Proof Points: Learning from naughty avatars

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By Jill Barshay

I’ve been thinking about the long-term educational consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. My guess is that schools will not embrace oodles of education technology when we return to face-to-face learning but teachers might become more open to using technology behind the scenes for themselves. One area might be teacher training and a new study about using computerized classroom simulations with naughty avatars caught my attention for its nuanced analysis of how to combine innovative ed tech with human coaching.

The study, “Teacher Coaching in a Simulated Environment,” by University of Virginia researchers was published online in February 2020 in the journal of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

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Key Findings

Teaching students who were randomly assigned to receive coaching in conjunction with simulated classroom training in addressing student misbehavior improved on subsequent training exercises and demonstrated better classroom management skills in real classrooms.
Training simulations with self-reflection alone did not improve classroom management skills and was actually harmful.
The misbehaving students in the computerized simulations are controlled by actors behind the scenes, not artificial intelligence.

Teacher Takeaway

The simulations designed in this study are not intended by the researchers to replace student teaching in real classrooms but supplement it.

Lit Review

Cohen, J., Wong, V., Krishnamachari, A., & Berlin, R. (2020). Teacher Coaching in a Simulated Environment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720906217
Schlueb, M. “Deal Moves Teaching Simulator Developed at UCF into Private Sector,” June 4, 2015, UCF Today.
Schaefer, J. M., Ottley, J. R. (2018). Evaluating immediate feedback via bug-in-the-ear as an evidence-based practice for professional development. Journal of Special Education Technology, 33(4), 247–258