Week 5 - Do It Yourself! Workshops

There is a lot packed into this week and the Optional Readings /Viewings list is long. See this positively as a richness and not a threat!

Overview

Participation in teaching - participants will be encouraged to put their knowledge into practice and arrange to teach each other in 15 minute slots

Learning outcomes

By the end of this week, you should have done some of the following:

• have joined a group in our Ning in a time slot that suits you best for a synchronous meeting.
• have participated in an example teaching session/lesson, and reflected on this session in a blog post in the TLVW Ning.
• have participated in one of Wlodek's Barbosa's workshops on Phonetically Augmented Virtuality, and reflected on it in a blog post in the TLVW Ning.
• have prepared and taught a mini language lesson for your peers, received and given feedback on these lessons.
• have posted snapshots of your mini lesson to flickr.
• have reflected on your teaching in your blog in the TLVW Ning.

• have participated in the discussion about Virtual Worlds vs Other Methods of E-Learning
• have participated in the discussion about Real Life vs Second Life language learning and teaching

Useful SL skills

Click this link to go to the SL skills list and tutorial videos.

Activities

1. Join the Ning group for the time slot that suits you best.
2. Participate in the AVALON project Business English teaching session. (Details of place and time to be posted later in 'Events').
3. Participate in one of the Spanish lessons by Dafne González in LanguageLab. (Details of place and time will be posted later in 'Events').
4. Attend a demonstration of Holodecks and how they can be used in language teaching and learning. (Details of place and time will be posted later in 'Events').
5. Participate in a workshop on how to use the Builder's Buddy, a way of creating holodeck-like scenes for use in teaching
6. Participate in one of Wlodek's Barbosa's workshops on Phonetically Augmented Virtuality*
7. Attend Carol Rainbow's workshop on sound. (Times and place to be announced later in 'Events').
8. Prepare a mini language lesson (max 15 min). Think about what you learned about different methods, places and tools and how they were used by other teachers to help plan your session. Think about the rationale of choosing particular activities, tools, etc. in SL and the pedagogical, language aims of your lesson.
9. Meet with the participants in your group in-world and teach each other and give each other feedback. You need not necessarily teach EFL. You can teach any foreign language of your choice. For participants that could prove to be a novel experience and something worth reflecting on.
10. Don't forget to take pictures during these sessions (you will be busy teaching so ask someone else from the group to take pictures of your session and help other's when it is their turn). Upload the pictures to flickr, tag them with "TLVW10" and add them to our group pool
11. Reflect on your teaching in your personal blog in Ning or elsewhere (provide a link if you write on a different blog and tag it with tlvw10). You can embed pictures of your session in this blog post.
12. Participate in the discussion about Virtual Worlds vs Other Methods of E-Learning and the discussion about Real Life vs Second Life language learning and teaching.

Resources

• http://slexperiments.pbworks.com/Lesson-ideas
• http://slexperiments.pbworks.com/Lesson-Plan-Template
• http://slexperiments.pbworks.com/Holodecks-in-Language-Classes
• http://slexperiments.pbworks.com/SL-Free-Objects
• Teaching EFL/ESL in Second Life
• Nergiz's detailed lesson plans, pre- and post-lesson reflections, snapshots and student feedback for her first course in SL in 2008.

• Starting a Second Life (ETp journal article)
• Barbara Sakamoto's first teaching experience in SL and more.
• Wlodek Barbosa's first teaching experience in SL
• Scottlo's first teaching experience in SL here and here.

Optional Readings/Viewings

• Dennis Newson's Pecha Kucha presentation
• Wlodek Sobkowiak's Pecha Kucha presentation
• How to send and create a notecard
• Notecard attachments
• How to set up a Notecard Giver
• Fun with Floating Texts
• Educator´s Toolbox: Giving inventory Script
• Educator´s Toolbox: NoteCard Reader
• Educator´s Toolbox: PPT Viewer
• Using Holodecks and Builder's Buddy
• Create a PowerPoint Presentation for Second Life
• More ideas about giving a PowerPoint Presentation in Second Life. Part 1 and Part 2.
• How to use and edit the SpeakEasy Hud

• How to send a postcard by Torley
• Nik Peachy's Links and Opinion on Learning, Technology, Web 2.0 and EFL, ESL: http://quickshout.blogspot.com

An introduction to different methodologies, tools and places where languages are being taught and learned in Second Life.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this week, you should have done some of the following:

• have participated in some of the tours (guided or self-access) of language teaching/learning spaces in Second Life
• have taken part in a discussion about teaching and learning languages in Second Life
• have reflected on your visits and discussions in a blog post in the TLVW Ning
• have a better idea of the range of different possibilities for teaching and learning a language using Second Life
• be aware of how some people & organisations use Second Life for language teaching and learning
• have attended a presentation/demo of favourite (language) teaching tools of the more experienced members.
• have started to understand some of the benefits and challenges of teaching in a virtual world

Useful SL skills

Click this link to go to the SL skills list and tutorial videos.

Activities

1. Visit Virtlantis, which is an island owned by Kip Yellowjacket (SL), a language teacher, who provides some space and facilities for other language teachers for free. You can also have your own small teaching space (there is a voluntary monthly donation). Try to find and talk to some teachers and students while there and report back in the Ning forum for this week.
2. Attend a guided tour of AVALON Learning, the home of the AVALON EU project ,a two-year project funded by the European Commission as a part of the Education and Culture DG Lifelong Learning Programme which aims to create and test language learning tasks and activities in Virtual worlds as well as creating and piloting a training course for teachers who would like to extend their e-learning skills to include virtual teaching worlds.
3. Go on a tour of the EduNation island owned by Gavin Dudeney. Talk to some educators you meet there. How do you like the place? What can educators do there? Report back in the Ning forum.
4. Visit the EUROCALL/CALICO Headquarters in Edunation to find out about the help and resources they provide for teachers
5. We will also visit the British Council Isle and find out about their work in the Main Grid and Teen Grid of Second Life, investigating the use of language learning quests
6. Participate in one of the discussions about different aspects of learning and teaching languages in Second Life.
7. Attend one of the scheduled (language) teaching tool demo/presentation sessions. If you are an experienced SL user, select three of your most favourite (language) teaching tools, set them up in the sandbox and, if possible, demonstrate how they work and how you (would) use them in your lessons.
8. If possible, attend the talk & tour at Monash University by Xilin Yifu, lecturer in Mandarin Chinese about teaching Chinese to students in Second Life.

Resources

Educational tools shop (Dudeney Ge's)

Educational Freebie Mall at Montclair University

Teacher Tool box ( in Virtlanis)

Info Island & the Alliance Library

Ohio State University: SL guide an freebies

Educator's tool gallery, and more

Optional Readings/Viewings

• ICT for Language Teachers: Second Life
• Second Life English website (no sign-up required)
• English Village website
• SurReal Language Quests
• Language learning Quests in Second Life (Master's dissertation about the work on the British Council Isle in Teen Second Life)
• British Council Isle - video introduction
• Second Life as a Social Learning Environment
• Dogme ELT for Virtual World Language Learning
• Reflections on Teaching English in Second Life
• Virtual world language learning (on Wikipedia)
• EUROCALL and CALICO in SL (interview with Graham Davies)

This week will be spent visiting areas in SL where different languages are spoken. This will include Real Life places that are represented in SL as well as places where languages can be learned. The overall aim is for everyone to have an initial idea of how SL can be used / is being used for language learning, (teaching) and practice both informally and formally.

There will be guided tours of some RL places in SL where we will try some language activities. Then, you will be given a list of LMs (landmarks) to more such places, which you can explore in your own time. There will also be a tour of an interactive Mexican town, which is a nice example of how learners can interact with scripted objects in SL.

All of these places can be used in a synchronous formal session with a teacher but also informally by students, who can practise their language skills and learn vocabulary on their own.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this week, you should:

• have reflected on your visits in a blog post in the TLinVW Ning.
• have participated in the forum discussion for this week
• be aware of how Second Life can be used by language learners for language practice
• have started to become comfortable with the Second Life interface and with its communication tools.

Useful SL skills

Click this link to go to the SL skills list and tutorial videos.

Activities

1. Select some of the Real Life places in SL from the map or list below (or get a notecard with landmarks by clicking the poster for this week in the Webheads HQ in Second Life) and visit them. If possible, do this in pairs or form small groups. There will also be some organized tours during the week (check out the events for this week). Take snapshots and post them to our Ning (you can do that from your page on Ning or from the front page by clicking on "add photo" or Flickr group. Write your reflections in a blog post or in the week three forum.
2. Attend one of the scheduled guided tours to places where languages are taught. As a preparation, you can watch some of the videos in the "Optional Reading/Viewing" section below.
3. Post your reflections to your blog on the TLinVW10 Ning.

Resources

This is a map with a (complete) overview of real life places in Second Life. Click on the image to go to the original website. There, you can click the pins to get to the SLURL page and teleport.

Here are some suggestions:

How it works: Click the link. A new browser will open with the Slurl. Click teleport.

• SL Berlin
• SL Polish Community
• SL Dublin
• SL Great Wall of China
• SL Barcelona
• SL Mexico
• SL Ancient Rome
• SL Paris
• SL Morocco
• Virtual Makkah

Copy of notecard with suggested language learning activities: RL in SL Language Activities

Optional Readings/Viewings

• A video tour of Mi Casa Es Su Casa (Mexican Town)
• An advanced Spanish class in SL (video).
• Places to practise different languages (video)
• Stories from Second Life: Language Lab (article)
• LanguageLab commercial (video)

Week 2: Jan 18-24

Coordinator: Włodzimierz Sobkowiak (Wlodek Barbosa in SL)

In this week there will be field trips to different educational spaces in Second Life and discussions. The choice of these spaces will be guided by the overall character of this course, as well as participants needs. As the core theme here is teaching languages, we will visit arts & humanities oriented places in Second Life, rather than those relating to sciences. In each case there will be ample time for discussion and feedback, as well as participants' own reflections on the places visited. Participants will be encouraged to visit some places individually, and then provide feedback to the group by blogging about their experiences on the TLVW10 Ning.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this week, you should:

• know your colleagues on the TLVW10 even better
• have increased your skill and comfort level with the main tools for interaction and communication, both in SL and on Ning
• have learned how to use some of the more advanced functionalities of the SL user interface
• have been on a guided tour of an innovative and creative educational space in Second Life, as a result of which you should...
• have been inspired to think outside the box about using virtual worlds for language learning
• have collaboratively explored and evaluated at least one general educational space in Second Life (not the guided field trip above); see below

Useful SL skills

Click this link to go to the SL skills list and tutorial videos.

Activities

1. Attend a synchronous 1-hour session and work in a group to practice communication, navigation, movement, profile completion and taking snapshots inworld
2. Post your reflections on the activity as a blog post in the TLVW10 Ning
3. Attend one of the scheduled guided tours of an educational sim, take photos while there and post these and your reflections to the TLVW10 Ning and/or Flickr (tag your snapshots with tlvw10)
4. Explore and evaluate at least one general educational space in Second Life (not the guided field trip above) and post these and your reflections to the TLVW10 Ning and/or Flickr (tag your snapshots with tlvw10)
5. Participate in the discussions or ask questions related to this week in the forum on the TLVW10 Ning.

Resources - some educational spaces to visit in SL:

• List of educational landmarks at the TLVW HQ in Second Life (click on the Week 2 Activities poster)

• Virtual Macbeth
• EduSquare: LMs of various educational sims
• Revised Blooms Taxonomy of Teaching Objectives
• 3d games and edutainment
• Holocaust Museum (interactive experience of Kristallnacht)
• Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

• Church of San Francesco of Assisi

• Bayeux Tapestry (with audio guide)

• Dresden Gallery (with audio guide)

• Sistine Chapel

• Virtual Hallucinations (experience what a person with schizophrenia hears and sees)

• Ramapo project on eating disorders, Atlantis Rising Campus on Eduisland

Optional Readings/Viewings

• Advanced movement controls (short YouTube video)
• Voice setup and voice etiquette (short YouTube video)
• Find friends and groups faster (short YouTube video)
• Use the pie menu quicker (short YouTube video)
• Take a snapshot (short YouTube video)
• World map video tutorial (short YouTube video)
• Torley Lindens' Video Tutorials
• Virtual Worlds and Higher Education (wiki)
• Educational Uses of Second Life (by Jo Kay and Sean Fitzgerald)
• Education in Second Life: Explore the Possibilities (YouTube video)
• Global Kids’ Second Life Curriculum
• RezEd - The Hub for Learning and Virtual Worlds

This week, we will be meeting each other and introducing ourselves at our Ning community site, http://tlinvw.ning.com/. You are also encouraged to sign up for an account in Second Life if you haven't already done so. If you have had no experience of Second Life, you should complete the orientation this week. If you have provided us with your Second Life name when signing up for Ning, one of the moderators will send you an invitation to our Second Life group (the group name is 'TLVW10') .

Learning outcomes

By the end of this week, you should:

• have started to get to know your colleagues on the TLVW session
• be familiar and have a basic comfort level with the main tools for interaction and communication through
  • reading the course information here on the session outline pages and sent by email.
  • reading your colleagues welcome messages and posting your welcome message to the TLVW Ning.
  • moving, communicating and navigating in Second Life at a basic level, as a result of completing a self-paced orientation and attending a synchronous meeting
• know what the expectations are for the 6 weeks of the TLVW10 EVO in terms of what you should leave with and the commitment it is likely to involve

Useful SL skills

Click this link to go to the SL skills list and tutorial videos.

→ You will have a much better first experience in SL if you watch some of the basic skills video tutorials and test whether voice is working before our first meeting in SL (You can test whether your voice is working by going to Voice Echo Canyon). Should you have problems ask your questions in the forum, leave a comment on one of the moderators' profile pages on Ning or send us a message. You can also attend one of the SL audio troubleshooting events.

Activities

1. Join and post to the TLVW Ning;
   1. read your colleagues welcome messages; and
   2. post your welcome
   3. read the course outline and the activities for each week and plan your schedule accordingly for what you are able to commit to
2. Join Second Life, download and install the software, complete an orientation and attend a synchronous meeting;
   1. Join Second Life (if you are asked to select a "Gateway" during sign-up, select "Virtual Ability", download and install the software, log in and complete the orientation at Virtual Ability (You can skip this stage if you are not new to Second Life).
   2. During the first week, you will receive an invitation to join the TLVW group in Second Life. This will appear as a blue drop down menu in the top right corner when you login at some point. Please click the Join button when this happens. Please note the TLVW moderators' avatar names: Graham Stanley = Baldric Commons, Nergiz Kern = Daffodil Fargis, Dennis Newson = Osnacantab Nesterov, Maria Pinto = Mary Roussel, Nahir Aparicio = Nahiram Vaniva, Włodzimierz Sobkowiak = Wlodek Barbosa
3. Go to the useful SL skills page and watch the basic SL skills tutorials suggested for week 1.
4. Attend one of the 1-hour, synchronous Introductions meeting sessions at the TLVW headquarters (also called "Webheads HQ) in Second Life during this week. You only need to attend one but there will be 2-3 repeated sessions at different times to accommodate the global span of participants' time zones. Check the Events page on the TLVW Ning to find out when they are scheduled.