Teacher Trainers-Video Conferencing and Learning Out of School

8/14/2019 Teacher Trainers-Video Conferencing and Learning Out of School

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Teacher trainers: video conferencing andlearning out of school

Background to case-study

This case-study highlights the impact ontrainers practice at the University ofWinchesters primary teacher trainingdepartment. Winchester received TDAfunding for ICT in initial teacher training (ITT)projects each year from 200405 to 200708

(four years in total). This was a significantresource for the ITT programmes atWinchester.

Quite frankly, the money available for thiskind of kit [video conferencing] I could nothave afforded out of the budget. If it wasnt forthe TDA funding we wouldnt have videoconferencing in this programme.

The focus of this report is on the videoconferencing (VC) facilities provided underthe funding. The university introduced videoconferencing to its ITT provision. Thesefacilities allowed the department to offer anddevelop curriculum enhancement projectswith a small number of partner schools andevaluate the use of video conferencing withinschools.

This case particularly looks at its use forcurriculum enhancement to combine in-schoollearning with out-of-school projects. Video

conferencing was used to link up with a rangeof museums and educational venues. Themain one discussed was the link with theNational Space Centre. It also touches on theuse of the virtual learning environment (VLE)with trainees to enhance practice.

Impact

This case description looks at the impact ofvideoconferencing on teacher trainers,trainees, the organisation, and the

sustainability of the project in terms of depth,scope and transfer of ownership.

Depth: how do you position the projects toimpact on the classroom environment andchallenge different contexts, beliefs andattitudes?

Scope: how do you get a critical mass ofpeople participating in the programme andchanging practice?

Transfer of ownership: how do you

encourage participants to take ownershipof the technology and intervention?

View the video case-study.Download the full research report; theexecutive summary.

Impacts on trainers practice

Video conferencing provided an opportunityfor higher education institution (HEI) trainersto link theory with practice. During a videolink session it allowed them to connectlearning in the HEI with actual learning inschool.

By working alongside pupils and traineesduring the conferences, trainers were able tosee how trainees interacted and point outthings that had been covered only in abstractin taught sessions.


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Trainee/tutor discussions raised manybehaviour management issues, how to re-frame questions, prompt and extendchildrens learning, and an appreciation ofviewing other teachers operating in theclassroom and directly modelling practice.

Video conferencing gave tutors an opportunityto see their trainees work with pupils in theirspecialist area of the curriculum, in thisexample science. Even when acting as linktutors, these science specialists rarely get achance to observe a science session becauseof the dominance of literacy and numeracywithin the curriculum. They brought togethergroups of students who specialised in sciencefor the VC conferences and worked alongsidethem during the event.

The team of science trainers were given theopportunity to experiment with different waysof working with the VC. After initial concernsover the passivity of VC (they initially felt thatit would be a turn taking information transferactivity), trainees saw the potential goodpractice in remote link-ups and developedthese into an interactive approach based ondialogue between pupils and experts.

Trainers developed their own interactive

pedagogy for using the conferencing withtrainees, pupils and the organisations thatthey were linking up with.

Trainers developed their understanding ofhow the role of the teacher ischanged/developed by the use of videoconferencing. Staff discussed the way inwhich teachers in school and students in HEIshad to adapt their role to the newenvironment.

In their own words

As primary scientists we are very aware thatscience should be as hands-on andinteractive as possible. We werent sure if wecould use it (VC) to enhance or enrichsessions and we werent going to use it if itdidnt.

It allowed trainers to illustrate live to traineeswhat they had been talking about in sessions.

It motivated them [trainees]. They wereswitched on. It gave them a sense of urgencythat they needed which we cant replicate inthe classroom here.

If you are watching something which is live,

we could say: Did you notice what happenedwhen? What I really found interesting waswhen the teacher did this.It was the idea itwas live and we didnt quite know what wasgoing to happen it allowed us to draw onreal examples.We decided we wanted to get full advantageof the fact that we could communicate withthese children who were remote and off-site.Time with kids is at a premium within the ITTtimetable.

A school-based tutor in one school has goneon to develop their use of video conferencingpedagogy as a means of providing greaterout-of-school learning opportunities for pupils.A mentor has developed his own work usingthe VC with Hampshires archive services sothey can share materials they do not normallytake into schools. They have also developedtheir own pedagogy of VC usage by havingarchive staff at both ends of the link.

The VC facility improved weekly reviewprocesses with students. The weekly reviewprocess through the VC link allowed highereducation institution tutors to observe thereview by the school-based mentor. Thismade the school-based mentor pay greaterattention to how the review was carried out,and he transferred his own experience ofbeing reviewed by his own headteacher intothis process.

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It was like I was being observed, and like anyobservation you always put in that additionaleffort, planning and preparation just to make itthat bit more all-singing and all-dancing.

Impacts on trainees

Additional support video conferencing linkwhen on placement provided source ofsupport.

We hadnt really seen anyone so just a Hi,how are you? face to face was a real bonus.It was a good chance to say: What do I dowith that? and shed say Oh, just do this.So rather than a phone call or an e-mail thatgoes on and on for days, it was just aconversation which was really nice.

Better quality feedback on teachingpractice/placement.

It [feedback] was so direct. It was soimmediate that there wasnt time for her [linktutor] to sort of put a spin on anything or re-think it. You know, it was just straight up, andI found that very honest, and I enjoyed thatfact that it was just so soon after the lesson.

Video conferencing facilitated additionalopportunities to be observed, less intrusivevisits, and observations that were outside andextra to assessed visits.

Id love it if they (tutors) could come into mylesson and not have the worry of Okay, mygrade depends on this. Just have it purelyas a learning from it and I think Id reallywelcome that doing it as many times as Icould.

The benefits of reduced distraction for thepupils and trainee were also raised, wherenormally the link tutors presence in theclassroom causes much excitement for thepupils and anxiety for the trainee. But this isvastly diminished through the use of videoconferencing.

When I was in there (teaching) I didnt reallynotice any difference. To be honest, once Iwas in there, it was probably easier because Iforgot it was an observation. I just got on with

it.

Greater objectivity around observationand feedback

If the trainee can look at what they are beingfed back on, they can feel they are in a betterposition to assess if the trainer is being overly

critical or uncritical.

Trainees developed their collaborativeplanning skills with teachers and othertrainees and realised the benefits of workingcollaboratively. This overcame any sense ofisolation and enabled them to collaborate onlesson plans and teaching. They worked inteams to assess pupils existing knowledge,via video conferencing (VC), and to designactivities together and planned sessions withteachers in school.

During the first VC session, a group oftrainees and pupils explored their existingknowledge of the subject. Pupils wrote downor drew their responses on show me boardswhich could be viewed on a video link. Thetrainees then discussed elicitation techniqueswith each other. This type of collaborativeworking experience offered effectivepreparatory experience. Trainees in theclassroom reported benefits to workingcollaboratively which provided mutual supportand sharing of ideas.

Using VC developed trainees understandingof classroom management and teacherquestioning. Trainees had to think carefullyabout how questions were asked over the VC,for example, being able to observe teachersvia VC working with students unobserved atthe other end of a link.


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The VC facility developed traineesunderstanding of how to use external expertsin the classroom and how to link to real lifeissues. They also evaluated how they usedthe link-up over VC after each occasion, andhad increased confidence in using VC

equipment.

Impacts on trainees interaction withpupils

Trainees responded positively to videoconferencing implementation and felt VC wasuseful as a preparatory activity to teaching an increase in contact with pupils was seenas a bonus. Live link-ups to organisations andcentres enabled innovative use withinteaching and learning, eg, live link-up with the

National Space Centre where resources werecouriered to the classroom prior to the link-upso that pupils could simultaneously explorethe same resources as the space centre staff(active engagement).

I think the three sessions were a bit like theinput and elicitation of ideas, and the mainteaching was when they [pupils] were here[on campus]. Then the third session almostacts as a plenary. It was really, really cooland they [pupils] loved it.

Facilitates learning abstract to concrete.Trainees reported that pupil engagement wasevident by levels of interest shown and pupilsknowing that there was an expectation on thepart of the space centre staff that a question-and-answer session would follow. In the othervideo conferencing sessions (elicitationexercise and plenary) some pupils werereluctant to contribute. However, during thelive link-up:

Hands up everywhere! They [pupils] weredesperate to feed back...and when we didthe final session, the amount of knowledgethat they gained from that one day just showshow much they got from it.

Advantages of using videoconferencing for learning

After the session, year 5 pupils videoconferenced year 6 pupils to feed back and

report on their experience. This offeredopportunities to assess childrens conceptual

knowledge and also utilised peer learningthrough pupil-to-pupil interaction.

A live link-up with the Eden Project supportedlearning outside the classroom.

School councils from two schools linked up forpupils to discuss school issues whichenhanced community links. videoconferencing also offered opportunities forpupils to gain experience of presenting workto different audiences and experience lifebeyond their own school. VC is an inclusivemedium where:

all the children interacted with it, even theones who find communication difficult. Theyloved it the fact that they could talk as an

equal.

I just think that there is such a wealth ofopportunity if its used properly and I think itsust a case of convincing some of the oldermembers of staff that actually its not somegimmick. If its planned well, it can bring somuch to children, particularly with abstractideas. If you can bring it alive, it makesabstract concepts more simple.

Impact on the organisation

Using video conferencing gave greaterrelevance to HEI-based tasks as studentswere planning for real. Students had to creatematerials for use directly with pupils duringVC link-ups.

Provided opportunities for peerobservation Students watched those working on VC by

an internal link to an HEI and also as they

worked collaboratively.

You use [recorded] video material but its notas powerful as getting that live interaction. The facility developed learning outside the

classroom agenda by linking with a rangeof informal learning providers.

Provides opportunities for curriculumdesign and a means to increase relevanceand generate interest in curriculum areas

such as science by making them real.

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How it was done

The project gathered momentum andgenerated much interest among a wider staffaudience who were very interested in videoconferencing usage and the potential within

their subject specialism.

The existing culture, with its focus onresearch and professional development,enabled wider project dissemination.

The project employed a communicationsstrategy with other staff that maintainedinterest through constant communication ofintentions, monitoring and progress of theproject across subject leaders and otherfaculty staff.

The project leader selected two schools andliaised with headteachers, staff and parents tooutline and reassure. This approach built onestablished relationships and led to awillingness to engage in the project.

Preliminary visits from others who werealready using video conferencing aided theimplementation. Examples were given thatcould be replicated.

An existing expectation for information andcommunications technology to be used byboth trainees and trainers existed within theorganisational culture.

A conceptualisation of ICT as being beyondcomputing and computers and into the realmof communications and video waspropagated.

All of us [staff] have some responsibility to

model what is being said in the generalmessage in our sessions.

Leaders and management were extremelysupportive of the project and were preparedto develop staff in its use.

The project was integrated with ICT support.The ICT support staff were involved in settingup staff development days to showcaseprogress in video conferencing.

A planned staff development activity, wherestaff were shown the resources and available

equipment, encouraged usage anddisseminated the availability andeffectiveness of equipment.

The head of technical support was verycommitted to VC implementation and played

an instrumental role from the initial stages.

JANET, a British education and researchnetwork, was very supportive and efficientand able to guide the head of technicalsupport effectively in setting up initial VC andoffered continued support.

Impacts in terms of sustainability

Depth: how do you position the projects toimpact on the classroom environment and

challenge different contexts, beliefs andattitudes?

Scope: how do you get a critical mass ofpeople participating in the programme andchanging practice?

Transfer of ownership: how do youencourage participants to take ownershipof the technology and intervention?

DepthHow do you get it to impact on classroomsand in different contexts, beliefs andattitudes?

Initially, a number of tutors felt that videoconferencing would clash with theirphilosophy of learning based on doing andactive exploration. They were sceptical aboutthe technology until they could develop anapproach to its use which was in keeping with

their view of effective learning approaches.The facility was then effectively incorporatedinto their practice.

My first impression knowing nothing about itwas that you got a person quite distant at theend of a screen and a whole classroom ofexcited kids. But, in actual fact, you realisethat preparation had gone in before so thatyou had the same materials at both ends. Youobviously had briefed adults at both ends soyou really could bridge that gap in learning

space.

To be honest I was surprised how intimate itfelt.


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around to enable access. In future, this maybe assuaged by the advent of cheaper, moreubiquitous video conferencing facilities.

Only one classroom in each school had the

VC kit so it was disruptive to move classes

The use of video conferencing was

embedded into the learning and teachingstrategy of one of the partner schools. In thisschool, one of the professional developmenttargets for each year group was for a teacherto experience VC. Their plan stipulated that,at least once a term, teachers would use VC.

There was a desire to expand the portfolio ofuse for VC from out-of-school experience toother purposes such as school-to-schoollinks.

Transfer of ownership

The video conferencing equipment isexpensive and, as such, belongs to theinstitution. The wider use of the VC kit asoutlined above is crucial to ownership.

It is the pedagogical use that is vital in termsof transfer. Staff have discovered andpioneered new approaches to teaching andlearning by using real-time video. It is this thatis likely to establish this type of technology

within teacher training.

The use of other less expensive technologymay lead to wider use, but the considered usefor teacher education supplies a real purposefor engagement.

Thinking/discussion points

Is video conferencing for teacher educationpurposes sustainable?

What are the differences between live videoand recorded video?

How can VC events be made interactive?

Can VC allow greater trainee development byallowing more input remotely from tutors?

Can VC capture classroom dynamics?

What are the training needs of staff and

external partners?

Could VC be used in other curriculum areassuch as the 1419 curriculum to providebusiness links?

Trainers designed a sequence of videoconferencing events based on their views ofeffective teaching and learning, which wasfundamental to developing the interactiveprocess.

The VC sessions were sequenced so thattrainers could run changes and new ideas intothe next sequence and then evaluate whathappened. An iterative process for its usewas developed.

VC facilitated a three-way link up with externaleducators/experts, pupils in classrooms, andstudents. This brought together the ideas ofexpert and professional dialogues, which ledto practice and knowledge exchange.

Scope

How do you get a critical mass of peopletrying this out and changing practice?

Developing a range of external learningrelationships of sufficient quality was crucial.There was some evidence that the schoolsand higher education institution (HEI) basedtutors were having to provide unofficialcontinuing professional development toexternal providers unused to working withprimary school-aged pupils or mixed groupsof trainees, tutors and pupils

Enthusiastic technical staff were crucial. Oneof them, at Winchester University, acted as amajor change agent doing logistics,coordination and support for the conferences.For the VC facility to be widely used it had tobe attractive to a wider curriculum offer.

Different usages of VC need to be outlinedacross the trainees course in order to avoid italways being used to link to museums, etc.This wider focus could bring in other staff.

Physical location of kit

The VC kit was placed in a preparation areautilised by the science team. This helped itsusage, spread out from the original project,which was based more in the maths team.


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Very basic video conferencing guideFive things to read

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/vc/Emerging Technologies for Learning (2008)Software and internet analysis: Telepresence (March 2008)

Telepresence refers to a number of technologies that increasingly allow a person to have apresence and/or control elements in a separate location. That presence can be throughimages and sound, or by manipulating objects such as with robotics.http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14165

Next generation learning. Video conferencing technology can bring the whole world into theclassroom. With the ability to talk to and see people in another room, building or country,video conferencing is opening up exciting new horizons for learning opportunities.http://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/en/Technology/Other-learning-technologies/Video-conferencing/

Pemberton, J B, Cereijo, M, Perez, V, Tyler-Wood, T, Rademacher, J, 2004, DesktopVideoconferencing: Examples of Applications to Support Teacher Training in Rural Areas,Rural Special Education Quarterly.|http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-657554961.html

Wong, A, Sharpe, L, Crawford, L, Gopinathan, S, Moo, S, Khine, M and Hu, C, 2001.Multipoint Desktop Videoconferencing for Teacher Training: a Singapore Experience. In CMontgomerie and J Viteli (Eds), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia,Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2001 (pp 792797). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.http://www.editlib.org/p/8742

LinksTDA http://www.tda.gov.uk/TTRB http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/Becta http://www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearning.php JISC http://www.jisc.ac.uk/Innovation Unit http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.htmlDCSFhttp://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121Educause http://www.educause.edu/node/720?time=1237309753 Futurelab http://www.futurelab.org.uk/

Training and Development Agency for Schools151 Buckingham Palace RoadLONDONSW1W 9SS

www.tda.gov.uk

Publications line 0845 6060 323TDA switchboard 0870 4960 123

TDA 2009
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/vc/http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14165http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14165http://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/en/Technology/Other-learning-technologies/Video-conferencing/http://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/en/Technology/Other-learning-technologies/Video-conferencing/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-657554961.htmlhttp://www.editlib.org/p/8742http://www.tda.gov.uk/http://www.ttrb.ac.uk/http://www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearning.phphttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.htmlhttp://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.htmlhttp://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121http://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121http://www.educause.edu/node/720?time=1237309753http://www.futurelab.org.uk/http://www.futurelab.org.uk/http://www.educause.edu/node/720?time=1237309753http://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121http://search.dcsf.gov.uk/kbroker/dcsf/dcsf/search/search.lsim?qt=ict&sr=0&nh=10&cs=iso-8859-1&sc=dcsf&ha=1121http://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.htmlhttp://www.innovation-unit.co.uk/education-experience/next-practice/learning-futures-next-practice-in-learning-and-teaching.htmlhttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/http://www.becta.org.uk/nextgenerationlearning.phphttp://www.ttrb.ac.uk/http://www.tda.gov.uk/http://www.editlib.org/p/8742http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-657554961.htmlhttp://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/en/Technology/Other-learning-technologies/Video-conferencing/http://www.nextgenerationlearning.org.uk/en/Technology/Other-learning-technologies/Video-conferencing/http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14165http://emergingtechnologies.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=etr&catcode=ETRE_0001&rid=14165http://www.wmnet.org.uk/vc/

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Teacher Trainers-Video Conferencing and Learning Out of School