Sunday, October 25
10:00 AM-11:00 AM
UTC
Grand Ballroom B

Connecting Worlds: Inspiring Innovation, Vision, Communication, & Motivation using a Virtual Classroom

Virtual Brief Paper ID: 26668
  1. Dr. Maryanne Maisano
    Western Carolina University

Abstract: Generations of learners are familiar with desks and chalkboards being the centerpiece of the classroom, with the teacher as the expositor of information to [hopefully] attentive students. And while that image still persists for most of us, new generations of learners will gradually find this image rather archaic. Poised as an alternative to the current physical classroom, Second Life allows instructors and students to interact, present projects, and learn in an exciting new way. This demonstration will present ways in which one WCU instructor uses this virtual environment to broaden her students’ learning experience.

Objectives

The presenter's recent introduction to Second Life (SL), an Immersive World Learning instrument to her classes, is part of her research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. A work-in-progress; Second Life-Threshold to the Classroom is a perspective on pre-service teacher training. Further involvement in immersive world learning includes the implementation of SL in her online courses as well as Building Bridges” – “Creando Ponti” creates a unique partnership between the students of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC and the students of l’Universita di Sassari in Sardinia, Italy by bringing together diverse people who share ideas, culture, and educational perspectives of culturally responsive teaching. Aspects of teaching and learning that the presenter will address in this presentation include: • Virtual Classroom Development • Simulations and Role-Playing • Distance Learning & Teaching • Simulated “Field” Experiences

Topical Outline

• There are so many possibilities and advantages of connecting traditional classroom preparation of pre-service teachers with the expansive opportunities for classroom instruction provided through the technology of immersive world learning. • The classroom, as we know it, is a limited setting for pre-service teachers to practice teaching simulations and to role-play not only the teacher, but also the learners. • The addition of SL to pre-service teacher preparation is designed by its structure to foster and promote continuous interactions and role-playing, based on solving problems that confront learners and learning, stretching their minds to be disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical. • Adding SL “field trips” to a school day, while not quite reality, can be a high-level substitute that expands horizons and offers visualizations beyond those that can be provided in textbooks and other written materials. A virtual visit to a courthouse with its external and internal settings can create a sense of exultation, enhanced by a scenario of role-playing set in an historic period in a new georgraphic locations populated by “characters” of a different era and maybe speaking a different language that is now simultaneously translated on the computer screen.

Prerequisites

Intended audience may include but not limited to University and college professors teaching face-to-face classes or online courses, teacher training facilitators, pre-service teacher seminar leaders and educational professional development instructors.

Experience Level

Beginner

Qualifications

Dr. Maryanne Maisano, currently a Visiting Assistant Professor serving in the Department of Elementary and Middle Grades Education at Western Carolina University, strives to make a positive impact, focusing on implementing and sustaining educational change, in the lives of her students Dr. Maisano brings a history of educational involvement in both public and private education, from being a classroom teacher to creating her own private school dedicated to the principles of diversity, social justice, and community participation which is described in a paper: A Work of A.R.T. A Cross-Cultural Model for Individualizing Instruction, to be published in the next issue of American Journal of Educational Studies for the American Institute of Higher Education.
No presider for this session.
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