Pre-service Teacher Training in an Immersive Environment

In close co-operation with training experts using virtual reality and teachers of the faculty preparing teachers, a training module called the “Virtual Classroom” was created. Users from the ranks of future teachers put on the head display and find themselves in an immersive classroom environment. There is common school equipment that is normally found in the classroom, and there are avatars—pupils or avatars—parents. The avatars are controlled by the teachers, or students who assist the teachers, and respond to avatars in specific situations given by framework-prepared scenarios. Avatars communicate with the future teacher, and also implement several events that have a visual representation (e.g. reporting, interrupting—talking together, etc.). The future teacher always has a specific assignment—what to tell the students or parents, and at the same time, he/she is forced to improvise in various partial communication situations initiated verbally, or by visual action by didactics and avatars. The paper presents the gradual development of the virtual classroom, as the model was improved during testing, and also presents the results of pilot studies. The paper also describes a three-phase model of training, which proved successful in working with a virtual classroom during pilot studies.