Video
One of video’s greatest (and often underused) benefits is as
an in-class personalized teacher support tool. Here are two
ways this can work:
Video for co-teaching. In Indonesia, as part of a program to
help teachers use technology, EDC used two-way video to
connect teachers who were new to technology to a master
teacher so the two could co-teach a technology-based lesson that the novice technology user found particularly difficult. Using TeamViewer, the master and novice teachers
co-planned, co-taught, and co-reflected on the lesson.
Video for coaching. The University of Alabama’s Project
TEACH ( projectteach.ua.edu) developed a “virtual bug in
the ear”—a Bluetooth-enabled earphone that teachers wear
to receive real-time coaching from an off-site coach who
observes the classroom via Skype over an HD webcam.
EDC used this approach for live in-class coaching in Indonesian classrooms with good internet bandwidth. Because
most female teachers wear jilbabs, or traditional Indonesian Muslim head coverings, that covered the earpieces, the
devices were invisible to the students.
In both of these examples, teachers receive “just-in-time”
and “just-as-needed” support. These uses of video are powerful because they bring models of good practice and support directly into the teacher’s classroom, particularly in
areas where teachers may lack access to face-to-face
expertise, support, and teacher exemplars.
Four Trends Leading the Way
Many factors could impede
widespread adoption of many
of these technologies, not the
least of which are cost, technical issues (especially around
bandwidth), the lack of a common
platform among mobile devices,
and content and design issues.
However, a number of technical,
demographic, and educational
trends cumulatively suggest that
these five technologies stand
a good chance for widespread
adoption as teacher PD tools.
Greater Understanding
of Teacher-Centered PD
There is a growing consensus
that optimal PD is school
based, just in time, individualized, and collaborative, and
that it models intended practices and comes with ongoing
in-class support. There is also
an increasing understanding
that technology can play an
important role in PD because
it is easy to use and multimodal, has multiple entry
points, and facilitates networking and collaboration.
3
In the classroom, the in-school, novice teacher (front) prepares
students to ask a question of the video-based co-teacher.
Using video conferencing, an offsite master teacher co-teaches
with a novice teacher and students in a remote Indonesian school.
The technologies in this
article reflect optimal uses
of technology for teacher
learning, as cited in the
MacArthur Foundation study
Building the Field of Digital
Media and Learning (bit.
ly/12SI6mL): They are participatory, offer multiple entry
points to users, have “low
barriers to expression and
engagement,” and offer “
informal mentorship and connections to other people.”
Continual Developments
in Technology Design
Major developments in technol-
ogy have already changed the
PD game, including the:
•;Diversification;of;the;web;as
a platform
•;Proliferation;of;digital;content
and the devices that support
diversified web applications
and content
•;Increases;in;bandwidth;and
the processing and graphics
power of computing devices
•;Miniaturization;and;personal-
ization of computing devices
