The Potential of Simulated Environments in Teacher Education: Current and Future Possibilities

The future of virtual environments is evident in many fields but is just emerging in the field of teacher education. In this article, the authors provide a summary of the evolution of simulation in the field of teacher education and three factors that need to be considered as these environments further develop. The authors provide a specific example of the work at two universities that use a specific virtual environment, TLE TeachLivE™, in teacher education. This environment is already being used in teacher preparation at 32 universities to collaboratively find ways to enhance teacher practice while using a standardized tool often found in medicine, business and military training, and virtual simulation.