Now showing 1 - 10 of 18
  • Publication
    VirtualPREX: Providing Virtual Professional Experience for Pre-Service Teachers
    (Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2015) ; ;
    Dalgarno, Barney
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    Reiners, Torsten
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    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.
  • Publication
    How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?
    (University of Tasmania, 2011) ; ;
    Wood, Denise
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    Hillier, Mathew
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    Stokes-Thompson, Frederick
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    Bogdanovych, Anton
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    Butler, Des
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    Hay, Lyn
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    Jegathesan, Jay Jay
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    Flintoff, Kim
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    Schutt, Stefan
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    Linegar, Dale
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    Alderton, Robyn
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    Cram, Andrew
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    Orwin, Lindy McKeown
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    Meredith, Grant
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    McCormick, Debbie
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    Collins, Francesca
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    Grenfell, Jenny
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    Zagami, Jason
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    Ellis, Allan
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    Jacka, Lisa
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    Campbell, John
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    Larson, Ian
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    Fluck, Andrew
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    Thomas, Angela
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    Farley, Helen
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    Muldoon, Nona
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    Abbas, Ali
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    Sinnappan, Suku
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    Neville, Katrina
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    Burnett, Ian
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    Aitken, Ashley
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    Simoff, Simeon
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    Scutter, Sheila
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    Wang, Xiangyu
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    Souter, Kay
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    Ellis, David
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    Salomon, Mandy
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    Wadley, Greg
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    Jacobson, Michael
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    Newstead, Anne
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    Hayes, Gary
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    Grant, Scott
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    Yusupova, Alyona
    Over the past decade, teaching and learning in virtual worlds has been at the forefront of many higher education institutions around the world. The DEHub Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) consisting of Australian and New Zealand higher education academics was formed in 2009. These educators are investigating the role that virtual worlds play in the future of education and actively changing the direction of their own teaching practice and curricula. 47 academics reporting on 28 Australian higher education institutions present an overview of how they have changed directions through the effective use of virtual worlds for diverse teaching and learning activities such as business scenarios and virtual excursions, role-play simulations, experimentation and language development. The case studies offer insights into the ways in which institutions are continuing to change directions in their teaching to meet changing demands for innovative teaching, learning and research in virtual worlds. This paper highlights the ways in which the authors are using virtual worlds to create opportunities for rich, immersive and authentic activities that would be difficult or not possible to achieve through more traditional approaches.
  • Publication
    Grappling with Multiplicity: A Framework for Teacher Formation
    (Edith Cowan University, 2015) ;
    On enrolment in a teacher education course, pre-service teachers embark on a complex voyage of self and professional discovery. In an attempt to assist them grapple with the multiple definitions of a 'good' teacher, the authors developed a conceptual framework that captures core elements of change, transition and transformation. Frameworks, whether descriptive, explanatory or predictive, inform the knowledge base for educational research and practice. Irrespective of the degree of sophistication of the framework, from a simple concept to a more multi-layered consideration, there is the capacity to present complexity in a more manageable form. The ideas, concepts and constructs charted through the authors' framework include notions of teacher, teacher identity, professionalism, theory-practice divides, critical reflection and professional teaching standards. Grounded in the concepts of 'self', 'other', and 'context', the framework provides a pedagogical tool for addressing all aspects of a mandatory unit of study related to professional classroom practice.
  • Publication
    "A Life-Changing Experience": Second Life as a Transformative Learning Space
    (International Academic Forum, 2012) ;
    Higher education teaching traditionally occurred, and to some extent still does, in face-to-face physical settings (often lecture theatres) with an academic and a group of students. In recent decades, the emphasis has shifted to learning communities and the mode of delivery has evolved from traditional face-to-face to online. This occurs either blended with face-to-face or exclusively online, most commonly through the medium of a learning management system. For students who have been studying by distance education, this has frequently been an isolating, if not alienating, experience. At the University of New England, Australia, transformative learning spaces have been created in the virtual world of Second Life. These spaces have proven to engage students in their learning and provide opportunities for interaction that can span both time and space. In doing this, learning communities and a sense of belonging have been fostered. Data from four research projects are presented in this paper, demonstrating how virtual world learning spaces have transformed learning for students. From the data, it is argued that learning in a virtual world lessens the sense of isolation and heightens the sense of belonging to a learning community. It is also argued that virtual world learning increases engagement and provides opportunities for students removed from each other geographically to work together to meet learning outcomes. The paper is concluded with a discussion of how virtual world learning spaces have the capacity to provide for global sharing of both learning and teaching.
  • Publication
    Six Hats in Second Life: Enhancing Preservice Teacher Learning in a Virtual World
    A well known teaching and learning strategy for teachers is Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'. Our research examined the engagement and understanding of first year preservice teachers being taught the theory and practice of this strategy through both on-campus and Second Life (virtual) workshops. In both workshops, the six thinking hats were used to judge student response to the use of this approach in their teaching. This pilot study provides insights into the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning. The paper clarifies methodological issues such as why the Six Thinking Hats were used and the controls that were put in place between real life and Second Life workshops. The results, the challenges that were encountered, the future plans for virtual classrooms, particularly in the area of distance education, and whether this study can be generalised beyond preservice teacher education is discussed.
  • Publication
    Sustaining the future through virtual worlds
    (Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 2012) ; ;
    Orwin, Lindy
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    Scutter, Shiela
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    Warren, Ian
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    Steel, Caroline
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    Neundorf, Penny
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    Bower, Matt
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    Miller, Charlynn
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    Mathews, Shane
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    Butler, Des
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    Hillier, Mathew
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    Hearns, Merle
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    Garcia, Jaime
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    Jegathesan, Jay Jay
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    Brown, Ross
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    Meredith, Grant
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    Muir-Cochran, Eimear
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    Flintoff, Kim
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    Grant, Scott
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    Atkins, Clare
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    Gaukrodger, Belma
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    Jacka, Lisa
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    Giovanangeli, Angela
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    Le Rossignol, Karen
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    Larson, Ian
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    Cram, Andrew
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    Linegar, Dale
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    Wang, Xiangyu
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    Muir, Tracey
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    Cleland, Ben
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    Paillat, Edith
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    Grenfell, Jenny
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    Schutt, Stefan
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    Hay, Lyn
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    Gu, Ning
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    Williams, Anthony
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    Simoff, Simeon
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    Bogdanovych, Anton
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    McCarthy, Angela
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    Ellis, David
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    Stokes-Thompson, Frederick
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    Wood, Denise
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    Farley, Helen
    Virtual worlds (VWs) continue to be used extensively in Australia and New Zealand higher education institutions although the tendency towards making unrealistic claims of efficacy and popularity appears to be over. Some educators at higher education institutions continue to use VWs in the same way as they have done in the past; others are exploring a range of different VWs or using them in new ways; whilst some are opting out altogether. This paper presents an overview of how 46 educators from some 26 institutions see VWs as an opportunity to sustain higher education. The positives and negatives of using VWs are discussed.
  • Publication
    Second Life and Higher Education: New Opportunities for Teaching and Learning
    (Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011) ;
    Over time, higher education has been repositioned in terms of the delivery of courses. While traditional face-to-face teaching still occurs, there has been a major shift to encompass not only some online teaching and learning approaches for on-campus (internal) students, but also the delivery of courses wholly online to off-campus (distance education/external) students. This has necessitated adjustments in the way higher education institutions use technology for teaching and learning. At the University of New England (Australia) the authors have been researching the efficacy of one virtual world, Second Life, for teaching and learning. Two research pilots have provided data to demonstrate that students were engaged in their learning and appreciative of this innovative approach to teaching and learning online. In 2010, the authors commenced a new research project to ascertain whether students learning via this virtual world environment performed better in their assessment tasks than those students who used a traditional learning management system. Data indicate that this is the case. In this chapter, the current research project is firstly situated within the range of research conducted by the authors in Second Life. Its aims are then outlined, the research methods described and one aspect of the data presented and analysed. Indications for future research are then explored.
  • Publication
    Embedding an institution-wide capacity building opportunity around transition pedagogy: First Year Teaching and Learning Network Coordinators
    A First Year Teaching and Learning Network was established in a regional university with a strong focus on distance education for a very diverse student cohort. The purpose of the Network, which consisted of a Coordinator in each of nine schools, was to support staff teaching students transitioning into tertiary education. The paper explores the theoretical bases of the structure, its current method of operation, its impact so far, and future plans. The development of the Network illustrates how a university can consciously embed opportunities for staff to take ownership of transition pedagogy and thus encourage widespread capacity building amongst their peers. The experiences of the Network in its first two years provide a case study of how institutional support for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, in particular scholarship around capacity building, can be used as a mechanism to promote both staff and student engagement with transition pedagogy resulting in a shift from a second generation approach towards a third generation approach to transition.
  • Publication
    PST Online: Learner voices guiding learning design
    (Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), 2016) ; ;
    Online teaching has become more pervasive throughout the 21st century, partly a result of new technologies allowing for interactive online learning environments and partly to meet the needs of students who cannot access traditional face-to-face classrooms for all or part of their schooling. Pre-service teacher education has lagged behind this uptake in online teaching, failing to prepare new graduate teachers for the possibility of teaching wholly online to students in a range of learning environments. Pre-Service Teachers Online is a website designed to address this gap by providing pre-service teachers with resources to assist in building online teaching skills. Current pre-service teachers' awareness of online teaching skills were sought, providing the foundation for the website. Presented is how the website was designed to meet identified pre-service teachers' needs allowing participants to reflectively consider how their current perceptions of teaching practices could apply in a blended or fully online classroom model.
  • Publication
    VirtualPREX: Innovative assessment using a 3D virtual world with pre-service teachers - Final Report 2013
    (Australian Government, Office for Learning and Teaching, 2013) ;
    Dalgarno, Barney
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    Crisp, Geoffrey
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    Reiners, Torsten
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    Dreher, Heinz
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    Australian Government, Office for Learning & Teaching
    The higher education community has embraced the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning. There have been many publications produced over recent years on the efficacy of virtual worlds as a teaching and learning tool. However, even though there has been increased usage, there has not been comprehensive research on using a virtual world to practise teaching in a way that is simple to use and provides a variety of scenarios for use by educators in a risk-free environment. VirtualPREX, the term coined for this project, provides this. The VirtualPREX project, part of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) two year project grant, explored the validity of pre-service teachers using a virtual world to practise teaching skills prior to undertaking professional experience. Second Life was the virtual world chosen for this research as it is a tested environment and three of the participating institutions jointly owned land that could house the VirtualPREX classrooms. Additionally, a number of the project team were familiar with the Second Life environment. A classroom and playground theme had already been created, making it an ideal platform for the creation of more VirtualPREX classrooms. ... This report draws on research conducted by project team members from UNE, CSU, Curtin, RMIT and ACU over the two years from 2011 to 2012. Data was collected from surveys, observations and discussions. The research sought to examine the virtual world space created for the VirtualPREX project for pre-service teachers to undertake practice teaching and assessable tasks. The aim was to develop the space, the role-play scenarios and bots for teaching in an authentic setting to be used worldwide upon completion. The study set out to provide the higher education community with guidelines and recommendations to encourage the use of the virtual world classrooms and assessable tasks with pre-service teachers.