Using a video diary in teacher training first-school practice

ABSTRACT

In teacher training, it is important to support prospective teachers as they become reflective practitioners. The aim of the study was to discover what, in the opinion of student teachers, are the advantages and disadvantages of using a video diary for learning purposes compared to a written diary. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 34 student teachers, which was then analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In the opinion of student teachers, the advantages of the video diary format were authenticity, team-building facilitation, efficiency, novelty, professionalism, and historical value. The disadvantages were related to anxiety, technical issues and digital competence, usage demands for location, text composition, and hesitation regarding possible video circulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Video diary
• written diary
• reflection
• teacher education
• Flowboard

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank their colleague Anni Küüsvek for technical work in data collection and text editing. They also thank Professor Äli Leijen and Professor Margus Pedaste and the team working on the European Commission Erasmus Plus program project, “Video-Supported Education Alliance” (ViSuAL), for the research idea and discussions during the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.