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VirtualPREX: Providing Virtual Professional Experience for Pre-Service Teachers

Yvonne Masters, Sue Gregory, Barney Dalgarno, Torsten Reiners, Vicki Knox

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterResearch

Abstract

Professional experience (or practicum) is problematic within teacher education courses because preparation for, and the quality of, placements can be inconsistent. Preservice teachers can commence their first placement without some of the requisite skills and off-campus pre-service teachers do not always have opportunities to practise any ski lls at all pre-placement. VirtualPREX is an innovative approach to professional experience preparation, providing opportunities for practice in a virtual world such as Second Life . In this chapter the authors outline the rationale for this innovation and then report on the data from the pilot trials of the VirtualPREX role plays where pre-service teachers role-played the teacher and students in a Second Life virtual classroom. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the next steps in the project.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationVirtual Worlds for Online Learning: Cases and Applications
EditorsSue Gregory, Mark J W Lee, Barney Dalgarno, Belinda Tynan
Place of PublicationNew York, United States of America
PublisherNova Science Publishers, Inc
Pages3-24
Edition1
ISBN (Print)9781634821490, 9781634821940
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Publication series

NameEducation in a Competitive and Globalizing World

Keywords

  • Higher Education
  • Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators
  • Educational Technology and Computing

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