Interactive Videoconferencing: Connecting Theory to Practice for Preservice Teachers

The purpose of this work is to examine using interactive videoconferencing (IVC) to provide pre-service teachers with a model of exemplary reading instruction to transfer their learning and implement effective reading instruction. The program was facilitated by university professors and carried out though frequent interactions between pre-service teachers and a number of master teachers employed in public school classrooms. The program's success was based upon the extent to which IVC was considered helpful to pre-service teachers attempting to link theory to practice. Data from this program evaluation suggest that, when using IVC technology to prepare new teachers to become more effective reading teachers, teacher candidates expressed improvements in both their ability to, and confidence for, providing better reading instruction. Based on this program evaluation, we the researchers postulate that IVC may be a powerful tool for helping prepare new teachers to meet the many challenges inherent in teaching today.