If you wish to contribute lessons to our growing collection of classroom observation videos these answers to frequently asked questions may be of use to you.

Why are you not charging for the filming of lessons?
Our objective is to create a comprehensive series of classroom observations. We will be selling these DVDs to education establishments and training providers.

What is required of our school?
We will film a maximum of 3 lessons in chosen schools in a single day.

For every lesson filmed we require the following:

• Signed consent forms from teachers and students appearing in the video
• Soft copies of lesson plans and supporting materials (Supplied on disk or via email)
• Teacher’s introduction to lesson and reflective feedback to camera

How will cameras in the classroom affect the running of lessons?
No particular preparations need to be made and the lesson should be carried out as usual within a single period.
An unobtrusive approach means lessons are filmed without any disruption to the class, and in our experience students ignore the camera entirely if asked to do so.

How long does it take to set up camera and what is involved?
Camera setup time per classroom takes about 15 minutes. Two cameras will be recording the lesson, one focussed on student reaction and the other on the teacher.

What do teachers need to do?
Teachers will be asked to introduce their lesson to camera and also give reflective feedback.
These two clips can be filmed together at an agreed time and room in the school on the same day and usually takes no longer than ten minutes. As the teacher has the closest relationship with students, we would be grateful if he/she tells participants to ignore the cameras and work as usual. Footage of children reacting to camera will end up on the cutting room floor! Also, students should be reminded to speak up, our mics are good, but whispers can’t be heard!

What do students need to do?
We cannot say it enough: ignore cameras and behave as they would in any normal lesson!
We want to see students communicating with the teacher or each other using clear, audible voices and see the process and outcomes of their learning. We may wish to interview students after the lesson about the learning.

Will the lessons be graded?
Yes, all of our lessons will be given a grade in line with the 2012 Ofsted framework. Final packs will include a feedback report which includes this grade. These grades are only available to customers who have purchased the packs or those who enquire about lesson specifics prior to purchase.

Tell me more about Mediamerge
Mediamerge is a media production company that produces high quality video materials for education. Clients include LearnDirect, Tribal Education, Cambridge Education and the BBC. We now have created the largest series of lesson observation videos in the UK and expect to expand the collection over the next few years.