Lesson capture: A tool to develop professional noticing

Lesson capture and reflective teaching

You will often see athletes watching themselves back, or ‘watching film’.

Why?

It allows them to analyse their performance, spot mistakes, and consider what changes they need to make to their training to improve. Moreover, watching team footage is used to analyse team dynamics, identify weaknesses in strategy, come up with a better game plan, and develop faster in-game habits.

As a trainee, everyone remembers having their lessons recorded and played back as part of their journey into teaching. There is the anxiety and ‘ick factor’ of watching yourself back – the thoughts and panic about how you sound, look, and the strange expressions you make.

However, the benefits of watching yourself back to reflect on your teaching practice and pedagogy are immense. Koni and Lepp (2021) studied the issues new teachers faced around lesson recording and found that, with support, there was an increase in classroom confidence, better feedback, and improved development of key teaching skills and strategies. They highlighted staff ownership, a supportive environment, and repetition as essential in overcoming these barriers.

There are various platforms available to schools, ranging from the original tripod-and-camera setup to smartphones and tablets, as well as newer technologies such as IRIS and ONVU. While there are benefits and drawbacks to each, my work has mainly focused on using ONVU or LessonVu to improve reflection and classroom practice, with professional noticing at its core.

Lesson capture in practice: ONVU and LessonVu

ONVU Learning is a 360° camera and microphone system, the size of a small smoke detector. It’s a great way to gain an overview of a classroom environment without concerns about the Hawthorne Effect (see below), students playing up to the camera, or reduced visibility due to positioning. It supports teacher autonomy by offering a private dashboard for your own lessons without fear of judgement, reducing anxiety around being observed. Specifically, the ability to develop a personalised CPD menu, based on teaching standards, feedback, and the school ethos, allows staff to become front-runners in self-development, empowerment, and in creating an ideal classroom environment.

The use of ONVU in schools enables staff to log a diary of independent, individualised and personal Continuous Professional Learning (CPL), giving them autonomy and confidence when they are observed via learning walks, formal observations, or Ofsted.

Example:

One ECT used ONVU to develop questioning skills with a GCSE Science class. In their first ECT observation feedback at Christmas, questioning was mentioned as an area for further development. Over the spring term, the ECT created opportunities for questioning in their lessons and watched the footage back to evaluate the questions used and the pounce/bounce system that had been suggested. Over the term, this process was repeated weekly and saved as a diary of development. By the second observation, towards Easter, we noticed a huge improvement in questioning techniques and in the classroom environment for answering questions.

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

Everyone knows the one teacher or SLT member in their school – the one who commands attention as soon as they enter the room. This phenomenon, where teachers or students change their behaviour when they are being watched (either behaving better or worse), is known as the Hawthorne Effect. Research and classroom studies have shown that it can influence teacher behaviour, for example, the amount of time a teacher waits for pupils to respond.

It’s a familiar feeling when an observer leaves your classroom, and you are suddenly hit with all the things you could have, should have, or would have done differently. Or else, you look at your pupils and wonder why on earth they behaved that way when they are usually better (or worse).

By reducing the performative pressure of live observation, lesson capture allows teachers to focus on what really matters: pupil engagement and learning. This reflective practice also supports the development of professional noticing, enabling teachers to identify and respond to pupils’ needs more effectively.

Professional noticing and adaptive teaching

Professional noticing, a key skill in adaptive teaching involves the ability to respond to students’ needs in real time through three stages – attending, interpreting, and deciding. Often, a classroom with its wide scope and various emerging pupil needs becomes a busy learning environment. As a result, teachers may miss opportunities for questioning or providing constructive feedback that develops pupil thinking.

Jacobs et al. (2022) explain the core components of professional noticing, highlighting it as a foundational skill in responsive teaching and in supporting pupils’ confidence in their subject. By focusing the lesson on noticing and responding to pupils’ needs, teachers can provide more tailored feedback and improve pupil engagement.

In practice, teachers are expected to have a good hold on their classroom with quick response times to pupils’ misconceptions. This requires balancing pupil needs, the specification, and lesson timing to ensure all pupils make adequate progress. Professional noticing allows these habits to be developed consistently, reducing disengagement and minimising off-task behaviour by pre-planning for it.

Using lesson capture to develop professional noticing

Understanding your classroom environment and reflecting on the learning journey your pupils take – particularly when under observation – is a key skill for effective teaching.

Responding to pupils’ needs and practising adaptive teaching come with experience, and what better way to practise than by watching yourself trialling new approaches without the risk of being seen making ‘mistakes’?

Tools like ONVU can support this process. By removing the performative element of being watched and placing the teacher in the driving seat, lesson capture allows teachers to focus on pupils’ responses, misconceptions, and engagement. This strengthens professional noticing skills and makes lesson capture a powerful driver of reflective and adaptive teaching practice.

By embedding professional habits, engaging in professional noticing, and developing reflective teaching practice, lesson capture helps teachers become the best version of themselves.

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