Tag Archives: vwbpe2009

Mar 29

Presentation: Language Learning and Teaching in Virtual Worlds

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As mentioned in my previous post, today my colleagus and I presented at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices Conference in Second Life about our 6-week online teacher training session Virtual Worlds & Language Teaching. Many of our VWLL participants were present and supported us and I’d really like to thank them for this and for being such active participants during the session.

The roundtable was attended quite well although we had almost nobody from the US because it was too early in the morining on a Sunday šŸ™‚

Although it was announced as a roundtable, it was more a presentation with a Q&A session at the end. We had many positive comments from the audience and it was obvious that there was interest from the questions we received. However, we did not have a discussion about language learning/teaching in SL or more specificially about teacher training in SL. I don’t know whether this was due to time constrainsts or whether participants needed time to digest what they had seen and were told. Maybe we, the presenters, could have asked some questions back to the audience. This will be something that I will think about before our next presentation.

Here are our presentation slides (not in any particular order):

Virtual Worlds and Language Learning

And here are some snapshots from the presentation (courtesy of Carol Rainbow):

The session has finished and the presentation is over but the VWLL community in our Ning and in SL is still vibrant and interested language teachers are welcome to join.

Mar 26

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference

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In January/February, my colleagues Dennis Newson, Graham Stanley, Nick Noakes and I moderated a 6-week online session for language teachers on Virtual Worlds and Language Learning. We are now presenting the outcome and discussing it with the audience at the VWBPE conference.Our roundtable is scheduled for Sunday, 29 March 6am SLT/PST (1pm GMT – your time zone) on ISTE island.

There are many interesting keynotes, presentations and workshops. Read the official press release below for for information about the conference.

vwbpe logo

ARE VIRTUAL WORLDS THE CLASSROOMS OF THE FUTURE?

2009 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference (VWBPE) Bringing together Educators from around the World in Second LifeĀ®, March 27-29.

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March 17, 2009Ā  —Ā  Virtual world educational environments may not replace real classrooms (yet), but they are becoming integral to the future of education, say the Ā organizers of the 2009 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference (www.vwbpe.org) to be held in Second LifeĀ®, March 27-29.Ā  Conference keynote speakers and panels will focus on how virtual world environments can help todayā€™s learners become all they can be and build the work force of tomorrow.

ā€œWe are a global grass roots community Ā that is collaborating and co-sharing knowledge about the role of virtual world environments in education today,ā€ said, Marlene Brooks of Memorial University, CA (Zana Kohime, SL) program chair of the conference. ā€œOur goal at the conference in Second LifeĀ® is to use virtual worlds as the centerpiece for discussion of the questions that impact all of our futures: What is education? What is teaching? What is learning?ā€

The three-day conference will be an opportunity for virtual communities from around the world to showcase projects, courses, events, and present research that lead to best practices in education. From presentations on the architecture of designing a virtual classroom and campus to projects that engage middle school students with math, science and languages to the award-winning 3D-Wiki technology created in Second Life used to design a medical clinic in Nepal, the VWBPE conference is dedicated to furthering the creation of innovative, interactive Ā and immersive environments.

Keynote speakers (see attached list) and panelists for the conference represent a wide range of institutions, leading universities as well as K-12 school systems that use Second Life Ā® as part of their educational programs.

The Virtual World Best Practices in Education (VWPBE) conference originated from the 2007 Second LifeĀ® Best Practices in Education Conference. Educators are one of the most vibrant and growing groups in Second LifeĀ® with an outreach to more than 6,000 SL residents.

For additional information and interviews, please contact;
Marty KeltzĀ  (Marty Snowpaw, SL, Vice-Chair, Program Committee)
1-416-587-3381
Email: marty.keltz@gmail.com

To register, please visit: http://vwbpe09.eventbrite.com Registration is free to all conference attendees.

Hope to see you there.