Commentary: Meet Me in Azul's Room: Designing a Virtual Field Placement for Learning to Teach Mathematics

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which a teacher educator uses digital technology to create a virtual field placement as a way to blur the boundaries between a university methods course and teacher candidates' field placements. After describing his goals for the course, the teacher educator provides a description of three LessonSketch experiences his teacher candidates complete in this virtual field placement site and how these experiences create opportunities for teacher candidates to learn to teach mathematics. The design process and choices of these virtual field placement experiences are explored via interviews with the first author. Reflecting on these LessonSketch experiences, all of the authors then explore affordances of virtual and hybrid placements as resources for supplementing real placements and bridging theory/practice divides in teacher education.