Authentic Learning with Online Video
Authentic learning focuses on skills and methodologies that will be directly applicable in the “real world,” or to students’ professional and working lives. Video has several qualities that can make it a powerful delivery medium for authentic learning. As will be explained below, our TEL seminar panelists found video to be an attractive delivery method for part of their curriculum because it provided opportunities that would otherwise not be possible.
More specifically, our panelists wanted to create video that would be available to students on demand and that students could view multiple times if they so desired. For two of the groups who worked with learners at a distance, video provided the opportunity to keep content authentic. One group used clips of students in real-life situations, while another presented students engaged in a role-playing exercise that was led by an expert. A third group used screen capture videos that allowed the instructor to teach both the technology and underlying statistical analysis principles simultaneously. Our final group used video to help students develop their skills in self-assessment.
Seminar
April 3, 2008
12:00-1:30 p.m.
105 Cargill Building
St. Paul, Twin Cities campus
Show up in person or register to attend online as a virtual participant, or subscribe to the podcast or vodcast.
Moderator:
Keith Brown
Digital Media Center, Office of Information Technology
Panelists:
Michael Brown
Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems, College of Pharmacy
Peter Dimock
School of Social Work, College of Education and Human Development
Misty Sato
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Human Development
Michelle Everson
Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development
Yelena Yan
Academic Technology Services, College of Education and Human Development
Campus Projects
Michael Brown and his team are using video to allow students to view their own performances of sterile techniques used in pharmacy, which helps students build self-assessment skills. Peter Dimock is creating an online course for incoming graduate students that will incorporate role play videos. Through the videos, incoming students will familiarize themselves with social work methodologies and be better prepared as they begin the graduate education at the University. Misty Sato and Robert Utke are using video to prepare first-time cooperating teachers, or public school teachers who supervise student teachers. The videos will depict issues that may come up as they supervise student teachers. Finally, Michelle Everson and Yelena Yan are using video to teach the use of statistical software.
Readings
Adrian, Brian, Dean Zollman and Scott Stevens. “Pathways–Using a State-of-the-Art Digital Video Database for Research and Development in Teacher Education.” Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 10-11, 2005.
This presentation discusses the use of a digital video database to better prepare student teachers and current teacher to teach physics in the public schools. Video is heavily used to train teachers at a distance how to teach content they are not trained in themselves.
Lombardi, Marilyn. “Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview.” EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative white papers (May 2007). (Accessed March 2008).
This article provides an overview of authentic learning, why it is important, what makes it effective, and what role information technology support can play. Of particular interest is the breakdown of authentic learning into 10 design elements and brief examples of each design element.
Spies, Dianna and Carla Dieter. “From Beginning to End: Video-based Introductory, Instructional and Evaluation Applications.” Nurse Educator 30, no. 1 (January 2005): 40–43.
This article discusses the feasibility of introducing video in distance education courses. Students were asked to create videos initially to validate prerequisite physical assessment knowledge and skills. Faculty also created video vignettes of advanced content in an attempt to make abstract ideas easier to grasp for students. The faculty-generated video additionally was used in the evaluation of student learning.
Vnuk, Anna, Harry Owen and John Plummer. “Assessing Proficiency in Adult Basic Life Support: Student and Expert Assessment and the Impact of Video.” Medical Teacher 28, no. 5 (August 2006): 429–434.
This article describes a study involving 95 medical students at Flinders University in Australia. Students were recorded on video demonstrating basic life support techniques and were asked to assess themselves immediately after the demonstration and after viewing the recording. An expert also viewed the videos and assessed the students using the same six-point grading scale based on the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation guidelines. Students’ self-assessments in the end were not more in agreement with the expert, but the authors believe that the lack of a benchmarking video and a criteria checklist may have been part of the issue.
