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SLanguages 2009: Dogme ELT for Virtual Worlds

Howard Vickers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:01:06 +0000

SLanguages 2009 will take place on 8 & 9 May. I will be giving a presentation about the Dogme ELT movement and how its approach to language teaching has a lot to offer language educators using virtual worlds. Here is the abstract…

Title: Dogme ELT as a Pedagogy for Language Education in Virtual Worlds
Presenter [avatar name]: Howard Vickers [ Howie Yokishawa ]
The Dogme ELT movement promotes the use of real life materials in the language classroom as a basis for stimulating communication to promote opportunities for language learning. And as such Dogme ELT questions the use of conventional textbooks. Language coursebooks have anyhow yet to appear in virtual worlds such as Second Life, so how can language educators draw on this methodology for their in-world teaching?

What is Dogme ELT and where is it of most relevance for language education in virtual worlds?
Examples of virtual world based activities that draw on the Dogme ELT principles.
How can virtual world activities be integrated into online or offline classes?

The presentation will draw on recent blog articles (below) although it will focus on virtual worlds rather than web 2.0 in general.

Time: 18.30 – 19.30 (Second Life time = PDT)

Date: Friday 8 May 2009

Location: EduNation III Seminar Space in Second Life.

Hope to see you there!

Some related links…

SLanguages 2008 – Online Archive

Howard Vickers — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:16:42 +0000

There were 350 visitors from 28 countries (native speakers of 29 languages) who attended SLanguages 2008 last weekend. For those of you who missed the event, or perhaps some parts of it (it was 24 hours long!), the archive page of the conference website (www.slanguages.net/archive.php) now has most of the presentation available (with audios). I’ve included a couple here to get you interested…

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We are already starting to prepare for SLanguages 2009, when I’m sure there will be many more presenters (and very many more attendees). In the meantime there will be smaller events, workshops, presentations and activities at the EduNation island in Second Life. These events will be advertised on www.slanguages.net (News and Events section). I hope to see you there!

SLanguages 2008 – Tomorrow!

Howard Vickers — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:40:11 +0000

The SLanguages 2008 conference on virtual worlds in language education starts tomorrow. Further details at the website www.slanguages.net. I’m including here the program to help you plan your visits…

SLanguages 2008 – Program – Upload a doc

SLanguages 2008 Timetable The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds A version is also available in-world. Both versions (website and Second Life) have teleport links to the relevant event location. Further information about the conference is available at www.slanguages.net PST PDT – 1 10.00 (am) PDT (SL) PST + 1 PDT + 0 11.00 (am) UTC/GMT PST + 8 PDT + 7 18.00 London (BST) PST + 9 PST + 8 19.00 Paris (CET) PST + 10 PST + 9 20.00 NOTE: Current time in SL is PDT ********************** MAY 23RD – BLOCK 0 *********************** 11:00 – 12:00 PDT – Conference Opening & Social Gathering [DJ Dudeney Ge] [10:00 - 11:00 PST |18:00 – 19:00 UTC|20:00 – 21:00 CET] Come along and meet participants and presenters, the organizers and a few lost souls. DJ Dudeney Ge entertains with an eclectic mix from 1930 to yesterday… EduNation II – The Club *************************************************************** ********************** MAY 23RD – BLOCK 1 *********************** 12:00 – 13:00 PDT – Plenary I – Iffaf Khan (SL: Iffaf Ling) [11:00 - 12:00 PST|19:00 – 20:00 UTC|21:00 – 22:00 CET] Teacher Training in SL: Lessons Learnt EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 13:15 – 14:15 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions I [12:15 - 13:15 PST|20:15 – 21:15 UTC|22:15 – 23:15 CET] Session 1.1 – Gavin Dudeney (SL: Dudeney Ge) Teaching Tools for Second Life EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 1.2 – Ton Koenraad (SL: Koen Antonioni) The Making of the ViTAAL project EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 14:30 – 15:30 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions II [13:30 - 14:30 PST|21:30 – 22:30 UTC|23:30 – 00:30 CET] Session 2.1 – Št?pánka J?nová (SL: Stefi Kohime) Applying different language teaching methods in Second life EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 2.2 – Graham Stanley (SL: Baldric Commons) The Sword in the Stone- Language Learning Quests (part I) EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 15:30 – 16:00 PDT – Break – Exhibition, Poster Presentations SLanguages 2008 Timetable The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds A version is also available in-world. Both versions (website and Second Life) have teleport links to the relevant event location. Further information about the conference is available at www.slanguages.net [14:30 - 15:00 PST |22:30 – 23:00 UTC|00:30 – 01:00 CET] EduNation II – Sandbox *************************************************************** ********************** MAY 23RD – BLOCK 2 *********************** 16:00 – 17:00 PDT – Plenary II – Howard Vickers (SL: Howie Yoshikawa) [15:00 - 16:00 PST |23:00 – 00:00 UTC|01:00 – 02:00 CET] Blended Learning – Combining Virtual Worlds with Web 2.0 Tools EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 17:15 – 18:15 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions III [16:15 - 17:15 PST |00:15 – 01:15 UTC|02:15 – 03:15 CET] Session 3.1 – Kip Boahn (SL: Kip Yellowjacket) What is Second Life English? : Current project status and future aspirations. EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 3.2 – James Abraham (SL: Calisto Encinal) Mi casa es su casa: A Simulated House for Spanish EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 18:30 – 19:30 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions IV [17:30 - 18:30 PST |01:30 – 01:30 UTC|03:30 – 04:30 CET] Session 4.1 – Kane Naylor (SL: Basho Singh) Welcome to CHACHAT! EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 4.2 – Dafne Gonzalez (SL: Daf Smirnov) Teaching Training: Second Life vs. Online / Blended Courses: Implications EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 19:30 – 20:00 PDT – Field Trip with Howard Vickers (SL: Howie Yoshikawa) [18:30 - 19:00 PST |02:30 – 03:00 UTC|04:30 – 05:00 CET] Real Cities and Themed Locations in Second Life EduNation II – Seminar Space *************************************************************** *********************** MAY 23RD – BLOCK 3 ********************** 20:00 – 21:00 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions V [19:00 - 20:00 PST |03:00 – 04:00 UTC|05:00 – 06:00 CET] Session 5.1 – Gloria Jeanne Bodtorf Clark (SL: Flora Almendros) Coordinating the Physical Classroom and Teaching from My Virtual Hot Tub: Hybrid Spanish Classes in Practice EduNation II – Seminar Space SLanguages 2008 Timetable The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds A version is also available in-world. Both versions (website and Second Life) have teleport links to the relevant event location. Further information about the conference is available at www.slanguages.net Session 5.2 – Kip Boahn (SL: Kip Yellowjacket) What is Second Life English? : Current project status and future aspirations. EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 21:15 – 22:15 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions VI [20:15 - 21:15 PST |04:15 – 05:15 UTC|06:15 – 07:15 CET] Session 6.1 – Paul Preibisch (SL: Fire Centaur) Bots for educators! EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 6.2 – James Abraham (SL: Calisto Encinal) Mi casa es su casa: A Simulated House for Spanish EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 22:30 – 23:30 PDT – Plenary III – Chris Surridge (SL: Christopher Flow) [21:30 - 22:30 PST |05:30 – 06:30 UTC|07:30 – 08:30 CET] Motivated Interactions in Second Life EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 23:30 – 00:00 PDT – Break – Exhibition, Poster Presentations [22:30 - 23:00 PST |06:30 – 07:00 UTC|08:30 – 09:00 CET] EduNation II – Sandbox ______________________________________________________________ 00:00 – 01:00 PDT – Field Trip with Heike Philp (SL: Gwen Gwasi) [23:00 - 00:00 PST |07:00 – 08:00 UTC|09:00 – 10:00 CET] Sightseeing tour to language learning sites EduNation II – Seminar Space *************************************************************** ********************** MAY 24TH – BLOCK 1 *********************** 01:00 – 02:00 PDT – Mid-Conference Building Basics – Gavin Dudeney (SL: Dudeney Ge) [00:00 - 01:00 PST|08:00 – 09:00 UTC|10:00 – 11:00 CET] If you’ve always wondered what the ‘Build’ button in SL does, come along to the Sandbox and get started with building. We’ll cover the basics and put it all together to make a scripted gadget that actually does something. This is a very basic session, so if you’ve done any building already you may want to use this hour to get some sleep… EduNation II – Sandbox ______________________________________________________________ 02:15 – 03:15 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions VII [01:15 - 02:15 PST|09:15 – 10:15 UTC|11:15 – 12:15 CET] Session 7.1 – Kyle Mawer (SL: Frank Spearmann) Robin Hood – Language Learning Quests (part II) EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 7.2 – Mark Karstad (SL: Buy Short) Second Life in Conservative Societies, Considerations from the Middle East SLanguages 2008 Timetable The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds A version is also available in-world. Both versions (website and Second Life) have teleport links to the relevant event location. Further information about the conference is available at www.slanguages.net EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 03:30 – 04:30 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions VIII [02:30 - 03:30 PST|10:30 – 11:30 UTC|12:30 – 13:30 CET] Session 8.1 – Dongping Zheng (SL: MinnSU Koga) Quest Design in SL Chinese School EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 8.2 – Gavin Dudeney (SL: Dudeney Ge) Teaching Tools for Second Life EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 04:30 – 05:00 PDT – Field Trip with Gavin Dudeney (SL: Dudeney Ge) [03:30 - 04:00 PST|11:30 – 12:00 UTC|13:30 – 14:00 CET] Multiple Intelligences in SL… EduNation II – Seminar Space *************************************************************** ********************** MAY 24TH – BLOCK 2 *********************** 05:00 – 06:00 PDT – Plenary IV – Paul Sweeney (SL: Head Teacher) [04:00 - 05:00 PST|12:00 – 13:00 UTC|14:00 – 15:00 CET] What is the ‘right’ kind of innovation? EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 06:15 – 0715 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions IX [05:15 - 06:15 PST|13:15 – 14:15 UTC|15:15 – 16:15 CET] Session 9.1 – Graham Stanley (SL: Baldric Commons) and Kyle Mawer (SL: Frank Spearmann) Language Learning Quests (part III) – Discussion / Workshop EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 9.2 – Mark Karstad (SL: Buy Short) Second Life in Conservative Societies, Considerations from the Middle East EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 07:30 – 08:30 PDT – Simultaneous Sessions X [06:30 - 07:30 PST |14:30 – 15:30 UTC|16:30 – 17:30 CET] Session 10.1 – Dafne Gonzalez (SL: Daf Smirnov) and (SL: Christina Papp) Teaching Spanish to Beginners in SL EduNation II – Seminar Space Session 10.2 – Heike Philp (SL: Gwen Gwasi) Sightseeing tour to language learning sites EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space SLanguages 2008 Timetable The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds A version is also available in-world. Both versions (website and Second Life) have teleport links to the relevant event location. Further information about the conference is available at www.slanguages.net ______________________________________________________________ 08:30 – 09:00 PDT – Presentation moved to 03:30 – 04:30 PDT, Saturday [07:30 - 08:00 PST|15:30 – 16:00 UTC|17:30 – 18:00 CET ] *************************************************************** ********************** MAY 24TH – BLOCK 3 *********************** 09:00 – 10:00 PDT – Closing Roundup – All [08:00 - 09:00 PST|16:00 – 17:00 UTC|18:00 – 19:00 CET ] A chance for everyone to reflect on – and discuss – the conference itself. Moderated by Gavin Dudeney (SL: Dudeney Ge) EduNation III – Conference Crossover Space ______________________________________________________________ 10:00 – 11:00 PDT – Conference Closing Party [DJ Dudeney Ge] [09:00 - 10:00 PST|17:00 – 18:00 UTC|19:00 – 20:00 CET] Come along and meet participants and presenters, the organizers and a few lost souls. DJ Dudeney Ge entertains with an eclectic mix from 1930 to yesterday… EduNation II – The Club **************************************************************

SLanguages 2008

Howard Vickers — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:47:33 +0000

The second annual SLanguages conference has been announced for 23 and 24 May 2008. The conference has a website this year (www.slanguages.net) with information in various languages.

Avatar Languages is very pleased to be sponsoring this year’s event, which promises to be bigger and better than the 2007 conference.

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This slideshow shows pictures from the 2007 conference…

EUROCALL, Languaging and Digital Natives

Howard Vickers — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:48:38 +0000

EUROCALL
For those of us who missed the EUROCALL conference in Ireland and online last month, we can catch up with recordings of the presentations that are located on the University of Ulster website. I have just watched an especially engaging talk by Bernd Rüschoff about the use of web 2.0 in language learning.

Languaging
The presentation mentions a new term for the process of producing language: “languaging”; a term, which was first used by Merrill Swain. Languaging is defined as “speaking, writing, collaborative dialogue, private speech, verbalizing, … in acts of meaning negotiation / negotiating comprehensible output”. So languaging focuses on the process of producing language, rather than the produced language (text / speech) itself. This resonated with me since the WebQuest / SurReal Quest approach is very much about using the process of producing output in order to practice and develop language skills.

Digital Natives
Bernd Rüschoff points out that we are now seeing not only “digital native” learners, who are naturally more at ease with using web 2.0 applications in their language learning, but also that there will soon be a generation of digital native teachers, who will have already experienced education 2.0 as a learner and therefore feel at ease with their role as an educator 2.0. Certainly learners at Avatar English seem very comfortable with using education 2.0 tools such as wikis, podcasts, Google Docs and even Second Life. Not all of these students are young enough to be digital natives, so it seems that the future will naturally tend to involve even more use of social and interactive online tools for language education.

European Day of Languages

Howard Vickers — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:14:07 +0000

Join us in celebrating European Day of Languages. We are organizing a treasure hunt with free language lessons to be won.

The event will start from our Second Life tropical island on Hope Islands CTR (visit www.avatarlanguages.com/school for a direct link) on Wednesday 26 September. The treasure hunters will be taking a tour of European cities on a social and communicative quest.

Take a look at our website (www.avatarlanguages.com/edl) and our press release (www.avatarlanguages.com/press) for more information on the European Day of Languages event.