Use of digital video technology in an elementary school foreign language methods course

This article presents a case study of the use of digital video technology with a new pedagogical approach under a constructivist framework in an elementary school foreign language methods course. Data were collected through interviews with the methods course instructor, field notes, analytical notes from videotaped student presentations of their learning from the video clips, students' mid-semester evaluation of the use of video clips, and end-of-semester student reflections on open-ended questions regarding the use of video clips. A careful examination of the data identified themes that illustrate the characteristics of the use of digital video technology under a constructivist framework. Those themes include the flexibility and capability of digital video technology, the development of the video clips, students' ownership of knowledge, feedback from the students, and evaluation of the use of video clips. This case reports the vision of technology integration being realized. It results from the presence of technology, the instructor's pedagogical knowledge, and his or her content expertise.