| Schedule: | 2009-09-11 (16:30 - 17:30)
Poster Presentations and Commercial Exhibition (Exhibition Hall) |
| Title: | Research and Best Practice in Second LifeŽ |
| Authors: | Luisa Panichi, Mats Deutschmann, Judith Molka-Danielsen, Graham Stanley, Gary Motteram, Christian Swertz |
| Abstract: |
This poster presentation will provide an overview of some of the
ongoing concerns for practitioners who are interested in teaching
and/or research in the virtual world of Second LifeŽ. The main focus of
the poster will be to illustrate the various phases of exploration,
experimentation, reflection and implementation of teaching and learning
scenarios in Second LifeŽ and to provide examples of best practice. The authors would like to share, in particular, their experience from the ongoing European project AVALON for the design, testing and implementation of language teaching and learning in Second Life. Avalon (Access to Virtual and Action Learning live ONline) is a 2 year multilateral project funded under the EU EACEA Life Long Learning Programme and runs until December 2010. The 26 participating European partners include10 state funded universities and 16 other public and private organisations operating in the following areas: language education, teacher training, intercultural training, language testing and certification, online education, publishing, business communication and networking, design of 3D environments and language learning in Second LifeŽ. The project is a transversal programme which targets language learners from the Leonardo da Vinci community (vocational education and training), Erasmus community (higher education) and Gruntdvig community (adult education). Not only will the project create a platform in which these diverse learning communities can come together but it also has a particular interest in providing access to technology and language learning to learners in remote locations. The ultimate aim of the project is to create both a virtual environment and a sustainable community of practitioners and users which will outlive the project itself. An additional aim of the poster session is to present the various research angles that the platform offers for researchers in language pedagogy, language didactics and linguistics which are relevant not only to the field of CALL and CMC but beyond. The session will present an overview of research that has been carried out so far and is in progress and some of the research questions arising there from or that still remain unanswered. Last but not least, the poster session also aims to bring together for the first time information from the larger Second LifeŽ educational network which is relevant to teaching and learning practice and related research in Second LifeŽ in general. It is hoped that some of the bibliographical and contact information the poster session will provide will be of interest both to experienced users of Second LifeŽ and to those who are approaching teaching and research in Second LifeŽ for the first time. |
| Keywords: | |
| Main topic: | Research in new language learning environments |
| Biodata: | Not provided |
| Type of presentation | Poster |
| Paper category | (Other) |
| Target educational sector | Higher education |
| Language of delivery | English |
| EU-funded project | No |