Video conferencing across the educational spectrum can be beneficial in several ways. It can enable teachers to continue teaching their students even when in person schooling is not available. In church, Biblical education can continue as pastors conduct prayer services and Sunday school teachers teach the Bible to adults and children alike. This was the case for my church during quarantine and snow storms which caused us to cancel our services. Also, I observed my mom, who teaches ESL, use video conferencing to continue lessons in small groups with those learners who needed continuity. Even though many schools now meet in person, I think we can continue to utilize video conferencing for parent/teacher conferences for those who are unable to leave the home or need a more convenient time to meet.
Unfortunately, not everything about video conferencing is great. The main negative is the delay, pauses, or breaks in technology. It is frustrating to start talking-stop-start again only to find the other person is speaking too. Or to be in a meeting and only understand part of what is being said because the bandwidth does not support the whole family using a video platform all at the same time. This problem is sometimes solved by choosing times when others in the house are not conferencing. However, that is not always possible. Another challenge for me personally is the age group I work with. Contrary to popular belief (I say this sarcastically), video conferencing is not the best nor easiest way to teach 3-4 year old children. They like to see themselves, make faces and get distracted and walk away when being talked to. In one case when I was using Google Meet one mom was determined to keep her daughter “in class” and held her on her lap while she was screaming. This was before Google added the ability for the host to mute all and it was very awkward to try to ask the mom to mute when in my mind she should have known to do that out of consideration. Of course this may have been avoided if I had thought to add that instruction to my list of expectations for our class meeting.
I think video conferencing is most effective for collaboration, meetings where face to face interaction is preferred, and in giving opportunities for students to share with the teacher and each other. For preschoolers a good use for it is show and tell. Communicating about protocol and expectations for students with parents and students prior to the conferencing would be a great way to overcome some of the social challenges of video conferencing.
Wow, I commend you on your efforts to educate through video conferencing with children ages 3-4. Earlier in the school year I was on the parent end with two children video-conferencing at the same time. The lag and technology struggles were real. One of my favorite moments was when a fellow first grade student kept bringing a stuffed animal into the camera view creating a distraction. I can only imagine the frustration the teacher felt as all I wanted to do was reach through the screen and place the stuffed animal out of reach till the call ended. There are benefits in that it has allowed learning to continue like you mentioned with the ESL students. The ease of creating smaller groups without the distraction the entire classroom can provide is an added benefit. It is like having literary circles without having to monitor the rest of the class at the same time. Like you had mentioned it is beneficial but also has some drawbacks.
ReplyDeleteAngela, I cannon imagine having to do a zoom or meet with preschool age children in a group of more than 2 or 3 at a time. It's hard enough with middle and high school kids who should have enough self control to participate! LOL. I agree with your list of pros and cons for video conferencing and am still a fan of in person teaching 100%!
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