Real thinking with virtual hats: A role-playing activity for pre-service teachers in 'Second Life'

Title
Real thinking with virtual hats: A role-playing activity for pre-service teachers in 'Second Life'
Publication Date
2012
Author(s)
Gregory, Sue
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0417-8266
Email: sgregor4@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:sgregor4
Masters, Yvonne
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1120-7950
Email: ymasters@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ymasters
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE)
Place of publication
Australia
UNE publication id
une:10461
Abstract
Role-plays in a virtual world hold tremendous potential for higher education because they allow synchronous, immersive participation by students located across the globe. They also have the added advantage of allowing students to adopt roles and carry out tasks that are not possible in the real world. In this article, a project that involved pre-service teachers carrying out role-plays based on de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats' framework is presented. A pilot study was carried out over two years with on-campus students, who performed the role-plays both in a real-life, physical setting and within the virtual world of 'Second Life'. The activity has since been extended to off-campus students exclusively using 'Second Life'. The authors report selected quantitative and qualitative survey data from the pilot study that provide insight into students' perceptions of this style of learning, and discuss the challenges that were encountered and how they were overcome. The future of virtual world-based role-playing as a strategy for teaching and learning is discussed, with a focus on its application to distance education contexts.
Link
Citation
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(Special Issue 3), p. 420-440
ISSN
1449-5554
1449-3098
Start page
420
End page
440

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