Practising teaching using virtual classroom role plays

Practice in the role of the teacher is an essential part of teacher education, however professional experience placements are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Consequently, additional university-based teaching practice, such as classroom role play with student teacher peers is important. Classroom role plays can be effective but there are limits to the realism of the experience and such strategies are not feasible for students studying at a distance. This article reports on a study in which a classroom in the virtual world of Second Life was used to house role plays of student teachers in preparation for their first professional experience placement. Based on the results of this study it is concluded that teaching practice using a virtual classroom shows promise but there are a number of usability and other issues which need to be resolved before it will be viewed as an effective strategy by all student teachers.

[1]  Victor Asal,et al.  Creating Simulations for Political Science Education , 2006 .

[2]  Robert A. Zuckerman.  Simulation Helps Preservice Students Acquire Pragmatic Teaching Skills , 1979 .

[3]  F. Baker.  Teacher education around the world: changing policies and practices , 2014 .

[4]  Joan Abbott-Chapman,et al.  Making the most of the mosaic: facilitating post-school transitions to higher education of disadvantaged students , 2011 .

[5]  Scott Grant,et al.  The Impact of Chinese Language Lessons in a Virtual World on University Students' Self-Efficacy Beliefs. , 2012 .

[6]  Michael Cavanagh,et al.  Developing communication competence using an online Video Reflection system: pre-service teachers' experiences , 2011 .

[7]  Stephen Rollnick,et al.  The use of simulated patients and role-play in communication skills training: a review of the literature to August 2005. , 2007, Patient education and counseling.

[8]  M. Simpson,et al.  Field Experience in Distance Delivered Initial Teacher Education Programmes. , 2006 .

[9]  Barney Dalgarno,et al.  VirtualPREX: Innovative assessment using a 3D virtual world with pre-service teachers , 2013 .

[10]  Brian Ferry,et al.  Incorporating real experience into the development of a classroom –based simulation , 2012 .

[11]  Steve Wheeler,et al.  Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education. , 2007, Health information and libraries journal.

[12]  Jennifer Mahon,et al.  Using Second Life to enhance classroom management practice in teacher education , 2010 .

[13]  D. Francis.  Reconceptualising Microteaching as Critical Inquiry , 1997 .

[14]  Leslie Jarmon,et al.  Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[15]  David L. Corsun,et al.  Charting the Experiential Territory: Clarifying Definitions and Uses of Computer Simulation, Games, and Role Play , 2002 .

[16]  Kenneth M. Zeichner.  Rethinking the connections between campus courses and Field experiences in College and University-based teacher education , 2010, Educação (UFSM).

[17]  Maarit Arvaja,et al.  Constructing Knowledge through a Role-Play in a Web-Based Learning Environment , 2003 .

[18]  Sumit Ghosh,et al.  Immersive Virtual Reality Simulations in Nursing Education , 2010, Nursing education perspectives.

[19]  P. Thompson,et al.  Teacher education through open and distance learning , 2012 .

[20]  Edmund T. Emmer,et al.  Handbook of Classroom Management , 2014 .

[21]  M. Brennan,et al.  Sites of contestation over teacher education in Australia , 2008 .

[22]  M. Vick.  “It's a Difficult Matter”1: Historical perspectives on the enduring problem of the practicum in teacher preparation , 2006 .

[23]  James W. Stigler,et al.  The role of lesson analysis in pre-service teacher education: an empirical investigation of teacher learning from a virtual video-based field experience , 2007 .

[24]  Jan Herrington,et al.  An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments , 2000 .

[25]  Donald R. Cruickshank.  The Uses of Simulations in Teacher Preparation , 1988 .

[26]  Guolin Lai,et al.  Exploring the Effectiveness of a Field Experience Program in a Pedagogical Laboratory: The Experience of Teacher Candidates. , 2008 .

[27]  Charles E. Hughes,et al.  Virtual Classrooms: STAR Simulator Building Virtual Environments for Teacher Training in Effective Classroom Management. , 2007 .

[28]  Andrew Fluck,et al.  Engaging training simulations for socially demanding roles , 2011 .

[29]  Jacky Wai-cheong Pow,et al.  The interactive use of a video database in teacher education: Creating a knowledge base for teaching through a learning community , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[30]  Vern Jones,et al.  How Do Teachers Learn to be Effective Classroom Managers , 2006 .

[31]  Linda Darling-Hammond,et al.  Constructing 21st-Century Teacher Education , 2006 .

[32]  Barney Dalgarno,et al.  Branching out through VirtualPREX: Enhancing teaching in second life , 2012 .

[33]  J. Spouse.  Bridging theory and practice in the supervisory relationship: a sociocultural perspective. , 2001, Journal of advanced nursing.

[34]  A Role for Practising Teachers in Initial Teacher Education. , 2001 .

[35]  Steven Warburton,et al.  Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[36]  Jenny S. Wakefield,et al.  Learning and teaching as communicative actions: Improving historical knowledge and cognition through Second Life avatar role play , 2012 .

[37]  Merrelyn Joy Bates,et al.  Work‐integrated curricula in university programs , 2008 .

[38]  G. Macleod.  Microteaching: end of a research era? , 1987 .

[39]  Dwight W. Allen,et al.  MICRO-TEACHING, A DESCRIPTION. , 1967 .

[40]  Robert Heller,et al.  Conversational agents in virtual worlds: Bridging disciplines , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[41]  Michael Williamson,et al.  Developing a virtual physics world , 2012 .

[42]  N. Brown.  Assessment in the Professional Experience Context , 2008, Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice.

[43]  Caroline Mei Lin Ho,et al.  Fostering argumentative knowledge construction through enactive role play in Second Life , 2009, Comput. Educ..

[44]  A. Frager,et al.  Developing instructional competence in field‐based programs: Videotape protocols versus role‐play simulations , 1982 .

[45]  Robyn Beaman,et al.  Recent Research on Troublesome Classroom Behaviour: A Review , 2007 .

[46]  Carolyn M. Evertson,et al.  Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues , 2012 .

[47]  Helen Farley.  Teaching first-year studies in religion students in Second Life: UQ religion bazaar , 2010 .

[48]  Rachel Gurvitch,et al.  The effects of laboratory-based and field-based practicum experience on pre-service teachers' self-efficacy , 2009 .

[49]  F. Rust,et al.  Exploring Roles in Student Teaching Placements , 2002 .

[50]  Dennis Thiessen.  A skillful start to a teaching career: a matter of developing impactful behaviors, reflective practices, or professional knowledge? , 2000 .

[51]  J. Stephenson,et al.  Classroom behaviour management preparation in undergraduate primary teacher education in Australia : A web-based investigation. , 2011 .

[52]  Peter Noonan,et al.  Review of Australian higher education: discussion paper , 2008 .

[53]  E. Frankel,et al.  Can we simulate issues of diversity in early childhood education? Teacher preparation in interpersonal skills , 2003 .

[54]  Matthew Paul Campbell.  Using 3D-virtual worlds to teach decision-making , 2009 .

[55]  Cheng-Chih Wu,et al.  Enhancing the teaching experience of pre‐service teachers through the use of videos in web‐based computer‐mediated communication (CMC) , 2006 .

[56]  Jeanne Allen,et al.  Valuing practice over theory: How beginning teachers re-orient their practice in the transition from the university to the workplace , 2009 .

[57]  David Gibson,et al.  simSchool: an online dynamic simulator for enhancing teacher preparation , 2011, Int. J. Learn. Technol..

[58]  R. Giallo,et al.  Classroom behaviour problems: The relationship between preparedness, classroom experiences, and self-efficacy in graduate and student teachers , 2003 .

[59]  A. Hume.  Primary Connections: Simulating the Classroom in Initial Teacher Education , 2012 .

[60]  Sue Gregory,et al.  Real thinking with virtual hats: A role-playing activity for pre-service teachers in Second Life , 2012 .

[61]  Gerald Girod,et al.  Exploring the Efficacy of the Cook School District Simulation , 2006 .

[62]  R. L. Cornu,et al.  Reconceptualising professional experiences in pre-service teacher education…reconstructing the past to embrace the future , 2008 .

[63]  L. Barnes,et al.  Creating a 21st century nursing work force: designing a bachelor of nursing program in response to the health reform agenda. , 2010, Nurse education today.

[64]  Donguk Cheong,et al.  The effects of practice teaching sessions in second life on the change in pre-service teachers' teaching efficacy , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[65]  Kari Smith,et al.  The place of the practicum in pre‐service teacher education: the voice of the students , 2005 .

[66]  Ian R. Cornford.  Microteaching skill generalization and transfer: Training preservice teachers in introductory lesson skills , 1991 .