The purpose of the study was in the teacher education programme where there was an expanding use of technology and they wanted to explore how to use the technology to observe and rate student teachers in the classroom. In particular they wanted to see if they could explore the student teacher disposition. Usually observations are done face to face but this is not always possible. A range of technology was used and this involved 2 universities and four supervisors from each. Action research was the approach used. There were five open ended questions in the interviews.

The findings were that some differences between using face to face and technology. It was more of a challenge to get to know the students and the relationship between the mentor teacher who was on site was more critical. The mentors needed to give the supervisors an advanced organiser for the session so they could follow sessions. The technology was inequitable and single cameras meant things were missed.

The recommendations from the study were that 3 way conversations were critical, students of the student teachers should be given a questionnaire about the teaching style of the students student teachers, the camera should run before the class started. There should also be a rethink of the classroom observation around the technology with more cameras, microphones and an ability to give feedback immediately.