Simulations Helping Novices Hone Skills

This article detailed the use of classroom simulators, TeachME and simSchool, to help train pre-service teachers in the art of classroom management.  I love this idea, since, as the article points out, real children don't forget when you make a mistake, and this type of environment allows a budding educator to work out some of the kinks in their lesson plan before presenting it to an often tough crowd.  While I agree that it can't replace the student teaching experience, I know I'd feel much better going into the field with several hours in this type of simulator.  The simSchool is fully programmed children avatars, with complex emotional, perceptional and cognitive profiles that have two million combinations to work with; TeachME, on the other hand, utilizes avatars of five actors in a separate room to react in character, live, to the teacher's lesson.  Either option seems to work well, giving the student teacher an opportunity to fall on their face a few times without being laughed out of the building, and I believe this is definitely a viable option for future teachers.  The uses for technology are endless, and this proves that gaming technology can be fitted for educational purposes with little stretching needed.  What I found extremely interesting is that a middle school class took a field trip to the TeachME lab at the University of Central Florida to give it a shot, and many left with their minds changed about how to treat their teachers.  Empathy is a strong medicine, one our "me first" society could use a whole lot more of, and I applaud this foray into role reversal.  That may even be a good idea in a live classroom; something to ponder, surely.