Integrating the Learning of Micro-skills

Two technologies were employed here, video and blogs. Videos could serve as a good mode of inquiry that allows respondents to review rich contents that include various aspects of teaching: pedagogy, climate, management, classroom characteristics and student characteristics (Colestock & Sherin, 2009). The amount of attention given by teachers to each domain was different with instructional strategies receiving more concerns than other aspects. Colestock and Sherin found that teachers applied different strategies in interpreting teaching videos and subsequently developed their professional view of teaching through their interpretation and discussion. Video technology has also been implemented in micro-teaching to show examples of teaching or case-based learning by illustrating the actual and complex teaching environment.Videos allow pre-service teachers to learn teaching skills and teacher-student interaction through modelling and developing problem solving skills through observing the case in video playback (Kpanja, 2001; Lee & Wu, 2006). Video recording and playback is a useful technology to improve reflection in teaching (Akalin, 2005; Albrecht & Carnes, 2006; Benton-Kupper, 2001). Video-enabled and video-oriented discussion followed by critical reflection helped pre-service teachers to identify areas for improvement in professional growth (Fernandez, 2010; Kpanja, 2001). As a result, they could develop an increased awareness of their instructional strengths and weaknesses by observing the videos. The use of videos allows student teachers to have evidence-informed discussion and this fostered reflective practices among teachers (Albrecht & Carnes, 2006; Fernandez, 2010).

Blogs are a well accepted learning technology in education. Similar to online discussion forums, which allow participants to post their thoughts and subsequently read and comment on what is posted, blogs foreground the individual’s thoughts and cater to a much wider audience – anyone who happens to find the blog online can read and comment. As such, the fundamental difference between writing for an online discussion forum and a blog is that a blogger writes to a diverse and probably unknown audience. In education, the use of blogs is still being explored and developed (Jonassen, 2000) and this is also the case in teacher education. Duffy and Bruns (2006) proposed that technologies like blogs, wikis and RSS promote desirable practices such as collaborative content creation and reflection of learning experiences, and enable peer and formative evaluation to take place. Hernandez-Ramos (2004) carried out a comparative study between the use of blogs and online discussion to promote reflection in an instructional technology course in a teacher preparation program. His study reported that while teachers prefer blogs to online discussion forums in their reflection, the availability of information to a wider audience resulted in some apprehension in using blogs.

However, once the teachers become familiar with using blogs, they reflected on events ranging from their reactions to the time spent with their students, to their own professional learning and classroom management strategies. Pre-service teachers worked on an individual blog to reflect on the videos presented to them. Peers reading these blogs will be able to gain diverse perspectives from watching the same videos and reading the blogs. Shih (2010) used a blended learning approach using video-based blogs and found that students in the English Public Speaking course were able to enhance their learning motivation and encouraged their cooperation with their peers. He also reported that the video-based blogs helped students overcome their fear in public speaking. This is a relevant finding for this study since pre-service teachers have to overcome their fear of public speaking when they start teaching.

In conclusion, by integrating the learning of micro-skills through video technology and reflection using blogs; it aims to examine exactly what forms of reflection pre-service teachers engage in with regard to learning teaching skills.