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3D-RST

Technology-Mediated Lesson Study

What is Lesson Study?

Lesson study is an instructional inquiry model in which teachers work face-to-face in small collaborative groups to craft, deliver, observe, and refine their teaching practice. During traditional lesson study, colleagues watch one teacher deliver a planned lesson, meet afterward to discuss the observed lesson, and plan revisions. This creates a collaborative lesson-planning and delivery cycle while fostering strong relationships among colleagues.

In traditional lesson study, teachers plan a lesson together in person, are present in the classroom as it is taught to students, and then meet in person to discuss the lesson and potential revisions.

Technology-Mediated Lesson Study (TMLS)

Developed through the 3D-RST project, Technology-Mediated Lesson Study (TMLS) employs the same cycle of engaging teachers in iterative, collaborative processes of lesson design, teaching, observation, and lesson redesign, but leverages technology resources that enable teachers to interact and learn together when not co-located.

Because of professional or geographic isolation some teachers face, traditional lesson study is not feasible; however, in TMLS, technology connects otherwise isolated teachers to co-create lessons and provide feedback on teaching and lesson content.

In TMLS, colleagues observe the lesson via video recording, then meet online, transforming how teachers collaborate. The TMLS process invites participants virtually into their colleagues’ classrooms, an intimate, vulnerable act that supports strong collegial relationships, even though the teams meet via technology.

In TMLS, teachers design a lesson together, either virtually or in person. The lesson is then taught and recorded. All teachers, including the one who taught the lesson, review the lesson asynchronously. They then meet virtually to discuss the lesson and make revisions before it is taught and recorded by a second teacher.

TMLS Book
TMLS Book
Click the link to access the book "Technology-Mediated Lesson Study: A Practical Guide" for instructions on how to set up your own TMLS groups and how to use the process to create and refine lessons in any discipline.