The Joys of Feedback

So we had to read an article from Lewis & Abdul-Hamid and I found an excerpt from the article to be quite interesting (I posted about this in the conference as well). What I found interesting was the statement, "whether it be individually, in small groups, privately, or in the public forum, all student regardless of their performance in the course are given individualized feedback and an overall impression of how they are doing at every stage of the course".

Now I understand how important feedback is for a student. For me, I anxiously wait for my instructors to return my assignments or comment on posts that I've made to let me know if I'm on the right track. But what I found most interesting about the excerpt was the part referencing giving feedback at every stage of the course. Wow! At first glance I'm thinking to myself who has time for that?!? Of course if you have a small class maybe this wouldn't seem so far-fetched. But what about instructors with large classes? Certainly providing feedback in the manner such as what these authors suggest would amount to a second job. And while I am sure that a student would feel grateful for the feedback, I know I would because I'm constantly worrying about my performance, but wouldn't this go against the purpose of online learning? At least one of the purposes.

To me, providing feedback in such a manner is more than an instructor guiding a student. Online learning promotes independence in adult learners and while feedback is important, adult learners should not look to it as a sole means of continued participation. What I mean is that I think feedback overkill can handicap a student, making them rely too heavily on feedback. Constructing knowledge and the learning process in online learning environments (even traditional learning environments) has many components and if both the instructor and student focus too much on one (feedback) how are they getting the most out of the course/experience?

How much feedback is too much feedback? Where does an instructor draw the line? Can a student ever feel like they're getting too much feedback? So many questions, yet I'm nowhere close to an answer :-\