The Use of Web Cameras for Video Conferencing in Student Supervision

Vol. 4 No. 3

Year:

2009

Issue: Dec-Feb

Title: The Use of Web Cameras for Video Conferencing in Student Supervision 

Author Name: Kimberly Zgonc, Kymberly Harris , Dana Sparkman 

Synopsis: 

For universities located in rural areas, field placement supervisors often find it difficult to locate placements for student teachers who specialize in areas (e.g., special education, P.E.) with a limited number of cooperating teachers in each school. In those cases, placements for student teachers may require the cooperation of schools outside the prescribed radius from the university campus. Because university faculty may be assigned to multiple schools across a wide region, traveling to and from distant placements reduces the amount of time spent with student teachers and cooperating teachers after observation of instruction. The use of web cameras for video conferencing allows students teachers and their supervisors to engage in debriefing sessions that are less impacted by time restrictions, teaching schedules, and travel time. Video conferencing after observations of instruction promotes more thorough, meaningful feedback by the supervisors and more reflective responses by the student teacher, which may result in improved instructional effectiveness. In the current program (n=6), which is being piloted in selected sites throughout the area, university faculty provided web cameras to cooperating teachers to use for video conferencing.