Second Life Pedagogy

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Comment by David Richardson on September 15, 2009 at 2:05pm

What subject area are you working in, Edutainment Today? And what age are your students? Do you have computers available for your students which are sufficiently powerful to be able to run SL?

I'm just starting on a Work Package on the Avalon EU project which is going to try to provide hints and tips for language teachers and learners who're just getting started in SL. There may be some crossover to your subject area (if it's not language teaching)

Comment by Edutainment Today on September 11, 2009 at 5:09pm

I love Second Life but of course my wonderful employer locked it out as unnecessary. I would like to get started again on my own can I get some tips because I already use several social media tools including iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, Twitter, Ning and Facebook in class. However, I think Second Life would add some needed spice and that adventure feel to learning.

Comment by David Richardson on June 5, 2009 at 4:38am

Roberto Avila, my apologies again for neglecting your comment (it's been a very busy time up here in Sweden). I'm sure that the AVALON project would be very interested in your participation. One of the aims of the project is to investigate how 'mobile' workers can quickly learn enough of the new local language in order to be able to function in a new part of Europe, and the handling of cultural differences is an important aspect of this process.

(BTW, I'm not actually an AVALON partner myself, although I'll be contributing to the project in various ways).

Comment by David Richardson on June 5, 2009 at 4:35am

Anchat, sorry it's taken such a long time to reply, but I recommend you contact Dr Bryan Carter at the University of Central Missouri (bc69@mac.com). Bryan's university is one of the Kamimo partners, and he's responsible for Virtual Montmartre and Virtual Harlem, which are islands dedicated to the development of African-American literature (Montmartre is set in 1920 when jazz came to Europe and Harlem in 1900 at the time of the African-American revival).

Comment by David Richardson on June 5, 2009 at 4:30am

The AVALON island opened on 30th April, right next to the main Kamimo Island. AVALON is an EU project, headed by the University of Manchester in the UK, for investigating and researching into the use of SL for language teaching and learning.

You'll find their Ning site at: http://avalon-project.ning.com/

Comment by David Richardson on May 5, 2009 at 1:21pm

Hi Anchat,

You're welcome. I usually use the Time and Date site to work out exact equivalences in other time zones (as you probably know, US and European summer times don't change on the same day). The web address is: http://www.timeanddate.com/

I can't quite remember if we're 6 or 7 hours ahead of you at the moment. I know we're 7 hours ahead of Missouri, but I'm a bit hazy about everywhere else!

Comment by Anchat on May 5, 2009 at 12:57pm

Hi david,
I also wanted to make sure- CET time is 6 hours ahead of US eastern time zone - right?

Comment by Anchat on May 5, 2009 at 12:52pm

Hi David,
Thanks so much for this information. I would definitely like to watch the streaming video. I do have an account in second life. can you please provide me with some instructions on how to make sure that I watch the video correctly?
your help is much appreciated.
-anchat

Comment by Alice Bedard-Voorhees on May 1, 2009 at 11:09am

Hi David,

The May 8th opportunity looks great. Another terrific literature site is Literature Alive. Thanks for publicizing it. I will also look at your site...

Best, Alice

Comment by David Richardson on May 1, 2009 at 1:58am

Anchat asked about using SL for the teaching of literature. I've just received this invitation from HumLab, which is part of the University of Umeå in Sweden:

On Friday 8th May at 11:00am (CET) HUMlab will be hosting its first
official seminar from the virtual world of Second Life. Angela A.
Thomas, senior lecturer in English and Arts Education at the
University of Sydney, Australia and author of the book Youth Online:
Identity and Literacy in the Digital Age (Peter Lang, 2007), will be
speaking, showing and performing on the theme of:

Inside the Mind of Macbeth: Understanding and Interpreting Literary
Worlds in a Virtual Environment.
Virtual Macbeth was designed to demonstrate how we might best use the
affordances of virtual environments for Education. Shakespeare’s
Macbeth reimagined in Second Life provides an adaptive bridge between
classic texts and new media technology. In the virtual, the abstract
can be made concrete, and complex poesis and abstractions of
Shakespeare’s verse can become embodied, elusive, visceral, and
affective. The poetic use of metaphor, image and symbol that permeate
Shakespeare’s language is brought to 3D life using the online world as
a discursive design space where visitors experience the motivations
and emotional journey of character, and explore and make personal
sense of the universal themes of Shakespeare.

In this presentation I will demonstrate Virtual Macbeth and discuss
the way the design of the island allows students to explore aspects of
narrative theory, literary criticism, drama theory, gaming theory and
digital culture. In particular, I will highlight the deep potential of
virtual worlds for immersive, experiential and student-centred
learning. The presentation will include opportunities for questions
and discussion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this seminar will be an exciting opportunity for anyone who is
interested in experiencing a high quality example of digital
technology that has been used to engage students in one of the
canonical areas of English language learning.

If you are interested in taking part in the seminar there are a number
of ways to do so. You can come to HUMlab, under the UB library and
Lindell Hall in the social sciences building at Umeå University. If
you have access to broadband internet you can watch a live streamed
version of the seminar (it will be broadcast from Second Life so you
will be watching avatars in a virtual world - much like the video
below). The video stream opens a little before 11:00 on Friday the 8th
May from here:

http://live.humlab.umu.se/

If you are a Second Life resident you can log into Second Life and
participate in the tour and discussion on the Virtual Macbeth sim. The
URL to teleport into the sim is
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Macbeth/44/54/54
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
(CET is one hour ahead of UST, by the way)

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