Video assignments as resources for reading and instruction in teacher education - A study on how collaboration and partnership can be developed around teacher students' video-recorded reading reflections

Abstract

This study reports from an ongoing design experiment in which a concept called "video assignments"was introduced for accessing teacher students' reading and learning process. The concept was designed in collaboration between lecturers at the university and a practicing teacher in a combined position. The video assignments entailed that students recorded short video clips in which they reflected on their reading prior to meeting in class. The project was conducted at a master's level course (year 4 of 5) at a Norwegian university. There were 47 students who participated in the course over a two-year period, and the data material consists of 118 video reflections. The material was coded, and selected extracts from the videos are presented and analyzed by means of interaction analysis. In the article, the video assignments are displayed as a form of video-based support to the students' studying and learning process, with opportunity for accessing the students' often "silent"individual reading process. This study concludes that the use of video has potential for creating a common focal point, and under certain prerequisites contributing to creating partnership and relevance in teacher education. 2020