Teaching is complex, requiring in excess of 3000 decisions each day in the classroom, reports Ferry and Kervin (2007). This poses serious challenges to pre-service teacher education, aggravated by the theoretical education often fail to prepare students for the practicalities of the classroom. Simulated (virtual) classrooms are seen as a means to prepare students for their future role as teachers.
Ferry and Kervin (2007: 190) reports that a team of five University of Wollongong lecturers and two research students work together for a year to produce a funding proposal. A further six months got devoted to plan the development of the simulation. The development of the simulation comprises a number of stages/processes:
Step |
Description |
Duration |
Budget |
|
1 |
Planning the simulation — the development of:
|
Nine (9) months |
$5 000 for teaching relief |
|
2 |
Using the teacher-created script to shape prototype version 1 of the software:
|
Twelve (12) months |
project manager, teaching relief, programming & graphic design |
|
3 |
Trial of the simulation software |
Two (2) months |
$10 000 project manager, teaching relief & programming |
|
4 |
Refining the software |
Nine (9) months |
$60 000 project manager, programming & graphic design |
|
5 |
Authenticating the virtual kindergarden experiences |
Six (6) months |
$10 000 project manager |
|
6 |
Trial of the software |
Three (3) months |
$5 000 project manager, teaching relief & programming |
|
|
Totals: |
18 & 41 months |
$190 000 |
|
StellaTM had been chosen during the planning phase as architecture for the simulation— “STELLA® offers a practical way to dynamically visualize and communicate how complex systems and ideas really work” (ISEE Systems, Inc.). The project-team further started the ‘story’—the teacher narrative for the simulation with the following basic flow:
Teacher organises the day |
|
Tasks before the class starts |
|
Learning & teaching experiences |
|
End of literacy L&T |
|
|
|
Two distinct cycle typess (management; plus teaching & learning) were identified to incorporate into the STELLA® software:
Management cycles |
Teaching and learning cycles |
1. The organisation of the classroom |
5. Sequencing episode |
2. The start of the day |
6. Modelled reading episode |
3. The late arrival of a student |
7. Modelled writing episode |
4. Random decisions |
8. Retell of a familiar story episode |
Ferry, B & Kervin, L. 2007. Developing an online classroom simulation to support a pre-service teacher education program. In D Gibson; C Aldrich & M Prensky. 2007. Games and simulations in online learning: research and development frameworks (pp 189 – 205). Hershey: Information Science Publishing.
ISEE Systems, Inc. STELLA Systems Thinking for Education and Research. Download STELLA_productsheet
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