In this article, the authors discuss virtual teaching and how it affects teacher candidates and education program providers. This is significant not only because of the opportunistic nature of virtual teaching experiences, but also because the 21st century requires media-literate educators. The article puts forth helpful insights into virtual…

A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a learning tool for children aged 10-12. Its effectiveness was assessed in relation to children's ability to determine how to be safer in a bushfire incident. A series of experiential activities were developed in the IVE with digital storytelling and…

Throughout the history of education, effective classroom management has been identified as one of the most important factors impacting student learning. At the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers abruptly transitioned from traditional in-class learning to teaching online and implementing strategies to assist in managing their online…

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for high-quality supports focused on families' health, education, and employment needs. As service delivery organizations have worked to meet these needs, they have been stretched thin. The complex challenges these organizations faced have increased the need for them to engage partners across sectors,…

Unique affordances of 3D multi-user virtual environments (e.g., immersive simulation, avatar tele/copresence) have attracted language teachers and researchers to explore the effects of Second Life (SL) on learners' language outcomes and perceptions. Research on such a synergy of language education and virtual learning has suggested learners'…

We build on identity-based motivation theory to integrate research on in-person and virtual learning environments so that we can articulate which features of virtual learning environments are likely to support or impede learning and identity exploration. Although students experience their identities as stable anchors for meaning-making and action,…

In mid-March of 2020, schools in the United States shut down in-person learning due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Due to this unprecedented situation, school education has since shifted to a heavy reliance on various forms of remote learning, and teachers and students have been forced to practice completely new ways of teaching and learning. Virtual…

To further the study of learning in the context of immersive virtual technologies, this systematic literature review addressed the following research questions: 'How is self-efficacy being studied in immersive virtual learning environments?' 'What kinds of self-efficacy findings have been made in immersive virtual learning environments?' The…

The sudden shift during the COVID-19 lockdown from face-to-face to online teaching clearly impacted degree programmes in Geology characterized by a substantial practical teaching methodology. This study analyses the suitability of online teaching in the degree at Geology of the University of Barcelona by: (a) describing the strengths, weaknesses,…

This study examined K-12 public school teachers' classroom technology integration practices during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency remote teaching began. Survey data were collected from 76 K-12 teachers in public schools in a Southcentral U.S. state. The data include teachers' general beliefs about technology, their self-efficacy about technology…

This study analyzes mentor teachers' perceptions of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) professional development in STEM informal learning spaces and the support needed to nurture practices of CRP. Additionally, the study investigates culturally relevant professional development's (CRPD) influence on mentor teachers' transference of CRP theory into…

This research used the qualitative multiple case study and phenomenological designs to explore how, without training, university teachers in Ghana managed large student numbers in the virtual environment during COVID-19. The study examined further the challenges the teachers faced in their virtual instructional delivery. Twelve participants drawn…

In this case study, we present our findings regarding a massive open online Scratch programming course. The course, which followed a project-based learning approach, was delivered from July 4 to 30, 2022 to 186 students in Brazil. The students were challenged to develop individual coding projects. Our research goal was to investigate teaching and…

Classroom interaction affects the classroom atmosphere as well as students' behavior and participation, thus affecting the quality of classroom teaching. In traditional classrooms, inherent problems (e.g., inflexible tables and chairs, rigid multimedia consoles, and traditional software) have seriously restricted the overall quality of classroom…

If a picture says a thousand words, how much can a 360° image say? How can experiencing (or understanding) other languages and cultures be conveyed in immersive experiences? The Digital Learning Team at the University of Southampton has been developing innovative resources whilst piloting the use of Thinglink, a subscription- and browser-based…