This project is now in its second phase.
It is run by heppell.net and funded by the UK's Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
Technical development is the responsibility of long time collaborator Alex Blanc of Allrollover who are working in collaboration with heppell.net
Early Indicative Findings
Observation v Assessment.
Following some intensive questioning of NQTs during the school recruitment and set up stage it has become obvious that early reluctance to participate in this project is because observation is currently used mainly as a tool for assessment, specifically according to NQTs, to assess classroom behaviour management.Even amongst SMTs the concept of using observation for self analysis and critique was not considered the main objective, and yet we know through research that this form of observation can be very effective in improving practice.
All NQTs involved in the project welcomed, and immediately understood the value of using the observation video to examine, improve and develop their classroom practice. They welcomed the idea of being in control of the video and that the decision to share was empowering for them. Their enthusiasm and excitement was obvious.
Several NQTs mentioned the fact that the video, and associated comments, would enable them to evidence targets to place in their NQT folders. Two NQTs mentioned the fact that they could use the comments to demonstrate to their learning mentor that they were concentrating on target setting by annotating the video in this way.
Synchronous v asynchronous
The project team considered using synchronous communications, streamed directly to a remote server, to provide instant feedback from the NQT lesson to observers who were not present in the classroom.
This would have the advantage that;
- the observer could be at a remote site;
- the feedback could be viewed immediately the lesson was complete;
- the presence of an observer would not interfere with the normal classroom interactions.
In this model the classroom observation tool would be mainly one for assessment, used in assessing the NQTs competencies.
Putting the control with the NQT pushed the project team to an asynchronous solution. The advantages of this were;
- NQTs could decide who to share videos with;
- the decision how to share the video (face to face, remotely or not as all) is in the control of the NQT;
- the use of the video would have greater value for self critique or evaluation as the NQT could view the video, pause, reflect, annotate, relate the video to targets etc;
- streaming the video asynchronously would have limited impact on the school bandwidth;
- enabling NQTs to delete video without sharing is likely to encourage NQTs to be more adventurous and record not only their best classes but those with whom they have difficulty. This has the potential of making the observation tool more valuable in enabling an NQT to reflect on their worst practice as well as their best;
- the system will encourage experimentation of practice, for example NQTs can record small parts of a lesson (lesson starters) to compare the value of a number of approaches.
Portability of hardware
Even at this stage it is obvious that many secondary schools require a portable solution for classroom observation as they have a number of NQTs within the school. SMTs, seeing the immediate value of such a system are already keen to move the kit a number of times during the trials to expose a number of NQTs to the experience.
Although the kit provided is a portable installation in a classroom it does take roughly one to one and a half hours to install. The cameras are wirelessly connected to the computer but they do require a power supply. This means that placement is limited by available power sockets. Health and safety concerns demands that leads are contained which further restricts placement.
The team are currently refining the system to develop a hardware solution that is not only cost effective but more easily portable as this is already a request of the participating schools.