A National Video Library for Teacher Preparation in Visual Impairments

Abstract

The 44 institutions of higher education that prepare teachers of students with visual impairments in North America are deeply committed to providing the best possible education for their candidates. Whether undergraduate, graduate, or certificate programs, core courses for preparing teachers of students with visual impairments are similar among these institutions (Ambrose-Zaken & Bozeman, 2010). Each program offers educational foundations courses, methods courses, and student teaching or practicum seminars, along with courses about assistive technology, and mobility, assessment, and classroom management. Although preparation programs for teachers of students with visual impairments share common curricula and goals, these programs also share a common challenge--the lack of readily available models of exemplary teaching practice that can be readily viewed and linked to course curricula. In addition, because 42 of the 44 programs incorporate distance learning models, the majority must use multimedia, such as video cases, to communicate course content. To address this national challenge, good-quality videos of best teaching practices in the field are needed. This Research Report presents the findings of the first phase of a multiyear funded project whose ultimate purpose is to clearly define and then create a video clip library of 8- to 10-minute video clips that demonstrate exemplary teaching practices for working with students who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision). These videos would represent elementary to high school settings in the areas of literacy, braille reading and writing, mathematics, the Nemeth Code and abacus, technology, science, and social studies, as well as for working with students with severe and multiple disabilities. The research questions that guided this phase of the project included, What teaching practices are of greatest importance to personnel preparation programs for teachers of students with visual impairments to be included in this video clip library? and How do faculty plan to use these video clips in the preparation of teachers? VIDEO AS A TOOL IN A TEACHER'S DEVELOPMENT As digital video has become more portable, accessible, and affordable than ever, its application to teachers' learning has flourished over the past 10 years. Brouwer's (2011) review of video as a tool in a teacher's development organized its uses into three approaches: orientation, support, and assessment. Support and assessment involve teachers in viewing and reflecting upon their practice either through video records of their own teaching or by observing videos of others (Baecher & Connor, 2010; Gale, Trief, & Lengel, 2010; Sherin & van Es, 2005; Tripp & Rich, 2012). For this project, Brouwer's (2011) use of orientation is relevant because the video clips to be housed in the online library described in this report are intended to be used to illustrate techniques, methods, and practices as a component of a preservice course or an in-service training initiative. The use of video cases in addition to text has been shown to be an effective tool for teacher educators as an introduction to classroom practices that their candidates will later attempt (Copeland & Decker, 1996; Koc, Peker, & Osmanoglu, 2009; Sherin, 2004; Wang & Hartley, 2003; Welsch & Devlin, 2007). By studying specific dimensions of practice through specially designed video cases, teacher candidates gain an enhanced understanding of concepts that are presented in their courses (Skiera & Stirling, 2004). Masingila and Doerr (2002) reported that multimedia cases guide teacher candidates' instructional practices and help connect the candidates' practice with that of the teacher in the video case. METHOD To provide a rich array of video examples of best practices in teaching students who are visually impaired for teacher educators and candidates across the United States, the goal of the funded initiative described here is to provide all candidates who are studying to be teachers of students with visual impairments free access to the video clip library through a password-protected Internet-based site. …