Transferable Skills, Teacher Education and Second Life.

Bex FerridayCornwall College

Cornwall, UK

1. Cornwall College has written and is delivering a University of Plymouth accredited Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) for anyone wishing to teach in the post compulsory sector.

2. This qualification gives candidates the opportunity to “dip their toes in the teaching water”, introducing them to concepts such as planning lessons, managing behaviour, looking at the roles, responsibilities and boundaries of the teacher, how to assess reliably and with validity, how to give constructive feedback, and teaching “staples” such as how-to use equipment, project the voice and keep motivation levels high.

HistoryTraditionally, PTLLS courses run for 11 weeks and are delivered in the classroom in three hour, weekly sessions.

At the end of the course students are asked to write a series of brief assignments to show understanding of teaching theories and to deliver a 30 minute lesson (or “micro teach”) to their peers by way of summative assessment.

Successful completion of both of the theoretical and practical assignments leads to certification (allowing candidates to teach in a minimal role – indeed, to be “provisionally” qualified teachers).

If candidates then decide that they want to study for a full, degree–level teaching qualification, they can enrol with enough underpinning knowledge to feel confident. Should candidates decide that teaching is NOT for them, however, all they have lost is 33 hours of their time...

History

Cornwall College has successfully delivered this course using blended learning methods for 3 years now.

Of the 11 aforementioned sessions, 4 are delivered in the classroom (2 of these being micro teach based sessions) and the remaining 7 sessions are studied on the college’s Virtual Learning Environment (moodle) in their own time.

All students who have enrolled on the course have gone on to pass.

In February of 2009, Cornwall College took possession of an island on the popular multi-user virtual environment “Second Life”.

After completion of the initial build, it was decided that it would be of worth to experiment with the format of the already successful blended learning version of the PTLLS course, and to deliver the same course in world to avatars...who would be able to transfer the skills they had learnt in a virtual classroom to the real world.

Mash up of Second Life and M

oodle

Level 3 Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (7303)

Schedule of Sessions

Date Session title Online study / college attendance

Session one

17/09/09

Induction, overview of Moodle and experiences of good and

bad teaching and the skills needed to be a good teacher

College attendance

Session two 24/09/09

Identifying own role and identifying learners’ needs

Online study

Session three 01/10/09

Teaching and learning methods

Online study

Session four 08/10/09

Schemes of Work Online study

Session five 15/10/09

Session Planning Online study

Session six 22/10/09

Resources and micro teach preparation / guidance

College attendance

Session seven

05/11/09

Inclusive learning and motivation

Online study

Session eight 12/11/09

Assessment Online study

Session nine 19/11/09

Positive feedback and record keeping

Online study

Session ten

26/11/09

MICROTEACHING College attendance

Session eleven

03/12/09

MICROTEACHING College attendance

Session twelve

10/12/09

MICROTEACHING, end of course review, portfolio

building, progression to other course/s of study

College attendance

Attendance is mandatory for all 5 college-based sessions. Online sessions can be studied in candidates’ own time, but must be completed

by the portfolio deadline date of 4th January 2010

Now Delivered in Second Life

Now Delivered in Second Life

Now Delivered in Second Life

Now Delivered in Second Life

Now Delivered in Second Life

session one task

Students were asked to think of experiences of good and bad teaching , write these on a note card and drop them on this board

Tutorials in Second LifeTutorials can be held in Second Life using live or text speech. The example below was brief – 10 minutes in length - but some

tutorials have been known to last for an hour or more. Tutorials can be filmed using FRAPS (as this example was) and uploaded to media hosting sites such as YouTube while text-based speech can be copied into a note card and dropped in the

student’s inventory for review.

Can the skills being delivered

here translate into teaching

skills in the real world?

We believe so. In the same way that pilots learn to fly using computer-based simulators, we think that trainee teachers can learn basic class management and delivery skills in a virtual world and transfer these to the real world.

Arguably, many pedagogic skills are the same – rule setting, time management, facilitating discussion, managing groups and individuals...though the methods used to complete tasks may require lateral thought....