Social Video in Teacher Training

Teachers make a major contribution to society as a whole through their daily work. Their professional and pedagogical skills are crucial for the individual development of students and shape their academic, social, and emotional abilities. Continuous training and professional development enable them to remain flexible and adaptable in the face of the ever-changing challenges in the education system.

But how can teachers further strengthen this important influence?

Social video learning is key

Social video learning makes it possible to strengthen reflective skills in the areas of teacher training and continuing education while simultaneously establishing a positive culture of error and feedback.

The following examples show you the scenarios in which our customers successfully use social video in the field of teacher training.

Practical examples

1. Center for Practical Teacher Training Cologne (ZfsL)

The organisation

The Center for Practical Teacher Training (ZfsL) Cologne is an institution in North Rhine-Westphalia that is responsible for the training and further education of trainee teachers. It plays a decisive role in practical teacher training, especially during the teaching internship, which is the second phase of teacher training.

The use of social video

In December 2022, ten media consultants began a ten-month training program to become “social video system consultants.” The aim was to support specialist and core seminar leaders in peer consulting and training work with trainee teachers. The social video learning method enables situation-based reflection work through self-made videos of authentic counseling situations, supplemented by video comments. The training program combined face-to-face and online workshops and included two pilot projects on personnel and training development, which the participants implemented on their own responsibility.

Awarded the Comenius EduMedia Seal

Our training program “Social Video System Consultants” in collaboration with the Center for Practical Teacher Training in Cologne was awarded the Comenius EduMedia Seal 2024 in the category of vocational education and training.

Result

The participants developed a “social video consultation kit” and gained practical experience with the method in pilot projects. Social video learning thus serves as an impetus for sustainable professionalization and change in teacher training. The transformation of media consultants into social video system consultants promotes reflective thinking and a culture of feedback, marking a groundbreaking development in teacher training.

2. Center for Practical Teacher Training Cologne & Krefeld

This is the precursor project to the above-mentioned project with the ZfsL. From December 2019 to April 2021, the “Social Video Learning” innovation project was carried out in collaboration with the Center for Practical Teacher Training in Cologne and the Center for Practical Teacher Training in Krefeld. These centers focus on the second, practical phase of teacher training—or, to put it more simply, on the teaching internship.

The use of social video

In various workshops, working groups were formed to gather experience with video commenting in peer coaching and lesson follow-up and to exchange ideas via edubreak^®CAMPUS. By 2020 and 2021, the trainers were so well established that they introduced trainee teachers to social video learning and participated in its further development, e.g., with 360-degree video scenarios. These processes were critically discussed and evaluated in interim and final workshops.

In episode 6 of the podcast “DIALOGisch”, the hosts talk to Katja Löhr and Verena Nuy about their experiences with videography work in the core seminar. The two subject and core seminar leaders from the ZfsL Cologne report on how videography work can open up deep reflexivity and genuine spaces for learning and development. Sound exciting? Listen now! Listen to the podcast here

3. Leuphana University

How was social video used at Leuphana University?

Leuphana uses social video learning through the Moodle plugin Interactive Video Suite, which enables students to annotate and discuss video content precisely, similar to social media. This tool promotes active participation, attention, and transfer thinking, which increases motivation and the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Features such as time-stamped annotations, audio comments, video editing, and other interactive components make it a valuable addition to face-to-face formats. It is used for questions and discussions during lectures, didactic demonstration videos, reflections on presentations, and lesson analyses.