Research

Classroom observation training helps principals enhance their observation skills by identifying and improving effective instructional practices. By observing classes and receiving feedback, principals can create meaningful learning experiences and provide their teachers tailored support and professional development.

The EdHub Library features 84 interactive classroom observation activities organized by NEE Indicators 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3b, and 7.4. These activities offer principals authentic professional development experiences in face-to-face and online settings, modeling real-world tasks.

Abramenka et al. (2024) presented their research on designing classroom observation activities in a recent article published in the Journal of Applied Instructional Design (JAID). The article also examines how extended reality (XR) technologies can enhance the authenticity of classroom observation tasks.

Design Overview and Benefits of Classroom Observation Training

The interactive classroom observation activities provide a single view of teacher-student interactions. Principals can practice classroom observation skills. The online activities emulate the observation process in the classroom in the following manner:

1. Decide on the indicator of effective teaching practice to focus on.
2. Collect rubric material for the selected indicator.
3. Score the video example using the rubrics.
4. Compare individual scoring against the master score with the justification.

The classroom observation activities were developed in Adobe Captivate along with closed-captioning for accessibility purposes. The benefits of accessing the activities through EdHub include:

1. Enabling asynchronous and self-paced training throughout the school year.
2. Helping principals avoid scoring fatigue, generally experienced in face-to-face training sessions.
3. Allowing principals to practice classroom observation skills across multiple indicators of effective teaching practice, grade levels, and subjects.
4. Empowering principals to improve their calibration skills by identifying, evaluating, and enhancing authentic instructional practices.

The Potential of XR Technologies in Classroom Observation Training

Although classroom observation activities offer principals professional development growth by “visiting” the classroom virtually, the current videos utilized in these activities only provide a single point of view of teacher-student interactions without zoom-in controls. To address this shortcoming, the journal article discusses the potential uses of XR technologies, particularly 360-degree video immersion, to increase the authenticity of observing teacher-student interactions.

Implications for Classroom Observation Training With XR Technologies

While XR technologies are promising in classroom observation training, the challenges of XR integration are evident, including high costs, accessibility issues, and the need for teaching training and support.

Additional details can be found in the open-access article “Increasing Authenticity of Learning Through the Design of Extended Reality.”

Javier Leung has been an Instructional Designer since EdHub’s inception in 2014. Dr. Leung received his Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies in 2023, emphasizing Data Science and Learning Analytics in 2019. His publications include asset management, user experience design, machine learning, and natural language processing.