Examination of Teacher Candidates' Views on Peer Learning Performed with Interactive Videos in the Blended Learning Process

Abstract

Today, the speed of the development of technology has various effects in many areas. In the field of education, some concepts, methods, techniques, theories and models come to the fore with the effect of technology and attract the attention of researchers. One of them is blended learning. Blended learning is a learning process in which both face-to-face learning processes and learning processes in online environments coexist. Today's learners are expected to be able to solve problems, work collaboratively, and have strong communication. It is thought that peer learning can be used in constructivist teaching processes in order to gain these features. Peer learning involves learners performing their learning by interacting with each other. In this study, it is aimed to determine the opinions of teacher candidates about peer learning realized with interactive videos in the blended learning process. The study group consists of 37 Computer and Instructional Technologies Education Department teacher candidates, 11 women (29.73%) and 26 men (70.27%) enrolled in the "Special Teaching Methods - II" course in the spring semester of 2018-2019 academic year. In the online part of the study, a web 2.0 tool (Edpuzzle) was used to prepare interactive video content. The videos prepared by the peers regarding the course content were expected to be watched online and before the face-to-face lessons. In the face-to-face learning process, students progressed the learning process interactively with their peers. At the end of the process, the data were collected with the data collection tool named "teacher candidate opinion form" developed by the researchers from the study group. The collected data were analyzed with content analysis and interpreted by the researchers. In the study results, the opinions of the teacher candidates about the process after their learning experiences were determined. It was found that a great majority of the teacher candidates had a positive opinion about the peer learning realized with interactive videos in the blended learning process.