British Council – Research into the Use of Video-based Observation in M&E

British Council - Research into the Use of Video-based Observation in M&E

Global

2020 - 2021

Countries

Global

Lead M&E Consultant(s)

Simon Borg

Project Overview

The British Council is developing an online video-based system for conducting observations of language teachers in the context of M&E work on CPD programmes. In supporting this work, Borg worked as a consultant tasked with (a) developing a theoretical framework for the use of video in M&E (b) supporting the development of the web-based video analysis tool and (c) evaluating trials of this tool.

Approaches & Outputs

Stage 1 involved a literature review, through which research into the use of video in evaluation contexts was analysed; this resulted in an open access paper in a refereed journal. Stage 2 involved the development of the web-based platform and preparation for trialling it; Borg was part of a team of two who worked alongside the platform developers and provided feedback and various stages of development. Stage 3 involved trialling; a team of evaluators were asked to evaluate videos of teaching on the platform and Borg conducting debriefing meetings with the team to understand their experience. Stages 2 and 3 resulted in separate reports for the British Council.

Impact On

By the end of the project, the web-based video observation tool was in place and ready for larger-scale testing in the context of a live CPD project. The British Council had a better understanding of some of the challenges evaluators using the web-based platform would face and of the conditions that had to be met for video-based M&E on CPD projects to work effectively. The journal article also raised the profile of the British Council in the field of video-based M&E.

Challenges

Limited previous research was available of the use of video in M&E contexts, a gap that was addressed to some extent by the published paper emerging from this project. While significant progress had been made with the development and testing of the web-based video observation platform by the end of the consultancy, the platform has not yet been tested in the field in the context of a live teacher CPD project.

British Council – Research into the Use of Video-based Observation in M&E