On Friday (24.07.15) the PGCE trainee teachers had the good fortune to be able to take part in a video conference over Skype. The Skype session was with a Year 3 Science class in Cornwall. At the university a classroom had been set up with two projectors on which we could see the Science class unfold. It was a fantastic opportunity to watch an experienced teacher deliver an outstanding lesson. As the video and audio were switched off on the university side we were able to observe and discuss what was happening without intruding on the lesson at all. Turning on the audio and video at the end enabled the trainees to ask the teacher as well as the students some questions about the lesson. Although the Skype class worked well, it is clear that video conferencing in the classroom has both strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, we were able to observe a lesson hundreds of miles away in a largely unobtrusive way. On the other hand, the poor internet connection meant that the audio would occasionally cut out and we would not know what was happening. For the most part though, it was a success and I would like to use it in my classes in the future. In order to overcome the issue of a poor internet connection I would have a backup class planned in case the internet stopped working or maybe even record a Google Hangout so that the class itself would not have to be live. One way I would like to explore video conferencing in the future would be to have video conferences with a school in another country. Students from both schools would be able to talk to each other and it would be a really good way of promoting cultural exchange.
0 Comments
|
Paul LArchives
January 2016
Categories |