The need for choice and control: Preparing the digital generation to be the next generation of teachers

. The softwarewas developed to enable pre-service teachers to interact with a virtual classroomenvironment as they assume the role of the teacher. The project built on the research ofHerrington, Oliver and Reeves (2003) by investigating how the design elements ofauthentic learning environments they identified could be operationalised in simulationsoftware to engage pre-service teachers in understanding the complex decisions needed toplan and implement reading and writing experiences for young children.With the support of a large grant from the Australian Research Council entitled: