Match Made in Learning: AI and the Move from Feedback to Feedforward

Outline

0 to 5 min – Welcome and Framing
Participants will identify common frustrations with traditional feedback and consider the value of moving toward forward-looking guidance that helps students take their next steps during learning.

5 to 10 min – What Makes Feedback Work
We will introduce research-based feedback principles: timely, specific, and focused on the learning process. Participants reflect on current practices and identify where feedback often breaks down.

10 to 40 min – AI Tool Demos (Role of Student)
Participants will rotate through three feedback-rich tasks using different AI tools. Each demo focuses on a specific challenge: interpreting student thinking, delivering targeted guidance, or encouraging revision.
After each tool experience, they respond to prompts such as:
-What kind of thinking did the task reveal?

-What feedback was generated?

-How could a student act on it?

40 to 50 min – Reflect and Recognize
Participants will revisit the feedback principles and discuss how the demos reflected feedback that is timely, specific, and actionable. This reflection helps translate their experience into effective instructional practice.

50 to 60 min – Plan and Close
Participants will choose one tool or routine to pilot in their classroom. They will outline the task it supports, how students will engage with the feedback, and what success will look like. The session will end with a brief share-out and distribution of take-home resources.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to:

1. Use AI tools to quickly analyze student thinking and identify misconceptions during learning

2. Evaluate how different AI tools deliver feedback that is timely, specific, and actionable

3. Help students seek, interpret, and act on feedback in ways that build ownership and agency

Supporting research

Hattie, J., and Timperley, H. 2007. The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research.

Hattie, J. 2023. Visible Learning: The Sequel.

Wiliam, D. 2011. Embedded Formative Assessment.