The Use of the Library of Video Excerpts (L.O.V.E.) in Personnel Preparation Programs

A three-year, grant-funded program to create an online video clip library for personnel programs preparing teachers of students with visual impairments in the United States and Canada was launched in September 2014. The first author was the developer of the Library of Video Excerpts (L.O.V.E.) and collected over 300 video clips that were 8 to 10 minutes in length and demonstrated exemplary teaching by teachers of students with visual impairments. Over 100 video clips were selected for inclusion in L.O.V.E. These are accessible with the options of closed captioning as well as voice-over audio descriptions. They represent teaching for various age ranges-- from early intervention programs through high school--and include such areas as literacy, braille reading and writing, mathematics, the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, the abacus, technology, and science and social studies, as well as work with students who have severe and multiple disabilities. These topics were determined through a survey of personnel preparation programs in the field of visual impairment (Trief, Lengel, & Baecher, 2013). The initial 300 video clips were peer reviewed by a team of 15 experts from across the United States and Canada. This advisory panel included leaders from personnel preparation programs as well as three administrators from programs that serve children with blindness and low vision. Each clip was reviewed by three members of the advisory board using a structured online questionnaire to evaluate content and usefulness for those in personnel preparation. The clips were reviewed online using a structured online Likert-scale protocol through the web-based tool Survey Monkey. The questions reviewers answered for each clip included rating the appropriateness of the subject matter, whether exemplary teaching skills were demonstrated by the teacher, the use of appropriate assessment strategies, rapport with students of the teacher, use of appropriate adaptations and modifications, and, finally, whether the evaluator would use the clip in one of her courses. If the clip received average ratings of 3 or greater on all of the questions by at least two of the three evaluators, it was saved and uploaded to the library. Currently, the library has been accessed by 33 different universities, and one or more of the faculty at each university is using the video clips in courses for training teachers of students with visual impairments and in special education courses. The use of video clips in personnel preparation programs can help to facilitate bringing theory to practice for teacher candidates who are beginning to learn how to work with students who are visually impaired. Although several other educational fields have used videos to show exemplary models to preservice teachers, such material has rarely been produced in the field of visual impairment (Atkins, 1998; Baker, 2005; Driver, Pullen, Kennedy, Williams, & Ely, 2014; Ling Wong, Wai Yung, Cheng, Lam, & Hodson, 2006). The major reasons for using video clips are so prospective teachers can acquire pedagogical content knowledge and develop a deep understanding of specific kinds of learners. Most important is their exposure to many possible scenarios that can affect actual practice with learners (Eisenstein Ebsworth, Feknous, Loyet, & Zimmerman, 2004; Wang & Hartley, 2003). Another strong justification for the use of video clips for preservice training is that they offer instructors the ability to show their students many flexible teaching situations that can be presented during the face-to-face or online lectures in both methods and curriculum courses. The group analysis of expert teachers being viewed by prospective teachers provides a fertile ground for reflective discussion on best practices (Wang & Hartley, 2003). This Research Report presents the findings from an online survey administered through Qualtrics to 55 participants who requested a protected password for the use of L. …