School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Education

Video Resources

Thinking About Video?

Whether your purpose is to observe your practice for self-reflection (or to encourage your students to self-reflect on their own practice), or to explore and understand student thinking, video can be a powerful tool for faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and students in the K-20 classroom.

Things to think about as you plan to carry out video in schools:

  • The first question to ask yourself is: "what is my purpose in collecting media in this setting?" If the purpose is to improve your practice, but you have no intentions of sharing the video in a professional setting (e.g., a conference), then a simple introduction letter to your students and their parents will be enough. You will also need to check with your principal. If you plan to either present or publish the data you collect, then your purpose is research and you will need to make sure you follow the necessary IRB protocol. If you would like to use the video and materials you collect for dissemination and marketing purposes, a media release form should be presented.
  • Follow the "Consent Policy" explained below and review sample forms and letters.
  • Plan with the teacher in the classroom on your process for students who have requested (or whose parents have requested) not to be videotaped or photographed. For instance, all students could be videotaped as part of the regular classroom practice, but eventually their faces could be blurred;

Consent/Assent Education Department Policy

Think of this as similar to requesting written permission for students to participate in a field trip, a study, a health screening, or the numerous other consent-based activities conducted at schools. Some schools have blanket permissions that they request from all parents at the beginning of the school year and our students may on occasion fall under these blanket permissions. However, the departmental recommendation is still that all students introduce themselves to parents through a letter such as the one above.

  1. All Education department students collecting media (i.e., photographs, video, and/or audio) for training and coursework purposes need to inform parents and students in the classroom/s in which they are collecting or creating such media documents. A simple introduction letter at the beginning of the school year will suffice:
  2. All Education department students carrying out research must complete an IRB protocol application.
  3. All Education department staff, faculty, and students need to collect Media Release Forms from schoolchildren, parents, and school personnel if any of the media will be used on the web or any print materials.
  4. All research related coursework (such as ED270-ED275) need to register the appropriate coursework as "research practica", with the Social, Behavioral & Educational Research IRB by filling out this form.