VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life

Virtual worlds are accepted as alternative learning environments and have been incorporated into the repertoire of higher education teaching and learning strategies for more than a decade. Numerous reports exist regarding the efficacy of this form of learning for both student engagement and enhance...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Masters, A., Gregory, S., Reiners, Torsten, Knox, V., Dalgarno, B.
Other Authors: Christina DeCoursey
Format: Book Chapter
Published: Inter-Disciplinary Press 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25515
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author Masters, A.
Gregory, S.
Reiners, Torsten
Knox, V.
Dalgarno, B.
author2 Christina DeCoursey
author_facet Christina DeCoursey
Masters, A.
Gregory, S.
Reiners, Torsten
Knox, V.
Dalgarno, B.
author_sort Masters, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Virtual worlds are accepted as alternative learning environments and have been incorporated into the repertoire of higher education teaching and learning strategies for more than a decade. Numerous reports exist regarding the efficacy of this form of learning for both student engagement and enhanced student outcomes. The immersive affordances of these worlds are also being used to enhance another aspect of many higher education courses; work integrated learning. This form of learning, also referred to as practicum, placement, practice teaching and professional experience, is a core component of teacher education courses. Research has highlighted quality preparation for practice teaching (or lack thereof) as problematic, necessitating new approaches to teacher preparation. The active experiential learning affordances of virtual world technologies have led to the development of 3D virtual classrooms and a playground designed to be effective spaces for developing a range of critical teaching skills. Pre-service teachers have opportunities, through interaction in and with the virtual environment, to practice skills and apply concepts in a realistic setting that is risk free. In this chapter, the authors discuss the problems of preparation for practice teaching and the ways in which the virtual world of Second Life is being utilised as a site for enhanced teacher preparation.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-255152023-02-27T07:34:30Z VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life Masters, A. Gregory, S. Reiners, Torsten Knox, V. Dalgarno, B. Christina DeCoursey Shana Garrett student outcomes practice teaching VirtualPREX Second Life virtual worlds work integrated learning Virtual worlds are accepted as alternative learning environments and have been incorporated into the repertoire of higher education teaching and learning strategies for more than a decade. Numerous reports exist regarding the efficacy of this form of learning for both student engagement and enhanced student outcomes. The immersive affordances of these worlds are also being used to enhance another aspect of many higher education courses; work integrated learning. This form of learning, also referred to as practicum, placement, practice teaching and professional experience, is a core component of teacher education courses. Research has highlighted quality preparation for practice teaching (or lack thereof) as problematic, necessitating new approaches to teacher preparation. The active experiential learning affordances of virtual world technologies have led to the development of 3D virtual classrooms and a playground designed to be effective spaces for developing a range of critical teaching skills. Pre-service teachers have opportunities, through interaction in and with the virtual environment, to practice skills and apply concepts in a realistic setting that is risk free. In this chapter, the authors discuss the problems of preparation for practice teaching and the ways in which the virtual world of Second Life is being utilised as a site for enhanced teacher preparation. 2014 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25515 Inter-Disciplinary Press restricted
spellingShingle student outcomes
practice teaching
VirtualPREX
Second Life
virtual worlds
work integrated learning
Masters, A.
Gregory, S.
Reiners, Torsten
Knox, V.
Dalgarno, B.
VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title_full VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title_fullStr VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title_full_unstemmed VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title_short VirtualPREX: Developing Teaching Skills in Second Life
title_sort virtualprex: developing teaching skills in second life
topic student outcomes
practice teaching
VirtualPREX
Second Life
virtual worlds
work integrated learning
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25515