Although I am not sure what degree I can report about my experience, I attended a briefing session and one beginner English language teaching class at Chachat.
I will attend the pronunciation class this coming Monday at Chachat too.
Kimiko
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
The journey continues....
Devi
So..my journey continues...
I first went to this Philosophy Island...wasn't expecting much..but I did join in the group discussion which was about laws..They were talking about how certain laws appear crazy..like banning alcohol in certain areas of certain countries.... (no countries were mentioned) It didn't make sense to some of them cos it just goes against common sense... n then that led on to how society has regressed (which was where the
philosophy part emerged)...it was quite interesting...
The Second Place I went to was an English Pub...Can anyone see the Queen's picture? This was epic...why? Three different people...all from 3 different areas of the UK and all 3 had different accents.They were on voice-chat. One of them didn't even recognize the accent...Initially I just stood there listening when suddenly a female asks me which part of UK i come from...she just assumed!! And unknown to me I replied that I hailed from Leicestershire (my aunt lives there) and all this was done with an english accent that I didn't know I possessed... Thought a lot about why I did that...
The Third Place I went to was another english-associated place. I was looking for english language schools but I ended up in all these other places instead... Nothing caught my eye...except a dead body...can you see? apparently avs CAN die...but this guy kept getting up n then lying dead again...so I'm not sure. It was pretty funny cos the rest of them were trying to guess how he could have died... oh well...the mystery never got solved...The adventures will continue next week!! Stay tuned...
The End...
Friday, September 23, 2011
Qian’s reflections on self-identity between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’
Hi Everyone,
Nesson R. and Nesson C. (2008) have explored a case educational study in Second Life. Beside this teaching behaviour, they also summarized several issues between the real life living and virtual world interactions, such as the clothes shops in Second Life are different from those in real life. It reminds me my personal experience between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’. Those experiences make me to be ‘me’ both in real life and in Second Life.
For those experiences, I have to mention a person who is known by most of us, she is Sarraline. We have known each other in Second Life at the beginning. We have travelled many places and chatted a lot in this virtual world. From what we were talking and interactions, I realized that she and I might be the same type of persons in real life. I speak in a way which I used to speak in real life. I tried to dress myself to give her some ‘clues’ to tell her who I am in real life. I believe that, if I am a nice person in real life, my avatar should be a nice avatar in virtual life. After a long time interactions, we have became friends in SL firstly. Every time, when I see her name is shining with ‘Sarraline is online’, I just feel warm around. I control my avatar to shake hands or make ‘kiss’ gesture to her.
One day, when we were talking about marriage in SL. We suddenly realized that both of us are married in real life. We decided to have coffee in real life immediately. In the next day, we met at a coffee house and had a long time chat with each other. After that, we call each other ‘dear’ or ‘sister’ in SL and in real life. I feel that wherever I am, when I saw Sarraline, she is indeed my ‘dear’ or ‘sister’. My feelings towards real life and SL have been enhanced positively.
If these bidirectional interactions can be applied on Chinese teaching, both the students and teachers will build a positive relationship which might enhance their learning motivations in both real life and SL. For instance, if a student is praised by the teacher in SL like: ‘you are such a good student’, the student can feel the same joy in real life. After the virtual class, she/he might behave a good student in real life too, and furthermore, she/he might like this language more. Certainly, the questions might not be such easy as I thought. How to ‘produce’ these positive bidirectional interactions into language teaching behaviours will be a ‘big’ question for me. Currently, it is such a joy to meet someone good in virtual world and then become someone good in real life.
Reference
Nesson, R., & Nesson, C. (2008). The case for education in virtual worlds. Journal of space and culture, 11(3). 273-284. Sage Publications. doi: 10.1177/1206331208319149.
Nesson R. and Nesson C. (2008) have explored a case educational study in Second Life. Beside this teaching behaviour, they also summarized several issues between the real life living and virtual world interactions, such as the clothes shops in Second Life are different from those in real life. It reminds me my personal experience between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’. Those experiences make me to be ‘me’ both in real life and in Second Life.
For those experiences, I have to mention a person who is known by most of us, she is Sarraline. We have known each other in Second Life at the beginning. We have travelled many places and chatted a lot in this virtual world. From what we were talking and interactions, I realized that she and I might be the same type of persons in real life. I speak in a way which I used to speak in real life. I tried to dress myself to give her some ‘clues’ to tell her who I am in real life. I believe that, if I am a nice person in real life, my avatar should be a nice avatar in virtual life. After a long time interactions, we have became friends in SL firstly. Every time, when I see her name is shining with ‘Sarraline is online’, I just feel warm around. I control my avatar to shake hands or make ‘kiss’ gesture to her.
One day, when we were talking about marriage in SL. We suddenly realized that both of us are married in real life. We decided to have coffee in real life immediately. In the next day, we met at a coffee house and had a long time chat with each other. After that, we call each other ‘dear’ or ‘sister’ in SL and in real life. I feel that wherever I am, when I saw Sarraline, she is indeed my ‘dear’ or ‘sister’. My feelings towards real life and SL have been enhanced positively.
If these bidirectional interactions can be applied on Chinese teaching, both the students and teachers will build a positive relationship which might enhance their learning motivations in both real life and SL. For instance, if a student is praised by the teacher in SL like: ‘you are such a good student’, the student can feel the same joy in real life. After the virtual class, she/he might behave a good student in real life too, and furthermore, she/he might like this language more. Certainly, the questions might not be such easy as I thought. How to ‘produce’ these positive bidirectional interactions into language teaching behaviours will be a ‘big’ question for me. Currently, it is such a joy to meet someone good in virtual world and then become someone good in real life.
Reference
Nesson, R., & Nesson, C. (2008). The case for education in virtual worlds. Journal of space and culture, 11(3). 273-284. Sage Publications. doi: 10.1177/1206331208319149.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
'Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment'
Hi All,
The findings of a pilot study that examined how a 3-D multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), Second Life (SL) can facilitate social presence and foster socialisation among distance learners for collaborative learning activities are reported in this paper. SL, a 3-D MUVE has the potential to generate a sense of presence among peers via their avatars in a 3-D environment through real-time interactions that may facilitate relationship-building. This pilot study is aimed to investigate the role of a 3-D MUVE in distance education and in particular, how social presence and socialisation can be developed.
Data analysis
Analysis of interviews with participants, in-world learning sessions observations and analysis of chat logs provided insights into:
1. the nature of in-world socialisation and its impact on network building in the physical world;
Interviews with all four participants who were first-time users of any 3-D MUVE, showed that the learning activities in SL provided them with a platform for ‘meeting’ and in-world socialisation leading to network building. The observation of learning sessions and SL training sessions also showed that SL was a platform for socialisation.
2. the pattern of the in-world ‘socialisation’ stage in Salmon’s (2004) 5-stage model;
According to Salmon, typical online activities in an asynchronous discussion forum usually run over a minimum of 5-6 weeks in order to give participants time to get used to the technology and to overcome the initial barriers of online socialisation, which takes place during the first two weeks. Analysis of chat logs and students’ behaviour in SL in the pilot study indicated that they moved well into the socialisation stage during the first learning activity soon after the technical training.
3. perspectives on students’ progress through the first stage of the model – ‘access and motivation’; and
Experience of participants, revealed in interviews, was evident that Stage 1 of the Salmon model – ‘access and motivation’ occurred when they had to learn to use a set of communication tools and protocols and to acquire navigational skills which were different from those required in text-based online environment.
4. perspectives on their entry into and progress through the second stage of the model – ‘socialisation’ and the role of identity presented through avatars in the process of socialisation.
The interview data on socialisation in SL appeared to be complex. On the one hand, participants’ feeling was of a totally immersive experience as if they were in a real physical world. On the other hand, they were aware that their interactions with other students were mediated through an avatar and they felt that the conversations mediated through avatars were very polite.
Conclusion
The socialisation stage occurred smoothly in the virtual environment provided by SL. Participants who had previously done most of their learning on paper considered the learning activities, the artefacts and the 3-D immersive environment in SL provided an exploratory learning experience for them. This pilot study also demonstrated that the pedagogy in SL – the designing for learning activities in SL lies in the hands of the teachers and students. Observations of learning sessions and interviews revealed that the learning scenarios worked well because the tutors had purposely designed them for learning and had carefully crafted the learning activities.
Reference
Edirisingha, P., Nie, M., Pluciennik, M., & Young, R. (2009). Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment. British Journal of Educational Technology 40(3), 458-479. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00962.x
The findings of a pilot study that examined how a 3-D multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), Second Life (SL) can facilitate social presence and foster socialisation among distance learners for collaborative learning activities are reported in this paper. SL, a 3-D MUVE has the potential to generate a sense of presence among peers via their avatars in a 3-D environment through real-time interactions that may facilitate relationship-building. This pilot study is aimed to investigate the role of a 3-D MUVE in distance education and in particular, how social presence and socialisation can be developed.
Data analysis
Analysis of interviews with participants, in-world learning sessions observations and analysis of chat logs provided insights into:
1. the nature of in-world socialisation and its impact on network building in the physical world;
Interviews with all four participants who were first-time users of any 3-D MUVE, showed that the learning activities in SL provided them with a platform for ‘meeting’ and in-world socialisation leading to network building. The observation of learning sessions and SL training sessions also showed that SL was a platform for socialisation.
2. the pattern of the in-world ‘socialisation’ stage in Salmon’s (2004) 5-stage model;
According to Salmon, typical online activities in an asynchronous discussion forum usually run over a minimum of 5-6 weeks in order to give participants time to get used to the technology and to overcome the initial barriers of online socialisation, which takes place during the first two weeks. Analysis of chat logs and students’ behaviour in SL in the pilot study indicated that they moved well into the socialisation stage during the first learning activity soon after the technical training.
3. perspectives on students’ progress through the first stage of the model – ‘access and motivation’; and
Experience of participants, revealed in interviews, was evident that Stage 1 of the Salmon model – ‘access and motivation’ occurred when they had to learn to use a set of communication tools and protocols and to acquire navigational skills which were different from those required in text-based online environment.
4. perspectives on their entry into and progress through the second stage of the model – ‘socialisation’ and the role of identity presented through avatars in the process of socialisation.
The interview data on socialisation in SL appeared to be complex. On the one hand, participants’ feeling was of a totally immersive experience as if they were in a real physical world. On the other hand, they were aware that their interactions with other students were mediated through an avatar and they felt that the conversations mediated through avatars were very polite.
Conclusion
The socialisation stage occurred smoothly in the virtual environment provided by SL. Participants who had previously done most of their learning on paper considered the learning activities, the artefacts and the 3-D immersive environment in SL provided an exploratory learning experience for them. This pilot study also demonstrated that the pedagogy in SL – the designing for learning activities in SL lies in the hands of the teachers and students. Observations of learning sessions and interviews revealed that the learning scenarios worked well because the tutors had purposely designed them for learning and had carefully crafted the learning activities.
Reference
Edirisingha, P., Nie, M., Pluciennik, M., & Young, R. (2009). Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment. British Journal of Educational Technology 40(3), 458-479. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.00962.x
Monday, September 19, 2011
Jet skiing in Cypris
Hi All,
Here's a short video clip of me jet skiing in Cypris, hope you like it :-)
Jet skiing in Cypris
Cheers
Albie
Here's a short video clip of me jet skiing in Cypris, hope you like it :-)
Jet skiing in Cypris
Cheers
Albie
Sunday, September 18, 2011
'Analog vs. digital instruction and learning: Teaching within first and Secind Life environments'
Hi All,
This study compares the learning experience of students in traditional visual communication course to those taking the same course via online instruction. Students’ knowledge of course content and attitudes concerned with the instruction were analysed with pre- and post- surveys. One group of students was taught completely in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting while the other group was taught completely online with Blackboard and Second Life softwares. The features of the Blackboard software include, grade checking, discussion board assignments, course material links, paper depository, classroom discussion recordings and examinations as well as the synchronus feature known as the “virtual classroom”. In the online classroom, students are shown with slides with words and pictures, websites and video clips as the text-based discussion continues. Second Life is an avatar-based virtual social community of residents where they can walk, fly, drive and teleport to various rural and urban simulated environments and to engage in different kinds of activities. A total number of 334 undergraduates took part in this study; 161 of the participants were taught in a traditional face-to-face visual communication lecture course and the other 173 took the same course via online instruction.
The survey results demonstrate that students’ experience in a visual communications course conducted online compared positively with traditional face-to-face instruction. Moreover, the results did not uncover any significant initial differences in perceived competencies between online and traditional students. The attitudes of the online students remained moderately constant from the start of the course to the end, whereas the attitudes of the face-to-face students dropped a little. It is an encouraging sign that the attitudes of the online students remained constant because it shows that students’ expectations can be met by courses delivered in an online format. Student evaluations collected at the end of the course suggested some polarization of opinion in both class formats regarding the way the material was presented. The abundant use of examples, video clips and the like was mentioned in the traditional course, while in the online course, the comments were predominantly focused on the Second Life format. This study also suggests that with the increasing number of students are requesting more flexible teaching schedules and more creative learning environments and administrators are becoming more concerned about space restrictions with over-crowded on-campus lecture rooms, teaching experiments with software products like Blackboard and Second Life are necessary in the development of the teaching profession.
Reference
Lester, P. M., & King, C. M. (2009). Analog vs. digital instruction and learning: Teaching within first and Secind Life environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14, 457-483. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01449.x
This study compares the learning experience of students in traditional visual communication course to those taking the same course via online instruction. Students’ knowledge of course content and attitudes concerned with the instruction were analysed with pre- and post- surveys. One group of students was taught completely in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting while the other group was taught completely online with Blackboard and Second Life softwares. The features of the Blackboard software include, grade checking, discussion board assignments, course material links, paper depository, classroom discussion recordings and examinations as well as the synchronus feature known as the “virtual classroom”. In the online classroom, students are shown with slides with words and pictures, websites and video clips as the text-based discussion continues. Second Life is an avatar-based virtual social community of residents where they can walk, fly, drive and teleport to various rural and urban simulated environments and to engage in different kinds of activities. A total number of 334 undergraduates took part in this study; 161 of the participants were taught in a traditional face-to-face visual communication lecture course and the other 173 took the same course via online instruction.
The survey results demonstrate that students’ experience in a visual communications course conducted online compared positively with traditional face-to-face instruction. Moreover, the results did not uncover any significant initial differences in perceived competencies between online and traditional students. The attitudes of the online students remained moderately constant from the start of the course to the end, whereas the attitudes of the face-to-face students dropped a little. It is an encouraging sign that the attitudes of the online students remained constant because it shows that students’ expectations can be met by courses delivered in an online format. Student evaluations collected at the end of the course suggested some polarization of opinion in both class formats regarding the way the material was presented. The abundant use of examples, video clips and the like was mentioned in the traditional course, while in the online course, the comments were predominantly focused on the Second Life format. This study also suggests that with the increasing number of students are requesting more flexible teaching schedules and more creative learning environments and administrators are becoming more concerned about space restrictions with over-crowded on-campus lecture rooms, teaching experiments with software products like Blackboard and Second Life are necessary in the development of the teaching profession.
Reference
Lester, P. M., & King, C. M. (2009). Analog vs. digital instruction and learning: Teaching within first and Secind Life environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14, 457-483. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01449.x
Debbie's presentation in SL
Hey Everyone,
I have attended a conference last night. The speaker of it was Debbie from our AUT University, language school. Her topic was intercultural competence. It was really interesting. Even though, because of my broken headspeaker, I can not hear her voice. It is still an excellent presentation with great slides.
Qian
Saturday, September 17, 2011
My reading report: Improving the Student Experience � Student Support in Virtual
Thi study aims to explore the influnence of affordances of virtual worlds on the support of students as they begin their studies in initial teacher training. Thirty undergraduate students in a primary education course at a university were chosen to be the sample group. Vedioed interviews and qustionnaires were used to collect useful imformation in terms of preperation for the course.
The result reveales that students who are all intersested in the projiect presentation for teacher traning in virtual world. Also, less than half members of the group have never heard about SecondLife before they had this experience. All of the participants found value in the project and benefit of having meeting with other members in the SecondLife. Moreovere, over half of the students faced problems in accessing SecondLife on their home computers. This study investigates many positive attributes of SecondLife which provides students an virtual environment and facilitate student support activity. Students are able to access in virtual world to prepare course and have virtual meetings which are greatly different from those of face to face meetings in real life. Both students and tutors reported that they felt as though were attending a "real" meeting. online meetings and presentations in SecondLife offer students active atmosphere and sense of fun, which was proved to be efficient to imporve dynamics among students and take the fear factor away from starting university.
Reference:
Woods, J. (2010). Improving the Student Experience � Student Support in Virtual
Environments. The Journal of Virtual W 90 orlds and Education, 1 (1).
P.S Kimiko, thank you for your comments, but I am afraid I can't give you any details of what you want to know, because the author just mentioned this idea in the article and did not give further details of it, actually it was not the focus of the study. Thank you!
Yanlin
The result reveales that students who are all intersested in the projiect presentation for teacher traning in virtual world. Also, less than half members of the group have never heard about SecondLife before they had this experience. All of the participants found value in the project and benefit of having meeting with other members in the SecondLife. Moreovere, over half of the students faced problems in accessing SecondLife on their home computers. This study investigates many positive attributes of SecondLife which provides students an virtual environment and facilitate student support activity. Students are able to access in virtual world to prepare course and have virtual meetings which are greatly different from those of face to face meetings in real life. Both students and tutors reported that they felt as though were attending a "real" meeting. online meetings and presentations in SecondLife offer students active atmosphere and sense of fun, which was proved to be efficient to imporve dynamics among students and take the fear factor away from starting university.
Reference:
Woods, J. (2010). Improving the Student Experience � Student Support in Virtual
Environments. The Journal of Virtual W 90 orlds and Education, 1 (1).
P.S Kimiko, thank you for your comments, but I am afraid I can't give you any details of what you want to know, because the author just mentioned this idea in the article and did not give further details of it, actually it was not the focus of the study. Thank you!
Yanlin
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Comment on Qian’s posting ‘Trial lesson in Second Life: Chinese language’
I’m really interested your trial.
Although I think that we need to prepare several things, I would like to challenge it in our Japanese class too.
Kimiko
Although I think that we need to prepare several things, I would like to challenge it in our Japanese class too.
Kimiko
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Trial lesson in Second Life: Chinese language
Hey All,
I had a trial Chinese lesson with my student this Monday and Tuesday. It combines by real life learning and SL learning. In my last blog, I mentioned my proposal idea on teaching Chinese in Second Life (SL). I have tried it this week. In this post, I am going to describe this process of our student to tutor trial Chinese language lesson in SL.
The learning outcomes of this lesson are: 1st, several new vocabularies of café in Chinese should be learnt by student; 2nd, the student can use these words in real life communication; 3rd, the student will make new sentences by himself with these new words; forth, the student can write those words in Chinese characters correctly. There are two sections in this lesson. The first section continues two hours in real life. The second section takes one hour in SL. The target learning vocabularies are ‘café’ related words in Chinese. I have taught these words in real life. Then we practice how to use them in daily life. This practice is carried on in SL.
After done with this lesson, I have summarized few points according to my personal reflections and my student’s feedback. 1st, it is a good way to learn new words in an unprepared condition in SL. For instance, we were supposed to practice ‘café’ related Chinese words in SL. However, when we finished this practice and were walking outside the café shop towards a waterfall pool. The student found the waterfall was very interesting and started to ask me what the word of waterfall is in Chinese. Then I replied him immediately. He quickly remembered that new word for waterfall in Chinese. 2nd, SL as a public virtual platform, people in here, it is easy to be disturbed by others around you when you were continuing a kind of private activity. Our lesson has been paused for 10 minutes by two unexpected visitors. It made us to leave that café shop and found another one to instead. 3rd, both of my student and me have encountered some technology issues in SL, such as freezing screens and non sound speakers. Fortunately, in the meanwhile, I texted him about these technology issues in Chinese. For instance, the student complaint that his screen is freezing, and I replied that freeze screen in Chinese is called ‘卡 (ka)’; say ‘我的电脑很卡 （my computer is very slow. It implies that my screen is freezing.）’.
I am so admired Kimiko’s reading reports. You do read a lot, Kimiko. I am still reading some of them which I found in Kimiko’s reading reports. Thank you for the shares, Kimiko.
Qian
I had a trial Chinese lesson with my student this Monday and Tuesday. It combines by real life learning and SL learning. In my last blog, I mentioned my proposal idea on teaching Chinese in Second Life (SL). I have tried it this week. In this post, I am going to describe this process of our student to tutor trial Chinese language lesson in SL.
The learning outcomes of this lesson are: 1st, several new vocabularies of café in Chinese should be learnt by student; 2nd, the student can use these words in real life communication; 3rd, the student will make new sentences by himself with these new words; forth, the student can write those words in Chinese characters correctly. There are two sections in this lesson. The first section continues two hours in real life. The second section takes one hour in SL. The target learning vocabularies are ‘café’ related words in Chinese. I have taught these words in real life. Then we practice how to use them in daily life. This practice is carried on in SL.
After done with this lesson, I have summarized few points according to my personal reflections and my student’s feedback. 1st, it is a good way to learn new words in an unprepared condition in SL. For instance, we were supposed to practice ‘café’ related Chinese words in SL. However, when we finished this practice and were walking outside the café shop towards a waterfall pool. The student found the waterfall was very interesting and started to ask me what the word of waterfall is in Chinese. Then I replied him immediately. He quickly remembered that new word for waterfall in Chinese. 2nd, SL as a public virtual platform, people in here, it is easy to be disturbed by others around you when you were continuing a kind of private activity. Our lesson has been paused for 10 minutes by two unexpected visitors. It made us to leave that café shop and found another one to instead. 3rd, both of my student and me have encountered some technology issues in SL, such as freezing screens and non sound speakers. Fortunately, in the meanwhile, I texted him about these technology issues in Chinese. For instance, the student complaint that his screen is freezing, and I replied that freeze screen in Chinese is called ‘卡 (ka)’; say ‘我的电脑很卡 （my computer is very slow. It implies that my screen is freezing.）’.
I am so admired Kimiko’s reading reports. You do read a lot, Kimiko. I am still reading some of them which I found in Kimiko’s reading reports. Thank you for the shares, Kimiko.
Qian
Monday, September 12, 2011
Comment on Yanlin’s posting ‘Life Long Learning: Seniors in Second Life Continuum’
I cannot post my comment again. This is my comment on Yanlin's newest posting.
Hello Yanlin:
I am interested in your posting.
You write that “also, the researcher assumed that the virtual classroom might be effective in promoting learning activities and increasing interests in using virtual worlds for educational or academic purposes.”
If the researcher mentions more details about it, please provide the information.
Kimiko
Hello Yanlin:
I am interested in your posting.
You write that “also, the researcher assumed that the virtual classroom might be effective in promoting learning activities and increasing interests in using virtual worlds for educational or academic purposes.”
If the researcher mentions more details about it, please provide the information.
Kimiko
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Reading Report No.6
As we can know form his article title, Peterson’s (2010) study is the examination of learner participation patterns and strategy use in SL. However, I focus only one of his research questions that “what are the significant participation patterns during learner task-based interaction in Second Life?” (Peterson, 2010, p.275).
The method is a case study with discourse analysis of three tasks of participants who are seven intermediate level EFL students studying at university in Japan (Peterson, 2010).
Peterson (2010) concludes that there is highly learner-centered nature of the interaction between students in SL environment. This may facilitate the development of learner autonomy.
It seems that many studies show that most of the tasks in a SL environment are learner-centered.
References
Peterson, M. (2010). Learner participation patterns and strategy use in Second Life: An exploratory case study. ReCALL, 22(3), 273-292.
The method is a case study with discourse analysis of three tasks of participants who are seven intermediate level EFL students studying at university in Japan (Peterson, 2010).
Peterson (2010) concludes that there is highly learner-centered nature of the interaction between students in SL environment. This may facilitate the development of learner autonomy.
It seems that many studies show that most of the tasks in a SL environment are learner-centered.
References
Peterson, M. (2010). Learner participation patterns and strategy use in Second Life: An exploratory case study. ReCALL, 22(3), 273-292.
'Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life'
Hi All,
This study looks at the nature and process of learning in Second Life in a graduate interdisciplinary communication course. This study is an empirical examination of the actual instruction effectiveness of Second Life as an experiential learning enviroment for interdisciplinary communication. The research methods used in this study is a mixture of journal content analysis (students’ world view journals), surveys, focus group and virtual world snapshots and video. The authors’ intention to perform this study is to answer the following four research questions: 1) How (when, how often and in what kinds of social situations) does learning occur in Second Life? 2) What types of learning do students experience often in Second Life? 3) Does learning in Second Life transfer to real life? 4) Do students perceive Second Life as instrumental in learning?
The results indicate that the learning environment in SL has fostered students’ development of interdisciplinary communication awareness and strategies effectively. (Answer to Question 1) Reports from the focus group show that learning was facilitated by various supportive characteristics of SL and students commonly mentioned that the 3-D virtual environment in SL encouraged real life applications of the theories and strategies studied in the course curriculum (a key indicator of successful experiential learning). (Answer to Question 2) Upon analysing the content of students’ journals and the focus group discussion, an increased general awareness of one’s own and others’ perspectives was the type of learning that occurred most often in SL and this type of learning happened in the context of interactions with other avatars in SL. (Answer to Question 3) Several focus group participants claimed that their SL learning experiences transferred into their real lives in the form of broadened and fresh perspectives. Their project engaged them experientially, led to various types of learning and transferred in different ways to real life. (Answer to Question 4) The data collected in the students’ survey showed that the maojority of them agreed that their engagement and learning would increase or increased because of SL therefore the idea to use SL in the course was validated and the students’ independent continuation of their project was a significant indication that they found SL to be instrumental in learning.
Reference
Jarmon, L., Traphagan, T., Mayrath, M., & Trivedi, A. (2009). Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life. Computer & Education 53, 169-182. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.01.010
This study looks at the nature and process of learning in Second Life in a graduate interdisciplinary communication course. This study is an empirical examination of the actual instruction effectiveness of Second Life as an experiential learning enviroment for interdisciplinary communication. The research methods used in this study is a mixture of journal content analysis (students’ world view journals), surveys, focus group and virtual world snapshots and video. The authors’ intention to perform this study is to answer the following four research questions: 1) How (when, how often and in what kinds of social situations) does learning occur in Second Life? 2) What types of learning do students experience often in Second Life? 3) Does learning in Second Life transfer to real life? 4) Do students perceive Second Life as instrumental in learning?
The results indicate that the learning environment in SL has fostered students’ development of interdisciplinary communication awareness and strategies effectively. (Answer to Question 1) Reports from the focus group show that learning was facilitated by various supportive characteristics of SL and students commonly mentioned that the 3-D virtual environment in SL encouraged real life applications of the theories and strategies studied in the course curriculum (a key indicator of successful experiential learning). (Answer to Question 2) Upon analysing the content of students’ journals and the focus group discussion, an increased general awareness of one’s own and others’ perspectives was the type of learning that occurred most often in SL and this type of learning happened in the context of interactions with other avatars in SL. (Answer to Question 3) Several focus group participants claimed that their SL learning experiences transferred into their real lives in the form of broadened and fresh perspectives. Their project engaged them experientially, led to various types of learning and transferred in different ways to real life. (Answer to Question 4) The data collected in the students’ survey showed that the maojority of them agreed that their engagement and learning would increase or increased because of SL therefore the idea to use SL in the course was validated and the students’ independent continuation of their project was a significant indication that they found SL to be instrumental in learning.
Reference
Jarmon, L., Traphagan, T., Mayrath, M., & Trivedi, A. (2009). Virtual world teaching, experiential learning, and assessment: An interdisciplinary communication course in Second Life. Computer & Education 53, 169-182. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.01.010
My report of an article
Sorry , I forgot to write my name. The one below is my post. Hope you guys have had a good break so far!
Yanlin
Cheers
Yanlin
Cheers
Life Long Learning: Seniors in Second Life Continuum
This study is aimed to find out that practices for conducting and creating applications for senior people and also impoving the use of computer and Internet among senior population. It was indicated that designing virtual classrooms in Second Life was feasile and useful for seniors education. The potential significant purpose of this project was to creat a efficient, dependable and reproducible model for outreach to senior activity centers and retirement communities.
Reserchers planed for targeted population to interact in a series of workshops to test wherher seniors wer benefited from this type of virtual education experience:
Virtual health fair: to provide seniors with information about searching for health and health-related topics on the Internet.
E-mail classroom: to teach seniors to setup and use an E-mail account.
Art classroom: to expose seniors to different kinds of art
According to the article, most seniors participants showed enjoyment of the virtual education experience. SecondLife is accessible to a large population and it provides an interesting learning environment to seniors. With the rapid growth of old population, it is important for seniors to be aware of computer use and the advantages of using computer. The experience of virtual classroom in SecondLife improved computer application
knowledge of seniors as well as the use of computer technology. Senior people could access information conveniently with the applications and tutorials in SecondLife. The advatages of the experience of virtual classroom might be shown in the aspects of time and location, because the traditional classroom teaching had a limitaion of them. The researchers identified areas of interest for seniors and intergrated them into learning environment in SecondLife. This kind of experience greatly promoted their interest of internet.Also, the researcher assumed that the virtual classroom might be effective in promoting learning activities and increasing interests in using virtul worlds for educational or academic purposes.
References:
Seals, C. D., & Moses, W., & Nyagwencha, J.,& Martin, A., & Clanton, K., & Thomos, C.M., & Doswell, F. (2008). Life Long Learning: Seniors in Second Life Continuum. Journal of Computer Science, 4 (12).
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Reading Report No.5
Hampel (2006) argues that an environment of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) cannot be thought the same as a face-to-face classroom setting, and both the design of tasks and their implementation have to reflect the affordances of the environment. Then, Hampel (2006) considers that the appropriate task design and the implementation through examining level 2 and level 3 German courses at Open University.
Hampel (2006) concludes that the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and sociocultural theories developed for face-to-face teaching can be transferred to a CMC environment. However, new features have to also be considered when designing and implementing tasks for a CMC environment.
Features for effective tasks in SLA theory are as follows (Ellis, 2000):
・Information exchange
・Two-way information gap
・Closed outcome
・Non-familiar task
・Human/ethical topic (vs. objective/spatial topic)
・Narrative discourse (vs. description/expository)
・Context-free
・Involving detailed information
Features for effective tasks in sociocultural theory are as follows (Meskill, 1999):
・Provide ample opportunities for differing perspectives and opinions.
・Motivate active participation and interaction by having no one single answer or process.
・Provide some form of problem-solving.
・Designate roles for individual learners to help situate them in a community of target language.
・Offer some focuses on the forms and functions of language use.
Regarding new features of a CMC environment, I summarized features of SL in my posting “Report about my reading”.
References
Ellis, R. (2000). Task-based research and language pedagogy. Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 193-220.
Hampel, R. (2006). Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment. ReCALL, 18(1), 105-121.
Meskill, C. (1999). Computers as tools for sociocollaborative language learning. In K. Cameron (Eds.), CALL: Media, design and applications (pp. 141-162). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Hampel (2006) concludes that the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and sociocultural theories developed for face-to-face teaching can be transferred to a CMC environment. However, new features have to also be considered when designing and implementing tasks for a CMC environment.
Features for effective tasks in SLA theory are as follows (Ellis, 2000):
・Information exchange
・Two-way information gap
・Closed outcome
・Non-familiar task
・Human/ethical topic (vs. objective/spatial topic)
・Narrative discourse (vs. description/expository)
・Context-free
・Involving detailed information
Features for effective tasks in sociocultural theory are as follows (Meskill, 1999):
・Provide ample opportunities for differing perspectives and opinions.
・Motivate active participation and interaction by having no one single answer or process.
・Provide some form of problem-solving.
・Designate roles for individual learners to help situate them in a community of target language.
・Offer some focuses on the forms and functions of language use.
Regarding new features of a CMC environment, I summarized features of SL in my posting “Report about my reading”.
References
Ellis, R. (2000). Task-based research and language pedagogy. Language Teaching Research, 4(3), 193-220.
Hampel, R. (2006). Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment. ReCALL, 18(1), 105-121.
Meskill, C. (1999). Computers as tools for sociocollaborative language learning. In K. Cameron (Eds.), CALL: Media, design and applications (pp. 141-162). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Reading Report No. 4
Lester and King (2009, p462) compare undergraduates’ learning outcome and attitude toward learning experience in “a traditional face-to face visual communications lecture course” and the same course via Second Life. In their study, the same lecture taught the same contents in both courses.
Although Lester and King (2009) report that the results do not show significant differences in both learning outcome and attitude toward learning experience, this study is not about language teaching course. Similarly, all reading materials in their literature review are not about language teaching or Second Life as follows:
Online-assisted instruction is superior
Maki, Maki, Patterson & Whittaker (2000)
There is no reference about this reading material, but Lester and king (2009) mention that this material is about psychology.
Benbunan-Fich and Hiltz (1999)
The studay area is business, the tool is Asynchronous Learning Networks.
Twigg (2003)
I think that this article only says that web-based course-delivery improve quality and reduce cost of educational institutions. The tool is Web site.
Winsler and Manfra (2002)
I cannot get the full-text, but the abstract explains that this article is about pre-post child development course for undergraduates and WebCT.
Face-to-face instruction is superior
Wang and Newlin (2000)
The study area is Psychology, the tool is Web site.
Waschull (2001)
The study area is psychology, the tool is Web site.
Rodrigue (2002)
The area is geography, the tool is Web site.
There is no significant difference between online-assisted and face-to-face instructions
Botsch and Botsch ( 2001)
The study area is American government classes, the tool is Web site.
Sankaran, Sankaran and Bui (2000)
The study area is business computer course, the tool is Web site.
Hensley (2005)
The study area is core curriculum classes of Department of Theatre and Dance, the tool is WebCT.
Shelley, Swartz and Cole (2006)
I cannot get the full-text, but the abstract explains that this article is about business law and Internet.
Benoit, Benoit, Milyo and Hansen (2006)
I cannot find this book, But Lester and King (2009) mention that this book is about speech communication course and WebCT.
In summary, I cannot find studies about language teaching with Second Life which conclude that face-to-face instruction is superior or there is no significant difference between online-assisted and face-to-face instructions.
References
Benbunan-Fich, R., & Hiltz, S. R. (1999). Educational applications of CMCS: Solving case studies through asynchronous learning networks. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1999.tb00098.x/full
Botsch, C. S., & Botsch, R.E. (2001). Audiences and outcomes in online and traditional American government classes: A comparative two-year study. PSOnline, 34, 135-141.
Hensley, G. (2005). Creating a hybrid college course: Instructional design notes and recommendations for beginners. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://jolt.merlot.org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/vol1_no2_hensley.htm
Rodrigue, C. M. (2002). Assessment of an experiment in teaching geography online. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Assessment of an experiment in teaching geography online
Lester, P. M., & King, C. M. (2009). Analog vs. digital instruction and learning: Teaching within first and second life environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 457-483.
Sankaran, S.R., Sankaran, D., & Bui, T. X. (2000). Effect of student attitude to course format on learning performance: An empirical study in web vs. lecture instruction. Journal of Instructional Technology, 27(1), 66-73.
Shelley, D. J., Swarts, L. B., & Cole, M. T. (2006). A comparative analysis of online and traditional undergraduate business low courses. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=2305
Twigg, C.A. (2003).Improving quality and reducing costs: Designs for effective learning. Change, 35(4), 22-29.
Wang, A. Y., & Newlin, M.H. (2000). Characteristics of students who enrol and succeed in psychology web-based classes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 137-143.
Waschull, S.B. (2001). The online delivery of psychology courses: Attribution, performance, and evaluation. Teaching of Psychology, 28(2), 143-147.
Winsler. A., & Manfra, L. (2002). Increasing student learning, technology use, and computer skills via use of WEBCT in an undergraduate child development course: A pre-post course evaluation study. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED472513&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED472513#
Although Lester and King (2009) report that the results do not show significant differences in both learning outcome and attitude toward learning experience, this study is not about language teaching course. Similarly, all reading materials in their literature review are not about language teaching or Second Life as follows:
Online-assisted instruction is superior
Maki, Maki, Patterson & Whittaker (2000)
There is no reference about this reading material, but Lester and king (2009) mention that this material is about psychology.
Benbunan-Fich and Hiltz (1999)
The studay area is business, the tool is Asynchronous Learning Networks.
Twigg (2003)
I think that this article only says that web-based course-delivery improve quality and reduce cost of educational institutions. The tool is Web site.
Winsler and Manfra (2002)
I cannot get the full-text, but the abstract explains that this article is about pre-post child development course for undergraduates and WebCT.
Face-to-face instruction is superior
Wang and Newlin (2000)
The study area is Psychology, the tool is Web site.
Waschull (2001)
The study area is psychology, the tool is Web site.
Rodrigue (2002)
The area is geography, the tool is Web site.
There is no significant difference between online-assisted and face-to-face instructions
Botsch and Botsch ( 2001)
The study area is American government classes, the tool is Web site.
Sankaran, Sankaran and Bui (2000)
The study area is business computer course, the tool is Web site.
Hensley (2005)
The study area is core curriculum classes of Department of Theatre and Dance, the tool is WebCT.
Shelley, Swartz and Cole (2006)
I cannot get the full-text, but the abstract explains that this article is about business law and Internet.
Benoit, Benoit, Milyo and Hansen (2006)
I cannot find this book, But Lester and King (2009) mention that this book is about speech communication course and WebCT.
In summary, I cannot find studies about language teaching with Second Life which conclude that face-to-face instruction is superior or there is no significant difference between online-assisted and face-to-face instructions.
References
Benbunan-Fich, R., & Hiltz, S. R. (1999). Educational applications of CMCS: Solving case studies through asynchronous learning networks. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1999.tb00098.x/full
Botsch, C. S., & Botsch, R.E. (2001). Audiences and outcomes in online and traditional American government classes: A comparative two-year study. PSOnline, 34, 135-141.
Hensley, G. (2005). Creating a hybrid college course: Instructional design notes and recommendations for beginners. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://jolt.merlot.org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/vol1_no2_hensley.htm
Rodrigue, C. M. (2002). Assessment of an experiment in teaching geography online. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from Assessment of an experiment in teaching geography online
Lester, P. M., & King, C. M. (2009). Analog vs. digital instruction and learning: Teaching within first and second life environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 457-483.
Sankaran, S.R., Sankaran, D., & Bui, T. X. (2000). Effect of student attitude to course format on learning performance: An empirical study in web vs. lecture instruction. Journal of Instructional Technology, 27(1), 66-73.
Shelley, D. J., Swarts, L. B., & Cole, M. T. (2006). A comparative analysis of online and traditional undergraduate business low courses. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/bookstore/article.aspx?titleid=2305
Twigg, C.A. (2003).Improving quality and reducing costs: Designs for effective learning. Change, 35(4), 22-29.
Wang, A. Y., & Newlin, M.H. (2000). Characteristics of students who enrol and succeed in psychology web-based classes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 137-143.
Waschull, S.B. (2001). The online delivery of psychology courses: Attribution, performance, and evaluation. Teaching of Psychology, 28(2), 143-147.
Winsler. A., & Manfra, L. (2002). Increasing student learning, technology use, and computer skills via use of WEBCT in an undergraduate child development course: A pre-post course evaluation study. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED472513&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED472513#
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
comment on Albie's posting
I tried to post a comment on Albie's posting, but I could not do it again. This is just my comment on his posting ‘a virtual world environment for group work’.
I also read this article.
I mentioned in my second reading report in this blog that it seems that there is a tendency to recur Communicative language Teaching (CLT) in SL world. Since it seems that learner-centered teaching is emphasized, I think such tendency also can recognize in this article. The brief background is as follows.
In the CLT, it views that communicative competence acquisition as an implicit process which has no description about the grammatical rules (Van Den Branden, 2006) for engaging the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning (Savignon, 2005). Therefore, this methodology is learner-centered, and the key roles for the teachers are: facilitator of the communication process, including the roles of organizer and guide, and participant with the learning (Breen & Candlin, 1980, as cited in Knight, 2000). However, there has been an acknowledgement that acquisition can be accelerated, if learners’ attention is drawn to specific linguistic features of the target language explicitly and directly (Long, 1991, as cited in Knight, 2000).
Therefore the post CLT methodologies attempt to not only focus on meaning, but also focus on form (Long & Norris, 2000, as cited in Knight, 2000), and then, these methodologies, such as Genre-Based Teaching (GBT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), are more teacher-centered than CLT (Knight, 2000).
References
Knight, P. (2000). The development of EFL methodology. In C. N. Candlin & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social context: A reader (pp. 147-166). London: Routledge.
Savignon, S. J. (2005). Communicative language teaching: Strategies and goals. In E. Hinkel (Eds.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 635-650). Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Van Den Branden, K. (2006). Introduction: Task-based language teaching in a nutshell. In K. Van Den Branden (Eds.), Task-based language education: From theory to practice (pp. 1-16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
I also read this article.
I mentioned in my second reading report in this blog that it seems that there is a tendency to recur Communicative language Teaching (CLT) in SL world. Since it seems that learner-centered teaching is emphasized, I think such tendency also can recognize in this article. The brief background is as follows.
In the CLT, it views that communicative competence acquisition as an implicit process which has no description about the grammatical rules (Van Den Branden, 2006) for engaging the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning (Savignon, 2005). Therefore, this methodology is learner-centered, and the key roles for the teachers are: facilitator of the communication process, including the roles of organizer and guide, and participant with the learning (Breen & Candlin, 1980, as cited in Knight, 2000). However, there has been an acknowledgement that acquisition can be accelerated, if learners’ attention is drawn to specific linguistic features of the target language explicitly and directly (Long, 1991, as cited in Knight, 2000).
Therefore the post CLT methodologies attempt to not only focus on meaning, but also focus on form (Long & Norris, 2000, as cited in Knight, 2000), and then, these methodologies, such as Genre-Based Teaching (GBT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), are more teacher-centered than CLT (Knight, 2000).
References
Knight, P. (2000). The development of EFL methodology. In C. N. Candlin & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social context: A reader (pp. 147-166). London: Routledge.
Savignon, S. J. (2005). Communicative language teaching: Strategies and goals. In E. Hinkel (Eds.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 635-650). Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Van Den Branden, K. (2006). Introduction: Task-based language teaching in a nutshell. In K. Van Den Branden (Eds.), Task-based language education: From theory to practice (pp. 1-16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Darkness Forest in SL
Hi All,
SL has been playing up on the laptop lately; every time I try to teleport somewhere, it crashes and shuts down completely!!! VERY FRUSTRATING!!!
However, I must have been in luck tonight to be able to teleport to this rather dreamy and mysterious place in SL, the Darkness Forest. The overall landscape and setting is very surreal and the music they play (mostly in Japanese) is rather nice too.
I'm putting up some snapshots here and also a link to a video recording I took in Darkness Forest, hope you like it & pay a visit there yourself.
And finally, fingers crossed that SL will start to work properly again on my laptop!
Cheers
Albie
An avatar with amazing wings
Link to my video
Darkness_Forest
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Reading Report No. 3
According to Wehner, Gump and Downey (2011), motivation is one of the most influential forces on a person’s ability to learn a foreign language. They compare the motivation of students in the standard curriculum undergraduate Spanish language course and the course in which Second Life (SL) is used. They conclude that the use of Second Life may have a positive effect on students’ motivation.
Then, they analyze the reasons based on Klein’s (1986, as cited in Wehner, Gump & Downey, 2011) theory of second language acquisition which focuses on social integration, communicative needs, and attitude as the most important dimensions of motivation. For social integration, Second Life allows students to create a new identity with which they can use their target language outside their social constructs, and to be anonymous for unrestricted communication of visual cues, such as gender and race. For communicative needs, immersing students into SL environment creates a constant need for them to use of the target language which beyond their typical use in classroom. For attitude, SL provides students a world to feel more confident, and then, be more inclined to participate and practice (Wehner, Gump & Downey, 2011).
Reference
Wehner, A. K.,Gump, A. W., & Downey, S. (2011). The effects of Second Life on the motivation of undergraduate students learning a foreign language. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(3), 277-289.
Then, they analyze the reasons based on Klein’s (1986, as cited in Wehner, Gump & Downey, 2011) theory of second language acquisition which focuses on social integration, communicative needs, and attitude as the most important dimensions of motivation. For social integration, Second Life allows students to create a new identity with which they can use their target language outside their social constructs, and to be anonymous for unrestricted communication of visual cues, such as gender and race. For communicative needs, immersing students into SL environment creates a constant need for them to use of the target language which beyond their typical use in classroom. For attitude, SL provides students a world to feel more confident, and then, be more inclined to participate and practice (Wehner, Gump & Downey, 2011).
Reference
Wehner, A. K.,Gump, A. W., & Downey, S. (2011). The effects of Second Life on the motivation of undergraduate students learning a foreign language. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(3), 277-289.
Monday, September 5, 2011
report about my success 3
I can create a note card. It's a black rectanble in the front of my power-point.
Kimiko
Kimiko
Sunday, September 4, 2011
'Exploring the meaningful learning of students in Second Life'
This study aims to develop a pedagogical model, namely the Global Virtual Education (GloVed) model and use it to evaluate students’ meaningful learning experiences in the Global Virtual Collaboration Project (GVCP) course in 2009. The GloVed model is based on the idea of the teaching, studying and learning (TSL) process. The authors suggest that a pedagogical model can be considered as “a plan or pattern that can be used to shape curriculums (long term courses of studies), to design instructional materials, and to guide instruction in the classroom and other settings” (Joyce & Weil, 1980, p.1). Fifty-four (54) students took part in the GVCP course and the aim of this course is to provide an opportunity for the students to learn how to collaborate on and solve real business problems in Second Life (SL).
The results of this study show that the GVCP course supported the process characteristics of meaningful learning and its outcome, but the individual, critical and interactive characteristics were not fully realized. Additionally, the goal-oriented, collaborative, conversational and immersive characteristics were not realized in SL. The authors made several useful suggestions for educational practioners if they have palns to utilize virtual worlds while teaching. 1) In order to provide individual guidance and scaffolding, the students’ individula characteristics should be addressed more properly. 2) A physical and virtual orientation to the environment is crucial because it helps students’ actual puzzlement with tasks later on. 3) Before the course starts, technological issues must be solved and sufficient options should be offered to students if the primary technology fails to work. 4) Educators should also pay attention to students’ interaction with each other by stressing the importance of clear roles, rules and objectives as well as emphasizing each student’s responsibilit for the teams’ work and the quality of the outcome. 5) Students should be able given the chance to negotiate the meeting schedules by themselves in order to have suitable schedules to finish the tasks.
Reference
Keskitalo, T., PyykkÖ, E., & Ruokamo, H. (2011). Exploring the meaningful learning of students in Second Life. Educational Technology & Society 14(1), 16-26. Retreived from AUT Library database.
The results of this study show that the GVCP course supported the process characteristics of meaningful learning and its outcome, but the individual, critical and interactive characteristics were not fully realized. Additionally, the goal-oriented, collaborative, conversational and immersive characteristics were not realized in SL. The authors made several useful suggestions for educational practioners if they have palns to utilize virtual worlds while teaching. 1) In order to provide individual guidance and scaffolding, the students’ individula characteristics should be addressed more properly. 2) A physical and virtual orientation to the environment is crucial because it helps students’ actual puzzlement with tasks later on. 3) Before the course starts, technological issues must be solved and sufficient options should be offered to students if the primary technology fails to work. 4) Educators should also pay attention to students’ interaction with each other by stressing the importance of clear roles, rules and objectives as well as emphasizing each student’s responsibilit for the teams’ work and the quality of the outcome. 5) Students should be able given the chance to negotiate the meeting schedules by themselves in order to have suitable schedules to finish the tasks.
Reference
Keskitalo, T., PyykkÖ, E., & Ruokamo, H. (2011). Exploring the meaningful learning of students in Second Life. Educational Technology & Society 14(1), 16-26. Retreived from AUT Library database.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Qian's week 8
Hello, everyone
I am looking forward to our upcoming break. I have spent more time in SL this week. I have chatted with the owner of Chinese Island. She is an Australian who teaches Chinese in a university. We shared a lot of interesting ideas and experiences on Chinese teaching and learning. After that conversation in virtual life, we have closer relationship in real life. It is such a delightful journey in SL. It is like you might never have the opportunity to meet someone who has similar thoughts, similar interests and even similar personality in real life. But yes, it happens. It happens in SL, a virtual world. Suddenly, you feel that the world is not that big.
The earth is just a ball which you can play around.
I have talked about this journey with my student who has learnt Chinese from me for half a year in Auckland. I invited him to join my little experiment. It is a task based learning experiment. It is just a casual experiment which based on our textbook that was brought by me from China. We plan that we learn a topic each week, than we go to SL Chinese Island to practice the new vocabulary which have learnt in this week. For instance, our topic for this week is ‘At café shop’, I will teach him some related words in real life, and then we will go to find a ‘tea house’ on Chinese Island to practice those vocabularies. After these, he will be asked to write a brief story according to those new words in Chinese. I asked him that there must be two main roles in his story, one is his avatar, and the other is my avatar (actually, I just designed this step for fun. Because I love story and I want him be creative and interesting about learning). Then I will write a ‘processing diary’ according to it. Currently, that is just our ideal thought; we are going to test it next week. I am knee on your advice. Good luck for us!
Qian
I am looking forward to our upcoming break. I have spent more time in SL this week. I have chatted with the owner of Chinese Island. She is an Australian who teaches Chinese in a university. We shared a lot of interesting ideas and experiences on Chinese teaching and learning. After that conversation in virtual life, we have closer relationship in real life. It is such a delightful journey in SL. It is like you might never have the opportunity to meet someone who has similar thoughts, similar interests and even similar personality in real life. But yes, it happens. It happens in SL, a virtual world. Suddenly, you feel that the world is not that big.
The earth is just a ball which you can play around.
I have talked about this journey with my student who has learnt Chinese from me for half a year in Auckland. I invited him to join my little experiment. It is a task based learning experiment. It is just a casual experiment which based on our textbook that was brought by me from China. We plan that we learn a topic each week, than we go to SL Chinese Island to practice the new vocabulary which have learnt in this week. For instance, our topic for this week is ‘At café shop’, I will teach him some related words in real life, and then we will go to find a ‘tea house’ on Chinese Island to practice those vocabularies. After these, he will be asked to write a brief story according to those new words in Chinese. I asked him that there must be two main roles in his story, one is his avatar, and the other is my avatar (actually, I just designed this step for fun. Because I love story and I want him be creative and interesting about learning). Then I will write a ‘processing diary’ according to it. Currently, that is just our ideal thought; we are going to test it next week. I am knee on your advice. Good luck for us!
Qian
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