Pilot in Weber classes

The team received funding from the deans of the Moyes College of Education and Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, the Presidential Innovative Teaching Grant and the Academic Resources and Computing Committee to pilot the Mursion-based simulated role playing in classes this year.

In fall 2020, simulations were done in three classes: COMM 3060 Listening and Interviewing, COMM 3890 The Signpost, and EDUC 3240.

The team has not yet come up with a consistent assessment tool. Below are results from this modest beginning.

Simulation: Persuasion and Counseling Scenarios

Quantitative data

1 How effective compared to roleplaying with classmates?

Best with avatars - 20; Best with classmates - 3; Not sure - 5

2 Do YOU want to roleplay with avatars for class observation?

No - 13; Yes - 8; Not sure - 7

3 How would your prefer to process the experience after roleplaying?

With the interviewee avatar - 15

In breakout groups - 5

With the instructor - 5

With the whole class - 3

4 How frequently would you like to use the avatars in roleplays?

One roleplay for each interview type (2 classes) - 11

Everyone should get to roleplay once - 7

Not sure, but more than 2 classes - 5

Only 1 class period - 2

Don’t use avatars at all - 3

Qualitative data

What was the greatest lesson or takeaway [about recruiting or performance appraisal interviews] from the simulated experiences?

• Very impressed with the sim

Think it could have been a little difficult to be the one doing the interview.

It allows for you to be more professional, instead of an interview with a classmate.

Be more realistic than if it was a classmate.

Getting professional feedback.

• Each interview is going to be different.

You must be prepared to face whatever circumstance is thrown your way. You must learn to adjust.

You need to know the time limits of the interview.

It is helpful to receive feedback from the actual interviewee.

It is important to receive detailed information.

• Student A: Has had experience with performance interviews before where she had to fill out the form before the interview. She said that if simulated experiences adopted that way of conducting performance interviews that would be beneficial for everyone involved.

Student B: Liked how grades were given based on different criteria.

Student C: A lot easier when people know their employees. Puts context to the criteria. Simulated interviews are more difficult because the people participating in the interview didn’t know each other.

Group: For the most part, the group agreed that both sides should be completing the review. This would give an opportunity for both parties to provide feedback.

• This experience was more beneficial than we had thought it would be. It was a good experience with someone who was truly trying to act the part of the interviewee. Which then allowed the observers to learn.

• The group felt the simulation with a professional was very beneficial. Rather than being more casual, as it might be if we were interviewing friends or classmates, we felt this was a very good way to practice interviews. The thing which everyone felt was difficult was the limited information provided to the student conducting the interview. They felt more probes were needed in both interviews.

What suggestions do you have for these simulations to better meet your needs?

• More detailed resume.

Be more specific on what issues need to be discussed.

• Know how much time you have as an interviewer.

Immediate feedback from sim specialist.

Know more about the actual company.

• Student A: Difficult to know because this is the first time she has ever seen one of these interviews. Enjoy learning from others.

Student B: would have a difficult time participating in front of the whole class. Might have been more beneficial if it was one-on-one. Important to learn from one's own mistakes.

• The simulation was helpful. What could make it more powerful for those participating is to try the interview again after feedback is received. This way they can ensure they understood the feedback and put it into correct use.

• More questions, probes, We felt having coaching notes from the past six months would have been helpful.

Interaction was very involved, realistic.

A more detailed resume and possible cover letter for the interviewer to refer to. (She did great referring to what she had.)

The Signpost used the Mursion simulation to role play interviewing a source for an article. The source in the simulation was a health care worker who was a Weber alum and a former athlete. Two students engaged in the simulation with feedback from the class in between each. Eighteen students were in the class. 89% of them had never seen a simulated role play before. They provided the following feedback.

How comfortable were you with the simulation:

• Very comfortable 6%

• Comfortable 39%

• Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable 39%

• Uncomfortable 17%

• Very uncomfortable 0%

Did you find the simulation helpful? Why or why not?

I thought it was interesting to know that there is technology that you can actively practice.

I thought it was a little strange how we were talking to an AI rather than just role-playing as a interviewer/interviewee

I think it was helpful. I think it will help to make us more comfortable.

Yes, the interaction was amazing. It seems as though it would be so helpful in doing interviews.

It was really a great opportunity to evaluate interviewing techniques. I loved being able to see how other students conduct interviews in a "real world" situation.

I felt it would be very helpful for those practicing to interview others and learn to communicate better with sources.

I found this simulation to be very helpful. It gives people a chance to practice interviewing before their first real interview. I think that it's especially helpful in times like these because we aren't really able to get together with others to practice so this is a really good alternative.

Yeah I think it was definitely helpful. It's good interviewing-on-the-fly practice.

The simulation was helpful. It is nice to be able to practice interviews.

Yes, it was really different but I felt more comfortable the second time we did the interview.

Yes. If someone has never interviewed another person, this sim can help prepare them for an interview.

Yes. It was cool to see a different way of doing things.

This simulation was very helpful! This would have been a great tool for me when first starting out as a student journalist. The interaction with the simulation was smooth, and give great answers and reactions.

I think it was a helpful experience because the AI (was it artificial intelligence? Or was there someone behind the voice saying the answers?) responded extremely similarly to a human and was able to understand questions. It makes for a more accurate role play, in my opinion, than someone trying to makeup answers. It was amazing technology!

Yes, it was a creative way to practice interviews and develop more communication skills.

I had to leave after the first interview, but it was helpful to see how someone else performs an interview.

What were your greatest lessons or takeaways from the simulated experience?

I learned how the interview process goes on because as a photographer we really don’t get to see that much. I feel like I could do it if I was asked to.

I learned that the interviewer should loosely guide the conversation towards whatever makes the interviewee most comfortable in order to get the most information out of them.

That you sometimes have to ask questions you didn't prepare.

As silly as it sounds, when I’m doing an interview I always forget to ask about their name and spelling. I KNOW how important that is with an interview. I already know their names so, therefore, I skip it so that was super helpful to hear others. Also, hearing others do interviews helped me. I liked hearing them asking questions that would end up leading into the next subject, it was very interesting and pretty amazing that this kind of technology is at our fingertips

It's important to ask personal questions as well. I tend to jump straight into questions about why I'm there, but taking a minute to ask close ended questions and questions about their lives can allow for other story ideas as well as added comfort in an interview.

It's important to make sure the questions that are being asked will get the answer that is desired and to ask a variety of questions to get to that point.

My biggest takeaway from this experience was that even a quick, last second interview is important for expanding and enriching your story as long as there are good quotes you can include.

That being curious in nature, is invaluable as a journalist. Sometimes you have to ask questions on the fly and if you're curious by nature, this is easy.

I don't have a strong reaction to the simulation other than it was a good interview tool.

Not to over elaborate the question too much

When I interviewed people I did not have any information as to how I looked, my behaviors or how I portrayed myself. The sim can provide someone with feedback for self improvement.

The world is evolving and it’s crazy how fast it is.

My takeaway was that asking questions to a real person can be intimidating, but practicing, even with yourself, can be a great resource. Also taking your time to listen to responses of the person and build off what they said can help you get a broader scope for your story.

I always prepare questions before I go into an interview and I don't often deviate from those. Watching this experience reminded me that I should practice listening better so that I can ask follow up questions, or other questions that occur to me as the interview is going.

There is a lot questions that we can ask; however, we always have to start with basic questions about their names and positions when we meet a person for the first time.

Ask more of a variety of questions and follow up questions.

Do you have any suggestions so that these simulations could continue to or better meet your needs?

I don’t know if they already have it but having different topics would be useful

Maybe just more experience with them.

Can you use this technology at home for practice?

No, it was pretty on point.

Honestly, i thought it was fantastic! I couldn't figure out if it was an actual person who was talking for the simulation. I saw the lady that was there, but I'm sure she wasn't actually speaking. She was probably clicking buttons, but that's still a phenomenal simulation! I loved it.

If a simulation could be more specific to campus, such as a university president or faculty senate lead, I think it would help get students comfortable with interviewing someone with a higher position.

Off the top of my head I don't have any suggestions. I think that this simulation did really well for my needs and helped me better understand what an interview might look like. One thing that I think that might help make it better would be to make this simulation more well known as I had never heard of it before today.

Maybe give the interviewers a time/question limit so they can prioritize the most important questions and not leave those important questions out.

No suggestions.

Maybe individualized simulations?

I think they would be a great tool to practice with to sharpen interview skills.

I think the hardest part was just the internet connection.

I think this simulation was pretty advanced. I have never seen anything like this. It was a little delayed but that's just a quirk of technology.

Please change the voice. It sounded like the altered voice a serial killer would use on a threatening phone call in a horror movie. It was very distracting. (That's what made it uncomfortable for me.)

Nope.

Students created a 10-minute lesson plan and presented it to the simulated class of avatars while their peers watched.

Questions as a guide for reflection:

1. How did you feel to teach as a teacher in virtual teaching?

2. Did you notice the diversity of students? How does it affect your teaching?

3. Was it useful to practice teaching the reading instruction in a virtual setting?

4. Do you think this virtual teaching experience helps you grow as a teacher?

5. How was this virtual teaching experience similar to or different from your practicum experience?

6. Do you think you can “transfer” the knowledge and skill that you developed in this virtual setting into the actual classroom?

7. Any suggestions for the future teacher candidates to use this virtual teaching experience in a meaningful way?

Reflections from students:

Student A

This virtual lesson was definitely interesting. It wasn't at all like what I expected. Like others, I was expecting to teach my peers and be able to have them do activities in their home and recall information previous talked about. Especially as the first group, it would have been nice to have information such as student can ask and questions. I do think I can transfer knowledge I gained through this experience. This made me become more aware of communicating with students what they need to bring to the Zoom meeting. I don't think this experience is like what teachers are currently experiencing teaching online. The students would be on their own computers, experiencing their own technical difficulties. Like mentioned above, students would need their materials. You have to keep the students engaged while they are in their own spaces or while their family is around. I feel like teaching online would not be like the simulation.

Student B

I feel that being a teacher and conducting a lesson in a virtual format went much better than I was expecting. I have always felt a little apprehensive about teaching online due to the fact that many different factors could go wrong or missing such as observing student engagement and technological issues. However, I do feel that this opportunity went well and I enjoyed having the opportunity to engage and interact with the students over a virtual setting.

I feel I was able to observe many differences within each student and I feel that they were able to showcase and reflect their different learning styles. One student I noticed asked about the different languages spoken in a lesson and they were able to share the language that they speak at home. This affects my teaching because I need to ensure that I am differentiating my lesson plans and making necessary corrections and assistance needed for students so that they can fully understand the information given.

I feel that I would be able to transfer this lesson into to classroom quite easily and I honestly feel this lesson would work a bit better face to face due to the fact that there are a lot of hands-on opportunities and since I wasn't able to see the students work virtually, I would enjoy having the opportunity to support and observe the students creative work.

Student C

I did not mind the virtual setting. I was not prepared for simulated students, and that made the situation interesting, but the students were able to "catch on" with the lesson and it went alright. I thought that this was great practice to teach reading instruction in the virtual setting. I feel like reading instruction is one of the things that works best virtually, as it is reading a book and having a discussion. Even if students can't see the pictures very well, they can still hear the story and be able to follow along. Also, I think that after the pandemic is over, there will be a lot of opportunities for virtual teaching in some way, so this practice will be valuable for future teaching.

Student D

When it comes to teaching virtually I will admit I am not a huge fan, but it is becoming more of a possibility with all the craziness of the world right now. I know that with teaching online it means that I need to take more time to make sure I have all the details planned out and I have to figure out a completely different way to engage students through a screen. I also need to make sure that when I am planning lessons for virtual teaching that I am planning ahead and make sure that I or the students have materials ahead of time to do certain things within different lessons. Although there is a lot of work that goes into teaching virtually I do think that there are some benefits and learning experiences that could help me grow as a teacher. One thing that was mentioned in class today was if a student is blind and how can we teach a student with that disability when teaching virtually is based off of mainly visual learning. I think that by teaching virtually it helps me to realize how I can accommodate to students more based off of their needs. Overall, I think that practicing teaching reading instruction in a virtual setting was helpful because it opened my eyes as to what I need to do to fully prepare for.

Student E

I do believe that the virtual teaching experience helped me grow as a teacher. The current state of the pandemic could change at any moment and could require strictly virtual teaching. This experience gave a chance to practice the skills required for virtual teaching. It was nice to have the sim students be so interactive because it felt realistic. They did a great job at answering questions and commenting the way that I would expect elementary students to. It was also useful to create a lesson that did not have screen sharing. In all of the other virtual lessons I have planned, I have used screen sharing. I know that not all virtual lessons will look the same so it was nice to get to plan something different.

Something that was similar to the actual classroom was the interrupting and comments. I noticed that some of the comments were on topic and some were a bit more random. I also noticed that the sim students did not always wait to get called on, but rather interrupted the teacher. This is very similar to what happens in my practicum. It was nice to get more practice at responding to the comments that are more random.

Student F

As I reflect on my virtual teaching experience, I wanted to touch on the diversity of the students. I noticed right from the beginning that there was a variety of cultures, race, abilities, knowledge, etc. As I was presenting a question about language came up and I felt that it was a great opportunity to talk about differences around the world. I loved that each character had their own personality and that is something that I will notice and adapt to in my own classroom.

I believe that this virtual learning experience helped me to grow as a teacher. This could very well be the reality that I will be dealing with as I start my career as an elementary teacher during a pandemic. Virtual learning may be the go-to way of instruction for safety reasons. I love that this experience simulated real world scenarios. Teachers will always have those students that shout out and share something off topic in class and this was a great opportunity to see this and learn how to correct it and respond. This experience taught me to be adaptive and flexible in my plans because things may not always go as planned or follow the expectations you have set.

I do believe that I will be able to transfer some experiences I had in this activity to my teaching. I saw how students acted and responded. I saw how their culture had an influence on them as well as how their behaviors were all different. These are all things I will encounter and have to learn how to manage. I loved seeing how other teachers responded to these students and I got some ideas that I would maybe want to use. It was a very cool activity that is very relevant to what I will be doing as a teacher.

Student G

At first, I did not know what to expect, but I think this experience was good for me to practice. It made me think about how to plan meaningful lessons for ALL students. During the first presentation, I was paying attention to the way the students were acting and listening to their responses. I thought that Carlos was blind because it looked like he was using a Braille reader of some sort and noticed other disabilities. This got me thinking about things that I could do to help him be a part of the lesson. Some things I thought about was being more descriptive in what we were talking about, for example, like how Makenna was talking about the texture of the tree bark and how it could feel like sandpaper or even bumpy, not smooth. I think that it is important that we get to know our students and their families so we can provide specific instructions or additional accommodations. Everyone has something to bring to the classroom and we can all learn from each other. This made me think about how I needed to adapt my lesson in a virtual setting. I did not feel like there was not enough time to teach a lesson, and I felt rushed. I do think that it is harder to teach in a virtual setting, because of the time lag you get in online teaching verses immediate responses in class. I do feel that I can use this experience in the classroom. In the virtual setting there was a lag in the students’ responses, and it is a good reminder for me, when I am in a classroom, to provide enough “Wait Time” for student responses to questions or topics we are discussing. I am glad we had this opportunity to experience this type of teaching.

Student H

I thought this was a little challenging at first when I saw how we were teaching. It forced me to be flexible and adapt to a different way of teaching. One question I would like to answer is "Was it useful to practice teaching the reading instruction in a virtual setting?" I think was very useful to practice and it tested me more than I was expecting which ended up teaching me a lot. I think it showed me how hard it is to teach virtually where you can't share your screen or see what the students are actually doing. I am glad we had this opportunity because it pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me better. Another point I want to talk about is "Do you think you can “transfer” the knowledge and skill that you developed in this virtual setting into the actual classroom?" I think this can transfer the knowledge into the actual classroom and doing it this way actually helped me to be able to do that better. Overall I think I learned many things from this and I feel like it made me a better and more flexible educator.

Student I

This virtual experience was very helpful, and I do think that we can transfer the knowledge we gained to an actual classroom. I learned that it is important to keep students engaged. We did not know that we could talk to the virtual students or that they could respond when we started teaching, so one of the students was falling asleep. It really did show us the importance of student involvement. This can be done by asking them questions or having them do hands on activities. It will keep them engaged and on track. We also learned the importance of being flexible!

I thought this was a great learning experience, but I would give a suggestion to future teacher candidates who will be using the virtual experience. I think it would be helpful to introduce what the virtual classroom is like. We were unsure if they could see our screen, answer questions, or exactly what they could do. Now that I know what is possible with the virtual classroom, I think this would be a great experience to try again. It feels more natural than pretending to teach our classmates. I would tell future teacher candidates to treat it like an actual classroom.

Student J

Teaching virtually to a simulation was a very weird experience. It was unexpected and different to be teaching to online voices. I think it was useful to practice teaching, but I would have felt better teaching to a group of my peers virtually. It definitely helped me grow as a teacher because it gave me more experience teaching to a group of students who solicited responses similar to what we'll see in the classroom. I liked practicing coming up with a lesson plan and actually teaching it, especially with a partner. Since practicum has been in person, it gave us a taste of what virtual teaching would be like. It made us think on our feet and adapt to the unexpected.

Student K

The virtual teaching experience in class on Monday was definitely not what I expected, but I didn't hate it! It was slightly different than teaching in a classroom, however, I feel incredibly blessed to live in a time when education can be so accessible, especailly during a pandemic. Because of the current situation we are in I would say it incredibly useful to practice teaching virtually. We are all doing practicum and planning on entering the feild next year. We have no idea when the coronavirus will be a thing of the past, so we could well be teaching virtually at the begining of our career.

Student L

My experience teaching virtually was interesting. I think the avatar children were an interesting element; I wasn't very comfortable with them. I think I will be more natural when teaching real children, but I understand that for the sake of our university course, avatar students were more pragmatic.

I think it was a good practice opportunity to work on using technology to complete a lesson. This experience was useful because it gave me a chance to customize my instruction into a virtual platform and test drive how that works. More practice with this platform will be needed, but this assignment was a good start.

Student M

My experience with teaching reading instruction virtually was overall positive. I was a little surprised to see the SIM lab, as I am used to my peers playing the role of the students. I thought this actually made it more realistic though as there was no personal relationship and the responses seemed more fitting to a child. I definitely feel as if this was a necessary and useful experience, especially considering the time we are in and the recent transition and integration to online instruction. The largest challenge I had was teaching the lesson without being able to develop any prior knowledge.

In practicum we have a better understanding of the children's existing understanding of concepts and curriculum and we can build on this through our lessons. I think that as a pre-service teacher, any experience or practice is beneficial to me, as it grows my expectations and understanding of teaching, students, and the classroom. I would suggest that future students take into account that the students will have no knowledge outside of your lesson plan. Using this I would suggest they think of an activity that can be completed only using information taught in your plan.

Student N

It was an interesting experience to teach in a virtual setting. I was not expecting the zoom avatars to respond and interact the way they did. It was like they were actual students. It was also kind of intimidating to teach in front of the avatars. In a typical classroom you can kind of read the students expressions and movements and prepare yourself for what they are going to say or how they react, but with the avatars you didn’t have that point of view.

I think it was useful to practice teaching reading instruction in a virtual setting. It was definitely different that being in a typical classroom. I feel like I need to practice more with my virtual reading techniques. While I was reading the book it was hard for me to see if the kids could see the book and if they could see me.

Student O

Teaching virtually was very different than teaching in person and it was different than what I thought it would be. It was hard to teach virtually because it is difficult to anticipate what the virtual children were going to say. Although I have never taught in a virtual setting before I imagine that the experience would be similar. Virtual teaching brings new challenges that teachers have not experienced before. As we were teaching our lesson and asking questions there was a little bit of a delay so there were times that I wasn't sure if the students were going to answer or if my voice was just delayed so it took a little bit longer for the students to respond. It would helpful for future teacher candidates to know that there are not actual students for this lesson and that they are sims/virtual students. I think that knowing this it would help to tailor the lesson to prepare for the delays and the challenges that come along with teaching virtual students.

Student P

I am not a fan of virtual teaching, I don't think many teachers are, but I honestly enjoyed many of the lessons taught on Monday. As a teacher, it was easier to plan and teach an engaging lesson than I thought it would be. Observing my peers teach, I was able to see so many great ideas that really engaged the students despite being virtual.

I think it was useful to try teaching reading instruction in an a zoom classroom. I think that many of us may have to teach online at some point and it is so different than teaching in a physical classroom. I really liked that this gave us an opportunity to practice teaching reading in that kind of setting and get ideas from each other.

Student Q

I felt very good about leading a lesson as a teacher in a virtual setting. At first, I was very nervous about the simulation students and worried that they would not be able to answer some open-ended questions my group and I wanted to ask. However, as our lesson went on, it became very natural and interactive like an in-person classroom with real students. I think my group's lesson went well, and I think we got most of the points across with what we wanted the students to learn. It was so much fun presenting our lesson to the simulation students, and I think it would be fun to do it again to practice more teaching strategies.

This experience was so fun to do and was actually very useful to practice reading instruction in a virtual setting. This experience was very useful because when I do become a teacher, I may need to use digital resources or may need to fully teach reading instruction online. This experience allowed me to see that we as teachers can still keep lessons interactive and engaging for students even if we are not face-to-face with them. The biggest thing I realized while teaching my lesson in a virtual setting was asking open-ended questions that influenced higher-order thinking skills for the students. This allowed the students to stay engaged in the lesson and feel encouraged to participate.

Student R

I think this activity was a learning experience for all of us. As the times are changing right now, it is important that we have the skill of teaching virtually but I also see this as an opportunity to practice teaching. The lesson my group and I created is a social-emotional lesson that I will love to teach in person to my students and teaching it in the virtual setting allowed me to see how students reacted to it. As it was stated in class, teaching this lesson in with SIMS allowed us to have the opportunity to mess up and fix that before we teach it to actual kids. This resource showed me to practice on pacing while teaching as well.

This was a whole new experience for me because I have my practicum in an actual real-life classroom so I hadn't done much virtual teaching with elementary students before. I felt really nervous in the beginning because the students were silent and only talked when allowed to and that is something you don't see a lot in actual classrooms. I think it takes practice to get used to limited participation in class but it is something that will benefit everyone. After today, I would feel more comfortable leading a lesson in a virtual classroom because I have gained knowledge.

Student S

I felt like it was a great way to practice questions, pacing, and teaching based on students comments. I had a hard time really understanding what the avatars were capable of, so in that regard it was difficult. It was also hard not being able to share my screen or use any type of white board function. Other than that it seemed pretty beneficial, especially with practicing how to instruct with reading and those specific questions. I also really liked seeing how others went about it.

I think that this virtual teaching can be transferred to the classroom in a few ways. It's a great way to practice simply talking in front of a classroom and ensuring that the flow of the lessons, as well as the questions, make sense. It also gives a great opportunity to practice the wait time after asking a question, as well as tying in their comments to the lesson. Obviously though, I don't think that teacher candidates should solely use this resource, and then suddenly be prepared to enter a classroom. Using this doesn't allow for the teacher to really practice body language, or walking around the classroom to guide conversations. It also doesn't prepare teachers for classroom management techniques or misbehaviors in the classroom. Overall, it's a pretty cool resource for the basics of teaching.

Student T

I thought that it was very beneficial to teach in a virtual setting considering the way in which education is shifting with more remote learning for students. I feel as though it taught you how to be more engaging with the students and find different ways to make the lesson not a lecture, but interactive for them as well. I did find it was difficult to not just feel as though you were teaching to yourself and forget that you did have students on the screen. It always was easy to miss questions or hands being raised as that would be visible in a mainstream classroom setting.

I do believe that the knowledge and skills of being in a virtual setting does transfer to the actual classroom. You are more aware of students and how they need to be moving and interacting with one another not only you as the teacher, but with their peers to collaborate on different topics being discussed. This experience also taught me that it allows for students to hide in the classroom when on a screen and so in a mainstream classroom to be more vigilant with where you place students and how often you are calling on them to interact.

This was extremely different from my practicum because I am use to students being in the classroom and shouting out or getting out of their seats the common classroom behaviors. When having a virtual lesson you do not notice or see the distractions that are happening. I felt once again that I was teaching myself and it did not feel as personable.

Student U

I thought this was a really fun, interesting and valuable activity that we got to do. I felt that this gave me practice in teaching literacy to a "live" group of children. I really loved that the children all had different personalities, so they would all respond differently to the questions that we asked. They also sometimes would say things that were not "correct" or related to the topic. I really liked that the sims did that because that is really how children in real life act. This gives good practice in knowing what to say and respond to children in real life.

I loved how there were so much representation in the group of students. There was an asian represent, a African America, a Mexican, and caucasian. They all had different personalities, they all answered differently. I love how this program shows all these diverese learners. This affects my teaching by getting practice in experiencing different personalities and learning styles that you will work with in real classrooms.

Student V

I honestly liked the experience of teaching the virtual students. I do feel that the experience is closer to what it would have been like to teach in person in an actual classroom rather than teaching students through zoom. As I shared during class, even though I am in an online setting for my practicum, this was a very different experience than I have. Because we were teaching a small group of mature students, it was possible to teach while asking open-ended questions to the entire group. In the actual zoom setting with 40 young students, it is unrealistic to be able to ask the entire group an open-ended question.

I do think that I can transfer the knowledge and experience I gained through this lesson into the classroom. I think this was a good experience.

Student W

I felt like our lesson went pretty well. There were things about teaching a virtual lesson that were really good practice, and there were other things that I felt were completely unrealistic with this simulation. First I felt it was good for us to practice teaching via zoom and to have to be a little more creative to not have to rely on screen sharing. It was really cool that the students could all respond and answer questions, so I felt that was very helpful. The sims also acted somewhat like normal students by interjecting pieces of information from their own lives and personal interests. However, I did feel that some elements of the experience were unrealistic. All of the sims were sitting together in the same room, and they were perfectly behaved, focused, and engaged the entire time. Also, there were only 5 of them. In reality, if you were teaching online, you would be teaching 20+ children all in their own environments. Each child would have their own set of distractions that you have very little control over. Also, as the teacher in any setting, you have to work for students attention and engagement. So this experience offered little value as far as opportunities to practice classroom management.

I absolutely feel that this virtual teaching experience helped me grow as a teacher. I think this year has made it especially evident that virtual teaching skills and resources are sorely lacking. Any opportunity to practice this skill is extremely important as we enter a job market where it will be much more highly valued or possibly required. I even plan to teach practicum virtually next semester so that I can continue to grow this skill set.

Student X

I love teaching, yet I think I am still warming up to the idea of teaching virtually. Personally, I liked having virtual students while I was teaching because I feel like the responses of the students were more realistic than having college-aged students trying to respond as students.

I noticed that the students had different personalities. Carlos and Emily had a more shy personality. Will was willing to answer the questions after long pauses. Jayla had a really spunky and quirky personality. It affected my teaching because I feel like my teaching and my co-teachers teaching was more targeted to all of the students rather than only a few students. Personally, I think that it did because it made me more aware of the different personalities and characteristics of the students in my class that I am currently in.

I think that it was useful to have the practice teaching in a virtual setting because it allowed me to fail in certain ways for not thinking of things to help include all the students as well as making me think of ways to creatively have the students respond. I loved having student-like responses so that it would make it more of a realistic apartment.

Student Y

I think that this activity was so beneficial! I was really surprised how a simulation could feel so much like teaching to a class! The comments they were making were so funny and definitely something that we as teachers hear quite a bit!

This activity was such a great thing for me because I was really nervous to teach in a classroom setting since my field experience was cut short with Covid. The things that I taught, as well as listening to co-teacher lessons was beneficial because I can take the responses of the students and the teachers into the classroom with me.

I have not had much experience teaching virtually because my practicum is all in-class lectures. This was so important for me to be able to experience because I am sure it was a shock to current teachers that had to go virtual and so we are one step ahead in preparation. I really enjoyed teaching virtual and it honestly felt more natural. I think that because I had my notes in front of me on the table and I wasn't standing in front of the classroom with notecards, I felt more relaxed and prepared.

Student Z

This lesson was a difficult one for me for a few different reasons. Trying to split a 12 min lesson between three people without us being able to meet in person to work out the details made it hard to teach as a team. I also found myself distracted by the artificial students and the way they would move. I feel like it did help me understand other teachers who struggle with being nervous and have more compassion for them. For an authentic teaching experience I believe it is better to just teach to my peers as if they are the students. I understand the concern of wanting to try teaching techniques where it will not mislead actual students but this can be overcome by having a confident practicum teacher who can correct the class on things we may get wrong.

For future teacher candidates I would suggest that they be shown the tool in advance so they can prepare mentally for the differences instead of planning a lesson for an unknown group of students. I would suggest that they focus on teaching their lesson as if it were normal conditions while recognizing that it may be drastically different from expectations. It is really advanced technology and I feel it would be best to explain how it is working up front so students can focus on the lesson instead of on how weird the approach feels.

Student AA

I found that leading the lesson as a teacher in a virtual teaching classroom was much easier when having a partner. It is easier to find ways to ask the right questions and keep students engaged when we have two teachers. I believe however, that even if i as teaching by myself I would be able to accomplish the lesson plan as well.

The things that were useful about this teaching environment practice is that it helped me to focus if my lesson plan was too long or too short. Every new teaching experience practice is beneficial. The thing though with this learning environment is that the children never spoke, misbehaved, or lost focus on the lesson plan. These are challenges that will have to be learned by experience, but overall I believe this lesson was beneficial.

Student BB

I thought that this was a really great opportunity for us to experience! I thought that it was very beneficial for us to practice this way, and it was great to see different forms of technology. I thought the whole thing was pretty interesting, but it was helpful that the students were able to respond and almost act as though they were real students in a real classroom. I think that this activity will definitely help us transfer into because it gave us that feeling of being in a classroom and teaching directly to students. It is a lot different teaching virtually than it is teaching in person; but I think overall these skills that we were able to learn and the knowledge we have gained through this activity definitely prepared us.

Student CC

I have never taught in a virtual setting before so it was definitely a different experience than what I am used to. I think this set up was a lot easier than it would be to have real children on zoom because the avatars were very engaged in the lesson. They were not being distracted by things that they have around them or people that may be home with them. I felt that the activity that we planned was good but the materials we used could be improved. We did not have access to any white board type set up so we had to use a piece of paper which the children could really not see. I felt a little under prepared in that aspect but I do feel like with having screenshare as an option that problem would have been resolved. Overall I felt comfortable teaching an online group, it felt less intimidating than teaching in person. Although I feel like it takes a lot more work and creativity to effectively teach online than it does to have an in person class.

I think this experience definitely helped me grow as a teacher. It gave me a lot to think about as far as how lessons should be conducted. Students are missing that hands on and social connection that they get with in person schooling so you have to be creative when it comes to keeping engagement. I liked that Tiffany suggested using a lot of hand movements to keep students involved and Hannah's point about discussion being crucial in this type of setting. Online schooling is becoming more and more popular so I do believe that I will be dealing with online teaching in my future. This activity has helped me get a taste of what kinds of things I can do better to help my students learn and grow even if they are through a computer screen.

Student DD

Leading a lesson in a virtual setting was an interesting experience for me. I was a little creeped out by the avatar class that I was teaching to. I think that in itself made me a little less comfortable than I have been in front of a live class in my practicum. However, it didn't feel too different for me. I felt like you needed to offer more wait time between when you ask a question and expect an answer. This could be due to the fact you are working over the internet, and things do lag on the internet! That was a useful lesson for me to learn.

I think this is a useful tool for us new and learning teachers. One thing I have found difficult with my practicum is making sure what I have prepared will fill the time with actual students. I never know how many questions they will ask, or how long our discussions will need to go for understanding to be possible. I always over-plan, just to be safe, but it was still nice to have some practice working on the timings of a lesson virtually, especially ones that were meant to be pretty short.

I think future teacher candidates should be prepared to use teaching methods they are learning for in-class instruction in a virtual setting as best as they can! It is good practice whether in front of an in-person class or a virtual one. I think if they can focus on the positives of the experience, they will get more from it.

Student EE

This teaching experience was very different from my practicum setting. I my practicum I am with two kindergarten classes with Davis Connect. We have very limited time with which we can teach the children the information they need to know. Because of that we have to have the children on mute more than we would prefer. One benefit to this is that it feels as though the children are learning the concept of raising their hands faster. The biggest difference was the ability to have a discussion with students and for the most part we were able to stay on task and on the intended topic. This would be very difficult and ultimately not as realistic for the age and way we are teaching these kindergarteners online.

I would say that the skills and knowledge that you are able to practice and develop through teaching with this virtual classroom are definitely transferable. This is mainly due to the fact that it is so realistic that you are able to teach and interact with the students in the same way you would in an actual classroom. This is a good alternative to "practice" with.