Charlie started using videotape as a student in graduate school. In a course called “Teaching and Learning,” the class used “those old gigantic video machines” to view what teachers were doing in the classroom. “In my M.Ed. program we videotaped each other and analyzed the interaction using Flanders’s system of verbal interaction analysis. The use of video was for research purposes--research on effectiveness.”
These experiences with video in graduate school kept Charlie thinking about how video can be used as a basis for dialogue with students about classroom practice, and he’s used video in this way ever since he started teaching teachers. He’s always liked that video—whether on tape or digital format—could be looked at again and again with a student—viewing and reviewing.
The transition to digital video, though, gave Charlie a lot more control over the video and the ability to do a lot more production himself. One important example of this increased control of video production is how it allows him to easily videotape Vermont teachers, an improvement over video that didn’t include Vermont teachers. “Even for adults, learning is situated and our teachers here respond in a very different way to video examples they know are Vermont kids in Vermont classrooms with Vermont’s problems and practices. Before video I used words or examples from other lands – like California – when I could find them. But the other examples don't have the credence of local work.”
Charlie also points to the ease with which he can edit the videos that he shoots. Because he can manipulate the video so easily, it’s easier to focus on important interactions and classroom dynamics.
When Charlie was first inspired to try his own hand at digital video, he worked with some early programs made for editing video on the computer. The programs were complex, difficult to learn, and required more computing power than Charlie had.
Then Charlie discovered a program called iMovie, from Apple. Because Charlie is a self-avowed “Apple freak,” he found out about iMovie as soon as it became available, through an advertising campaign. He was able to edit his first video in iMovie in about two hours. He credits the program and its ease of use with his being able to finally break through the digital video barrier.
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