Drawing upon ‘real’ classrooms to create a ‘virtual’ learning environment: investigating what makes a virtual classroom an authentic learning space

It is widely accepted that well designed multimedia environments can provide an alternative to real-life settings without sacrificing the authentic context (Herrington, Oliver and Reeves, 2003). Advances in educational software allow for the development of software that supports users as they engage within the virtual context as they view real-life events with opportunity to slow-down, accelerate and review pertinent sections. ClassSim, an online computer-based simulation, was developed by a team of researchers (Ferry, Kervin, Cambourne, Turbill, Hedberg and Jonassen) to support pre-service teachers in understanding the work of a teacher in a Kindergarten literacy classroom.