The Future of Education

Preparing pre-service teachers and practitioners (e.g., counselling practitioners and resource teachers) for the increasingly diverse classrooms does not only require theoretical knowledge, but also authentic learning experiences [1]. While exposing pre-service teachers and practitioners to authentic environment is essential to their professional growth, it must be handled with care as it involves safety and ethical issues, especially in the context of inclusive and special school environments. To better equip pre-service teachers and practitioners for working with real special needs students before their practicum, this project created immersive, gamified learning environments that immerses pre-service teachers and practitioners in animated scenarios based on real cases of working with special needs students. The scenarios could enable them to apply theories into practice, providing them with opportunities to practise the communication and instructional strategies that they learnt in a simulated and safe environment [2]. In collaboration with university course lecturers and practicum supervisors specialising in special education, four interactive and immersive virtual spaces were developed. Each virtual space featured customised learning activities and resources that were implemented in six undergraduate courses, involving 842 pre-service teachers and practitioners, as well as 18 course lecturers. Evaluation indicated significant improvements in participants’ confidence and readiness for classroom diversity. Qualitative feedback from participants highlighted the effectiveness of the self-developed virtual world in equipping pre-service teachers and practitioners with hands-on experiences of interacting with parents and learners with special educational needs.