Video-supported collaborative learning: insights in the state of the art in everyday educational practice within the visual-project experiments

Most teachers do not use video tools in a way that contributes to developing conceptual thinking and problem solving skills as relevant work-life competences of the knowledge worker. Europe-wide, there is a need for e-competent teachers in utilizing e-learning with leading digital collaborative solutions. The same holds for pedagogical knowledge of designers in educational technology companies. Video based e-learning and knowledge building are critical 21st century approaches; the modernization of European higher education institutions calls for a workable pedagogy and skilled teachers to take on the up-to-date video supported collaborative solutions for creative teamwork in online environments. Video-Supported Education Alliance (VISUAL) is an Alliance of 6 HEIs-Teacher Education (HEIs-TE) and 6 Educational Technology Designers (ETDs) co-creating an evidence-based pedagogical model for Video-Supported Collaborative Learning. The developed solution enhances students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills that are important for navigating the increasingly turbulent, knowledge-intensive and entrepreneurial work-life scenarios. The model bridges school and practice, which is important for vocational education and training (VET) and teacher-educators (TE). Furthermore, it will encourage video content creation and sharing as a rising work-life competence. The models will be used and taught in teachers education (TE) so that teacher-students become familiar with Video Supported Collaborative Learning as an educational tool. This paper summarizes the results of a cycle of experiments lead by the VISUAL partners from autumn 2018 until spring 2019. The second cycle experiments are being conducted in the VISUAL project from autumn 2018 until spring 2020