Press Releases
Second Life Education Gets Real: New Methods in Language Teaching Combine Virtual Worlds with Real Life
La Paz, Bolivia, October 8, 2007 - - Educators are now finding that teaching in virtual worlds such as Second Life is most effective when combined with real life activities. The 3D virtual world, Second Life, provides language learners with new opportunities for socially interactive learning, and when it is blended with other online teaching methods language learning becomes a truly communicative, immersive and practical experience...
A Second Life for European Day of Languages: Language Treasure Hunt Event in Virtual World
La Paz, Bolivia, September 12, 2007 - - The European Day of Languages will be celebrated in the online world “Second Life” for the first time on September 26, 2007. Visitors will see how Second Life allows for more social and communicative language learning processes through task-based activities, including a virtual language-treasure-hunt. Winners will receive free language lessons with real teachers in the virtual world, Second Life...
Language Teaching Gains Second Life: Virtual Worlds Offer New Methods to Teach Languages
La Paz, Bolivia, June 19, 2007 - - 3D virtual worlds like Second Life are now being used by language teachers to provide simulation of real life environments and allow students to discover more creative and more realistic ways to improve their language skills...
Media Coverage
Journalists, academics, and bloggers have written about us in over a dozen languages. You can see a more complete list on our Media Coverage page.
Apprendre une langue dans un monde virtuel
Le Monde, France
lemonde.fr
Zweite Chance
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
sueddeutsche.de
Language Teaching Gains Second Life
The Seoul Times, Korea
theseoultimes.com
La enseñanza de idiomas conquista Second Life
Analitica, Venezuela
analitica.com
E-Learning: Imparare Le Lingue Su Second Life Con Avatar English
Robin Good
masternewmedia.org
在虚拟社区“第二人生”中进行语言教学 / Teaching and Learning Languages in the Virtual Community of Second Life
He Wenchao
hewenchao.com
Avatar Languages、「言語の日」を記念してセカンドライフ内で宝探しイベントを実施
The Second Times
secondtimes.net
Avatar English
Ambientes Virtuais 3D em Educação
ambientesvirtuais3d.blogs.ca.ua.pt
برنامج Second Life
يُعِيد
التعليم
الإلكتروني
إلى الحياة |
| SaidaOnline Lebanese Saida City Online Newspaper :: صيدا أون لاين جريدة يومية صيدا لبنان |
| saidaonline.com |
Company Overview
- Profile
- Avatar Languages is an online language school in the 3D virtual world Second Life. The school offers individual foreign language classes with professionally qualified and experienced native speaking teachers to students globally. Classes take place in custom built virtual classrooms that reflect the theme of the classes, such as airports, markets, banks and cinemas. Avatar Languages opened its doors to students of English in June 2007. The school was established by Howard Vickers, a certified English teacher with international experience, currently based in Bolivia.
Avatar Languages offers English classes under the brand Avatar English (avatarenglish.com) - Expertise
- Foreign language education within Second Life
- Company principals
- Howard Vickers
- Languages offered
- English (Spanish, Aymara and Quechua forthcoming)
Corporate Presentation
Biography: Howard Vickers
Avatar Languages was founded by Howard Vickers, who is a qualified English teacher with international TEFL teaching experience including with the British Council in Spain and private language schools in Russia and Bolivia. His educational background includes a Bachelors in foreign languages (German and Russian), a Masters in development economics and an MBA.
Howard has also spent some years working in International Development in Latin America and the Ex-Soviet Union. This extensive international background has enabled Howard to approach the foreign language market as a truly global venture.
Aside from German and Russian, Howard also speaks Spanish.
Product Description
Each classroom is a unique virtual experience that allows the student to learn and practice specific vocabulary and language skills. Lessons could be on a beach in Fiji, in a cafe in London, or while shopping in New York.
Teachers and students interact with each others’ avatars in Second Life while speaking on Skype, MSN or Yahoo voice chat systems. Classes include role plays, speaking, listening, reading, writing and doing. Lessons make full use of being in a situation, so the language skills the student learns and practices is exactly what they will use in real life.
For more information on classes at Avatar Languages or for a free trial lesson, contact Howard Vickers or visit www.avatarlanguages.com.
Quotes by Students
“At first I was so surprised by this virtual school in Second Life. It was a totally new experience for me to learn English like this. Every class was a virtual experience, but at the same time, you get a real improvement in your English” says Bo Jian, student at Avatar Languages.
Please see what our other students say about us www.avatarlanguages.com/students.php.
FAQ: Education in Second Life
- What are the advantages of teaching in virtual worlds over conventional methods?
- How is education in Second Life a precursor for the future?
- What technologies could improve education in Second Life?
What are the advantages of teaching in virtual worlds over conventional methods?
Second Life is a more natural environment for many people these days – especially child and young adult learners, as they have grown up using technology instinctively. Increasingly we prefer to learn by doing something rather than just hearing about it and we like to have information when we need it and in smaller chunks. A virtual world such as Second Life can address these needs more effectively; learning through direct experience can be more easily achieved in these environments, as situations can be quickly and cost-effectively recreated.
Second Life or any other technology in itself cannot replace the expertise of a qualified and native speaking teacher who can guide the student along their own learning path. But it does allow teaching to be more creative and have a greater focus on learning by doing.
How is language education in Second Life a precursor for the future?
The internet is becoming more 3D and this will affect how we visit websites, look for information, socialize and do business. As this becomes more normal, we will all want to learn skills (including language and communication skills) that help us to take advantage of these changes. Language tuition in virtual worlds is increasingly reflecting these changes in learning and working patterns.
What technologies could improve Second Life education?
Second Life is an excellent educational tool, and if combined with others such as podcasts, videocasts, wikis, blogs and Google Earth, a more integrated approach to language education can be created. We use all these tools in everyday life so it is only natural and logical to be using them in classes too. However, the greatest technology is the teaching itself. It is the quality and expertise of the teacher that will really advance teaching in Second Life or real life.
FAQ: Avatar Languages
- Why did you start teaching languages in Second Life?
- What projects does Avatar Languages have for the future?
Why did you start teaching languages in Second Life?
I was looking for a more engaging and effective environment to offer online classes. And then I started to look at virtual worlds. Second Life is the most flexible with allowing you to build what you want, so it seemed the obvious choice. Virtual worlds are also particularly attractive to the younger generation who are very keen on using the internet, gaming and learning languages.
What projects does Avatar Languages have for the future?
We currently offer English, but later this year we will also offer Spanish. An especially exciting project we have planned is to offer lesser taught languages such as Aymara and Quechua, which are both indigenous languages in South America. This will be an opportunity make these languages more accessible to the world and to focus on the verbal communication, which is particularly relevant because these languages have a very short history of being written. Language lessons in Second Life will allow the student to learn the languages through immersion in the context of the local cultures, while still living and working in their home country.
Note to Editor:
You may attribute these FAQ answers to Howard Vickers, Director of Avatar Languages.
Publications and Blogs by the Staff of Avatar Languages
Living and Learning in an Immaterial World by Howard Vickers in English Teacher Professional, Issue 53, November 2007.
SurReal Quests: Enriched Purposeful Language Learning in Second Life by Howard Vickers in The Knowledge Tree, October 2007. Article also available on the Avatar Languages website.
Get a (Second) Life! by Howard Vickers in English Teacher Professional, Issue 52, September 2007.
Avatar English poster presented at SLanguages 2007 Symposium in June 2007.
Howard Vickers’ Blog www.avatarlanguages.com/blog.
Videos, Images and Logos
Please visit our Videos, Images and Logos page.
Resources for Education in Virtual Worlds
Fast Facts
Today’s average college graduate has spent:
- 10,000 hours playing video games - Interactive Videogames, Mediascope, 1996
- 10,000 hours talking on cellphones - Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
- 20,000 hours watching television - Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
Today’s children and teens spend 2.75 hours per week using home computers – Institute for Social Research, 2004
70% of 4-6 year-olds in USA have used a computer – Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003
68% of children under 2 years old in USA will use a screen media for an average of just over 2 hours on any given day – Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003
“These teens were born into a digital world where they expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share material with each other” Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet and American Life Project
“When I go to school I have to ‘power down’.” – High School student in USA, as quoted by T4 – Jordan School District
Third-Party Publications
Gee, Paul (2004) Game-Like Learning: An Example of Situated Learning and Implications for Opportunity to Learn
Prensky, Marc (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
Oblinger, Diana. (2004) The Next Generation of Educational Engagement
Gee, Paul (2004) What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy
Prensky, Marc (2007) Digital Game-Based Learning
Guiloff, Andrés y Farcas, Daniel (2007) Generación.Net: Choque Cultural en la Sala de Clases
Jordan School District, USA: Education 2.0 YouTube Video
Links
- Avatar Languages (www.avatarlanguages.com)
- Avatar English (www.avatarenglish.com)
- Avatar Español (www.avatarespanol.com)
- Avatar Teachers (www.avatarteachers.com)
- Avatar Aymara (www.avataraymara.com)
- Avatar Quechua (www.avatarquechua.com)
Education and Virtual Worlds
Virtual Worlds
Media Contact
Howard Vickers
Director of Avatar Languages
howard@avatarlanguages.com
www.avatarlanguages.com
