Avatar-Based Coaching
This paper aims to investigate the effect of using avatar-based coaching as an instructional approach through virtual world to develop selling skills and learning satisfaction among business secondary school students in Egypt. It also seeks to examine how second life virtual learning objects can increase the probability of mastering selling skills among students. The proposed instructional approach is based on the principles of cognitive, constructive and connective learning theories. A one-group pretest-posttest design is utilized in this paper to test the effect of the new instructional approach on developing selling skills and learning satisfaction among a convenience sample of 23 commercial secondary school students. The findings of this paper revealed that the use of avatar-based coaching through second life learning objects has a significance effect on participants’ selling skills and learning satisfaction. The results of this paper supported the effectiveness of avatar-based coaching in developing selling skills. This can extend to skills and knowledge relevant to other areas of business such as decision making and negotiation skills. The business training sector may also apply this new approach in the training of employers and employees for better value and better results in all kinds of organizations.