Open Comment is an open source feedback tool, designed to plug into the Moodle open source virtual learning environment. It consists of a set of interlocking components, including:

• A feedback engine
• A Moodle question type
• A graphical interface to test questions

You can test the graphical interface using the following URL, which provides a Java web start (JNLP) file. If you have a reasonably modern Java installed, you should simply be able to double-click this to install and run the program.

This paper was written and presented at the Open University's 2007 Curriculum Teaching and Student Support Conference. It describes Open Comment, a formative feedback tool we are developing to help build skills in answering questions involving critical thinking in the domain of History.

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