Authentic Leadership in Immersive Learning Environments: Teachers as Affective, Cognitive, and Pedagogical Enablers

Introduction

With the rapid evolution of technology-enhanced learning and teaching (TELT) has been continual innovation in how to best enable learning through technology. Traditional 1970s simulation exercises offer an example of some of the earlier immersive learning opportunities from assessments of clinical competence through objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE: Rushforth, 2007). These simulations offer summative assessment activities that test competence of specific professional skills such as diagnosing illness.

Since then, and in other disciplines, there have been significant innovations in immersive learning education; particularly virtual worlds that offer compelling, collaborative, and participatory experiences for students (Dawley & Dede, 2013). MinecraftEdu appears to be one of the most prominent, alongside WhyVille, SimCity, and Quest Atlantis. Evidence of such software has demonstrated achievement of a diverse range of learning outcomes surrounding computer programming (GhasemAghaei et al., 2017), creativity (Moffat et al., 2017), digital citizenship (Hill, 2015), history (Craft, 2016), mathematics (Bos et al., 2014), pre-service teacher training (Cózar-Gutiérrez & Sáez-López, 2016), and science (Nebel et al., 2016; Pusey & Pusey, 2016). Indeed, the use of virtual reality is being used by educational designers to enable social competency development among students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Schmidt & Beck, 2016) or Asperger syndrome (Lorenzo et al., 2013).

In scoping this Chapter, we identified a dearth in the relationship between teacher behaviors and student learning in an immersive learning environment. When defining an exploratory learning model for supporting immersive learning environments, De Freitas and Neumann (2009) highlight the opportunities of multimodal communication to enable behavioral change and team development. Such conversation of behavior surrounds the student’s behavioral development by engaging in their learning. In an experimental study that leveraged virtual reality technology, teachers with more accurate perceptions of student needs were better able to engage with student resistance; likewise, students who felt engaged and closer to the teacher tended to achieve at a higher level (Bailenson et al., 2008). Many immersive learning environments facilitate high degrees of social engagement and collaboration (Johnson & Levine, 2008; Wang et al., 2011).

To add context to our focus on teacher behaviors, there is significant literature on the relationship between teacher leadership and school effectiveness (Azaiez & Slate, 2017; Harrison & Killion, 2007; Heck & Hallinger, 2009; Krüger et al., 2007). The behaviors of teachers matter for student learning (Bowman, 2004), and when teachers demonstrate effective behaviors, student learning is enhanced (Frost & Durrant, 2002). The emergence of teacher behaviors and teacher leadership as key to successful learning and teaching is not a new concept (Cranston, 2000). In the immersive learning environment, however, behaviors and leadership of teachers is largely unexplored.