Global programme: ERASMUS+
Specific programme: KA2 - Cooperation and Innovation for Good Practices
Call: 2020
Project number: 2020-1-EL01-KA203-079205
Duration: 24 Months (10/1/2020 - 9/30/2022)
Project Manager: Ioannis Dimakos
UNINETTUNO Scientific Leader: Maria Amata Garito
UNINETTUNO Project Manager: Dario Assante
Website: https://virtuous.upatras.gr/
Description
The goal of the Virtuous project is to develop new methods to train teachers in handling students with difficult behaviors, which challenge the authority of the teacher, and which could undermine their ability to lead lessons and maintain a positive atmosphere in the classroom. , thus guaranteeing all students the opportunity to learn and grow in harmony.
Offering teachers the opportunity to deal with challenging situations in a controlled environment with appropriate supervision can lead to an improvement in their level of professional preparation and the effectiveness of applied techniques, and would decrease the risk of leaving the profession.
This opportunity can be simulated using virtual reality technology in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This virtual learning environment features simulated students (Avatars) which provide teachers with the opportunity to develop their pedagogical practice in a safe environment, which avoids putting real students at risk. Through the training experience in a VLE, prospective teachers can practice the management skills they need and improve their techniques, while prospective educators can practice these skills.
The VIRTUOUS project intends to create a compendium of all behavior management techniques that have proven to be effective, and to develop a training curriculum to convey these skills. A series of curriculum-aligned teaching scenarios will be developed in the context of science / technology and language teaching. Student avatars and a virtual learning environment will be developed in which the trainee will be immersed in the various scenarios and subsequently evaluate the effectiveness of the program. There are 10 participants (5 novice or potential teachers, 5 professional teachers) who will be trained in a VLE to test their behavioral management skills. The intention is to develop a new paradigm for teacher training by creating an environment with ample opportunities for trainees, which allows them to develop or refine behavior management skills. It is intended to further develop this paradigm in order to include all teaching subjects and ultimately offer a convincing model for universities or schools of pedagogy, leading to the adoption of the model as the richest method of training opportunities, economical and effective to impart new skills to potential teachers.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the Virtuous project are: - Identify the most promising behavior management techniques based on a literature study and following a direct survey of teachers - Develop a curriculum for educational purposes based on the behavior management techniques identified in the research. - Develop a virtual learning environment (VLE) with a range of student characters (avatars) for training purposes. - Prepare teachers to use the VLE, interact with student avatars and have the opportunity to acquire behavioral management skills. - Evaluate the training program and identify the most promising elements that can be transferred to other environments and developed in future projects. - Develop a best practice manual that provides guidelines on how to set up a training program based on virtual reality - Disseminate the results of the project and approve the adoption of the teacher training paradigm based on virtual reality.
UNINETTUNO Role
Uninettuno participates in the implementation of IO3 (VIRTUOUS Scenarios) and IO4 (VR VIRTUOUS Application, and is rendered insensitive by the implementation of IO6 which involves the development of a Good Practices Manual, a compendium of behavior management techniques that will describe the development process curricula and will explain the process of developing scenarios and virtualizing them in a virtual learning environment. The target audience for this manual are potential teachers, professional teachers, university professors and administrative staff, education and training specialists and even senior government administrators The Handbook will provide guidance on how to develop a virtual reality-based teacher training program, and will identify all the innovative elements and how they have been linked with effective pedagogical methods in managing classroom behavior.