(1602) IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL WORLDS AS A STRATEGY FOR EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT IN INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING. THE TYMMI PROJECT EXPERIENCE IN CHILE

摘要

In Chile the strategic importance of initial teacher training has been recognized in order to improve thequality of education and learning processes. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) hasbeen used progressively in primary and secondary education thanks to the government investments ininfrastructure and connectivity. However, there are still incipient efforts to integrate technologies ininitial teacher training in universities. In this context the TYMMI Project was developed to strengthenthe pre service teachers' skills through the teaching practices simulations' in Immersive Virtual Worlds(IVW). Those environments recreate spaces to simulate classroom activities supported by resourceslike sloodle and moodle. Through a didactical and technical model, avatars face different pedagogicalChallenges allow them to practice teaching strategies in the classroom. The research was developedthrough an exploratory, descriptive and longitudinal study during three years. 113 students in teachingcareers of Primary Education, Secondary Education in Language and Communication, and SecondaryEducation in English as a Second Language, from the Universidad Catolica de la SantisimaConcepcion, voluntarily participated in the activities developed at the TYMMI island in Second Life andOpen Sim. Based on a quantitative methodology, it was applied two data collection instruments.Through observation grids and questionnaires from 10 students, professional performance from preservice teachers were collected regarding to the 18 pedagogical Challenges designed. Each of theseeducational activities were developed outside regular classes and were designed to strengthen theskills referred to: Preparation for teaching, creation of an enabling environment for learning, educationfor student learning, teacher professionalism, Manage Learning outcomes, Interaction betweenavatars and virtual worlds. A descriptive statistical analysis shows that the students significantlyimproved their skills related to technology: usability and ICT integration in educational contexts;;andeducational aspects about good practices in classes. A quantitative analysis of thematic contentshows students perception regarding to the activities. They reported a positive assessment of the useof virtual environments, especially about the use of teaching strategies for teaching learning process.Main conclusions regarding to the pedagogical context reflect the importance of peer assessment oftheir teaching performance, as well as the complexity of the role-plays as intellectual challenges toenhance pre service teacher' skills. The main difficulty identified during the development of theactivities was of a technical nature, reporting hardware and connectivity issues.