EduFade is an approach to supporting formative practice using technology. This approach is central to my doctoral research into how interaction technology can be used to enhance teacher training in music pedagogy and, ultimately, improve music education in schools.

The approach focuses on optimising formative evaluation and feedback processes in action-oriented teacher training through direct (peer) feedback, interactive observation forms, and reports on the feedback that is given and received.

As a case study, I focus on feedback moments that occur while a student is leading a class and engaging others in an exercise. More specifically, these are moments when, as a mentor or teacher educator, you want to provide feedback—but without disrupting the lesson.

So, what options do you typically have?

• Whispering feedback to the student?
• Using facial expressions and body language to communicate your message?
• Writing feedback on paper and holding it up for the student to read?

All of these are valid techniques that can work in practice.
But what if you also want the other students to provide feedback?

• Should they share it after the exercise, even though the learning moment has already passed?
• Should they also use gestures and body language during the exercise?
• Should they write their feedback down? And if so, how does it reach the student leading the class. How does it then guide their future learning?

This is where technology can make direct feedback in action-oriented learning scenarios much easier.

The eduFade approach allows both mentors/educators and peers to provide instant, structured feedback without disrupting the flow of the lesson. In addition, its features support the entire formative process by generating feedback reports and offering tools that encourage students to translate received or given feedback into clear next steps and learning objectives.

Of course, integrating interaction technology also raises important questions:

• How does this approach complement the feedback techniques you already use as a teacher?
• When and how often should feedback be provided?
• How can you ensure that the student leading the class can immediately act on the feedback?
• How can you prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by too much feedback?
• How do you keep track of all the feedback being shared?
• How should feedback be used after the exercise to ensure it contributes to a meaningful formative process?

These questions are central to my doctoral research, as well as to the training sessions I offer on this topic. In these sessions, participants learn how to integrate technology-supported formative assessment into their teaching practice and how to implement real-time, action-oriented feedback.

They do so by exploring the interaction technology I developed at the University of Twente, together with my supervisors and students, and with input and feedback from many educators and pre-service and in-service (music) teachers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

If you are curious about this approach and would like to experience how direct feedback can enhance formative learning, feel free to get in touch. I would be happy to deliver a training session at your institution or online.