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood closing sentence: "We're adults in a learning environment and I think its helpful to other students to be able to look through the blogs and read reviews from classmates." Thanks.