Rural schools face challenges in training and retaining qualified teachers, especially special education personnel. This article describes how an interdisciplinary team at the University of Central Florida developed TLE TeachLivE™, a virtual reality application designed to serve as a classroom simulation to support teachers and administrators to practice skills for instruction and management.

This research is part of an ongoing effort on the efficacy and user experience of TLE TeachLivE™, a 3D mixed reality classroom with simulated students used to facilitate virtual rehearsal of pedagogical skills by teachers. This research investigated a potential relationship between efficacy, in terms of knowledge acquisition and transfer, and user experience in regard to presence, suspension of disbelief, and immersion. The initial case studies examining user experience of presence, suspension of disbelief, and immersion were used to develop a presence questionnaire revised from the work of Witmer and Singer (1998) to address the TLE TeachLivE™ mixed reality environment. The findings suggest that targeted practice, authentic scenarios, and suspension of disbelief in virtual learning environments may impact learning.

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