Considering immersive technology in relation to pre-service teacher education*

*Note that I am referring to classroom pedagogical responses in general, not subject or discipline specific. This can be seen from the subject description in which I am teaching presently:

This subject will introduce you to key philosophical, sociological, political and historical underpinnings of education and educational research in the Australian context. 

 University Handbook entry for Educational Foundations EDUC90901.

Or prior to that: Health, Wellbeing and Inclusive Education:

Students will engage in an exploration of the relationship between learning, learning outcomes and well-being. Individual wellbeing and identity and wellbeing from ecological, Indigenous and intercultural perspectives will be explored. Students will investigate learning environments and how these impact on learner well-being and in turn learning.

The unit also explores ways to create safe, secure and nurturing learning environments for all children and young people that enhance positive learner engagement

Unit | Deakin (my emphasis)

In our #EDUC90970 Facilitating Online Learning course (professional development program) we have been exploring possibilities in incorporating Immersive Technology such as Virtual Reality (VR) and (XR) as part of the Higher Education (HE) learning experience.

See my previous post: MODULE 7: IMMERSIVE REALITY – PRE AND POST REFLECTIONS

Today I joined the inaugural MCSHE SoTEL Showcase #1 Webinar in which four presentations were given by UniMelbourne academic staff about how they have been using ‘Technology Enhanced Learning’ in their various fields.

Note: SoTEL – SOTEL | Melbourne CSHE Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning research network (unimelb.edu.au)

I’m always impressed when I see what others are doing to set up innovative programmes in their discipline areas. It is clear from each of the presentations that whilst there are things to learn, there are also important considerations regarding purpose – using technology that is available, as well as the purpose or educational/professional outcomes. Each of the presenters was working in a team – clearly a crucial aspect in order to combine technical expertise of different kinds – having a great idea for building a platform and tool for your learners, also requires the technical expertise of others (not mentioning the funding required) and so a great idea in and of itself is not going to enough to ‘get it off the ground’.

As per DBR (Design Based Research) Principles:

Design Principle 2: The Collaboration that Is Essential to Instantiating Authentic Tasks-Based Learning Strategies Online Is a New Experience for Most Learners and Must Be Carefully Nurtured (Kartoğlu et al, 2020)

… collaboration is crucial. This principle is sort of obvious, but in my personal situation (still working from home, teaching contract work only, no real links or collaborative possibilities in my own faculty, let alone across all of the HE institutions that I have worked at over the previous years), this is an ongoing challenge.

I have been producing online materials for years, most, if not all, on an individual basis, or working with a team that dissipates at the end of my contract. Maybe this is my own inability to make the right connections, or to follow up on possible collaborative opportunities – this always amuses me as I teach and operate in ways that always encourages and tries to facilitate any opportunities for students to work together in teams, and in fact get very envious of those who manage to co-publish and co-research together! (Personality? Independence? Pride? Stubbornness? Inability to commit???? Or what about practical elements, the ongoing need to make money, support a family, run a household, managing a chronic health condition)

But back to Pre-Service Teacher Education. When Pre-Service teacher educators talk about ‘immersive’ or ‘experiential’ learning, they are usually referring to experiences in a classroom – practical experience, practicums or placements. That is, traditional modes of ‘placement in situ’, and having a ‘mentor’ to help guide them (and also to formally assess their competence). This experience gives pre-service teachers an opportunity to observe interactions, to get to know and to work directly with the learners, to experience the moment to moment pedagogical decision making of practising teachers, and most interestingly for me, get to understand some of the complexities in the classroom beyond their teaching discipline.

Graziano (2017) notes the limited literature on the use of contemporary immersive technologies with preservice teachers.  He discusses a small (N=27) study with undergraduate preservice teachers’ reactions to creating and inter-facing with immersive technology. Of course they found it ‘relevant to their needs and interests’. However, as I keep on finding, this related to ‘teacher instructional design’ and teacher educators becoming familiar with immersive technologies in order to integrate it into teacher preparation curricula. Important work but not my key interest.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319171811_Immersive_Technology_Motivational_Reactions_from_Preservice_Teachers(15) (PDF) Immersive Technology: Motivational Reactions from Preservice Teachers (researchgate.net)

What I am looking for…

I can find numerous articles about bringing technology into pre-service teacher education to improve their skills in integrating technology into lesson planning, instruction, assessment, student interaction and collaborative work, discipline immersion… But in searching, I have realised that what I am looking for is more particular to my area of interest and expertise, and this relates to understanding and working appropriately with difference in the classroom. I’m not referring to psychology here, I am thinking about social situations, inclusive practices, culturally responsive and relational pedagogies. This is where I want to explore possibilities to integrate immersive technology, particularly since 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns a time in which all face to face teaching was put on pause, and actual teacher practicums were cancelled and/or delayed. I was working with Pre-service teachers in their second year of their Masters of Teaching who had never been in a classroom since their own schooling.

The AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching & School Leadership) site ‘articulates what classroom practice looks like…’ . and provides a resource guide that ‘aid[s] classroom observation’. ACARA (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) . There are many other online samples (short videos of interactions, examples from practice, ‘expert’ and novice teachers talking about their experiences etc.) that have been produced in order to help pre- and practising teachers to both inform and to assist them in ‘gathering evidence’ to demonstrate their competence in meeting of the AISTL Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APSTs).

(See relevant discussion re AITSL in previous post: Module-7-Immersive-Reality-Pre-and-Post-Reflections).

Numerous video case studies are integrated with the materials and advice provided on the AISL site. They are expertly produced and provide selected examples to illustrate practice.

https://www.aitsl.edu.au/deliver-ite-programs/learn-about-ite-accreditation-reform/improved-professional-experience-for-ite-students/effective-professional-experience-case-studies

State and Territory Departments of Education contain a huge range of online materials, videos, links, case studies, classroom exemplars, curriculum support materials etc. (Find links here…) The number and range of these sources are frankly, quite overwhelming – but useful to access as required, or advised.

Halt … and suspend !!!!! (to be continued…)

I’m going to stop adding to this post now as I am moving further off topic, and in fact, being prompted to write and publish other posts while this one awaits in draft form! (See new page: messy filing cabinets…my mind)

REFERENCES:

Graziano, KJ (2017) Immersive Technology: Motivational Reactions from Preservice Teachers, Internet Learning, V6, no.1 DOI: 10.18278/il.6.1.4

Kartoğlu, Ümit, Siagian, Ria Christine, & Reeves, Thomas C. (2020). Creating a “good clinical practices inspection” authentic online learning environment through educational design research. TechTrends : for leaders in education & training, 1-12. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00509-0

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