Internet Video Calling and Desktop Sharing (vcds) as an Emerging Research Method for Exploring Pedagogical Reasoning in Lesson Planning

Abstract

This article presents the specific case of video calling and desktop sharing (vcds) used in a small-scale doctoral study exploring the lesson planning processes of teachers as a result of a national curriculum change. Accessing the participants’ actions and live think-aloud exposition of their pedagogical practices also generated dialogue as new data. The study set out to explore how pedagogical content knowledge was enacted through pedagogical reasoning when participant teachers planned Computing lessons. Two central case studies captured using vcds are shared. One presents a dialogic research interview which developed a shared understanding of the impact of the curriculum change on one teacher’s practices. The second case study shows the potential of vcds to capture the verbalised thoughts and observable actions of a second teacher preparing to teach new programming skills. The video data collected provided a rich audio-visual record of the lesson planning process as it happened. This article shares the approach taken, exemplifies the data captured and reflects on vcds as a method for exploring teachers’ pedagogical reasoning. It concludes that, depending on the nature of the research question, vcds may be justified as more suitable than face-to-face, artefact-based interviews.