Educator’s Exodus from SL?

On Monday, October 4, Linden Lab announced, that the reduced pricing for educational sims would be given up by December 31, 2010. Many educators (Universities, K-12 education providers, Schools and Institutes) have intensively commented on the consequences of a raise of fees in the middle of the academic year on blogs and lists in the first days after the Linden’s announcement. Non-Profit and educational provider’s presence in Second Life seemed to be threatened.

Many institutions commented, that they wouldn’t be able to raise the double fee and the discussion of alternatives to Second Life was drawn out from many angles to get forward to alternative ways of carrying out the splendid experience with activities in a virtual world, which many educators have.

OpenSim was often mentioned as another virtual world, which could offer similar facilties for educational work. On the other hand some insiders could participate with observations of, that OpenSim looks good as a future platform but still misses the technical infrastructure, which residents from Second Life are used to. In this discusssion, parts of the educational scene still announced to leave SL and others declared to stay in the well known metaverse.

Some of the problems seem to be, that it is difficult to export buildings and environments, which have been constructed for and in SL with great efforts. 

BABEL Language School has always paid full fees, as we are a privat language learning provider. But BABEL Language School has also profited from and hopefully contributed to the huge network we got from our togetherness with other educational institutions at Second Life. So, we were about to follow our disapointed collegues or at least share there new experiences with them, by making a big new step towards another virtual environment too.

On Friday, October 8, 2010, Linden Lab by Terrance Linden in an interview took a turn around and opened for continues rabates on the normal land fees, if the providers renew their holdings before December 31, 2010. According to these latest information renewal now is possible for 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. With this statement in hand, educational providers and non-profit organisations now can look forward to maximum 2 years more on the old conditions.

Using a virtual world – a substitute for real life or an extension of it?

Virtual worlds or virtual environments are taking up our minds in these years – what is it, that brings us to facebook, twitter, second life or blogs? Are we about to lose or replace our normal ways of human communication?

We may be fascinated and impressed of the possibility to get so many new contacts and friends abroad and to actively be able to make an agenda. Tv can´t compare with the option to create, to comment our contact’s funny status messages or to actively join groups and discussions.

Some of our new friends will be there and ready for exchange and communication always  – 24/7. Real life friends might be gone to bed a long time ago. Time can fade out this way and we will still be engaged, as we see us in good communication and company. There is a feeling of freedom about taking these new chances to get in touch out there and contacts by time can get pretty close.

Joining virtual worlds is extending what real life holds for us and there is the chance to express us selves in new ways. Instead of following the main track of our real life we get the option to do things different. A virtual environment allows us to try to be the one we always wanted to be in fitting communities without the fear, that our colleagues, partners or families find out about the new aspects of a for us enriched life style we try to establish. Our knowledge of the world and what others have on their minds is increasing and we learn more from the world we are part of. Our language skills are getting better too, as we need to be talk active to explain and to understand. It’s part of the human condition to show empathy and to support good friends – in cyberspace or in real life.

In virtual environments we can do things we hardly could in real life. We can place a message and look forward to the other’s response the next time. We can attend instruction and classes in subjects which wouldn’t be available for us in real life. We can save time and meet the other from our desk or working station at home. Now we also can share nearly everything easily: pictures, videos, music, instruction, virtual events by joining them with our avatar, ideas and drafts. And there is the possibility for real time togetherness.

For educational purposes, a 3D-virtual world like Second life adds great new facilities, as we can stream a broadcasted program to the virtual classroom and let us all comment on it. There’s also the feature to create inspiring spots or rooms, which point out the topic of our learning subject and visualize them. Environments and auditoriums can even be build up around interactive objects, so the learners would be the constructors of their own learning process.

To improve oral skills we would use the voice function and written chat will ensure good writing skills. What we use for lesson is all storable and can be handed out for home practise. The teacher will guide the students not only to good foreign language skills, but also to new competencies in using virtual material for learning.

Does this sound like a vision? BABEL Language School at Second Life has done it since February 2007.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pak/75.1802/243.052

BABEL Language School – Mike Meltzer

Lessons at BABEL Language School at SL

At the time for class, the student and the teacher will have their tags turned on and worn above the heads, “BABEL Student” or “BABEL Teacher”, in connection to the class group, they are member of. The group notices and the group messaging facility have been used to deliver learning material, to adjust or remind of appointments or for help to do some of the homework between classes.

Various kinds of lessons are used depending on the students’ needs and preferences for their language learning process at BABEL Language School at Second Life. In hands-on-excursions some regions, in which the target language is used, are visited. In a walk through the schools locations the foreign language will be used to talk about what is seen and what is experienced.

Back in the classroom, the topic of the recent unit is visualized on boards and screens. Former tasks will be commented and deepened out and new exercises will be introduced to start up a new homework. Grammatical overviews are present in the classroom as well as touchable objects to play the sound of single idioms or expressions. Interviews, dialogues, passages of radio or TV programs are played from Media Boards. On video screens at BABEL Language School some shorter episodes from broadcasting stations or programs of actual or historical interest are presented and inspire the written and oral communication, e.g. when the history of the Berlin Wall is streamed to the parcel.

Writing down essential explanations on the grammatical or thematically topic in chat and making written proposals for sentences and answers provides a good method for many students, to collect the new content on their own note cards. Engaged home study is required at BABEL Language School, so the language learner can achieve proper results in the new language. Using the voice function gives the student the possibility to train the pronunciation and enables the teacher to give in specific corrections to improve the students’ oral skills. Listening to text audios takes place in class, so the authentically language speed and the specific usage of the target language can be reviewed and acquired.

As the classes at BABEL Language School normally are about 45 minutes two times a week, the content of the unit and supplemental material for home study is given to the student for additional practice. Sometimes larger parts of the unit are taken from existing real life language courses and books and the student therefore also is asked to buy the published work book in question.

Courses at BABEL Language School follow a fast progression towards the new level of language proficiency and communicative fluency according to the levels A1-C2 in the “Common European Framework of References”, CEFR. The school also guides the student to use the state-of the art testing system “Dialang” in order to improve own awareness about the real competencies in the new language.

BABEL Language School’s model for language instruction shows, that learners approach the school both from real life and second life and that they are working on getting new language skills both for their engagement in real life and in second life. The first thing is that learners are tested to define the starting level for the appropriate course. From the starting level, the instruction will cover all skills – reading, listening, writing and speech – towards the new aim and the reachable level, which is defined from the CEFR. Working through 4-5 units, all with connected classroom activities, will lead to the next level. The content in class is inspired from facts and circumstances in the real and the second world and it delivers competencies for both of them. The grade which the student leaves the school with, could be some passed test sections at www.dialang.org, which the school has guided the student to take.

Linden Prize 2009

BABEL Language School has applied for the Linden Prize of the following reasons:

The establishing of BABEL Language School at Second Life in February 2007 provided the possibility for borderless and structured language instruction in order to increase the student’s mobility, their self confidence and ability to cross borders to seek for new working or studying challenges abroad.

The school’s vision is to offer a consistent alternative for those, who need to or prefer to approach new languages from home. According to this vision it’s the schools endeavor, either totally to transform structures from the best real life language learning experiences to the circumstances of the online universe of Second Life, or to develop new methods and technical solutions for distance learning and learning in virtual worlds, which take advantage of the options, the use of a virtual environment adds to traditional language learning.

BABEL Language School at Second Life is independent and self-made and it is encouraged by many years practice in language teaching on all levels out of world. The progress in classes and the creation of learning material is defined from and built up upon the levels of the Common European Framework of References (CEFR). Furthermore the school develops material and task cards for auto didactical use.

BABEL Language School’s founder Mike Meltzer has described the school’s history and recent activity as follows:

After many years as an adult language educator first in Germany and then in Copenhagen, Denmark, I started in autumn 2006 to look for a platform to carry out language instruction in cyberspace. I was looking for a platform, a universe that would be able to accommodate in particular the following possibilities:

• The student and the teacher can be part of an almost natural communication
• Students may repeat content self and a self-selected number of times
• Teaching content is represented visually and aurally
• Educational activities may include speech, writing, listening and reading
• There are objects such as a teapot, which, when activated, could play his own name
• Participants from all over the world can gather for training or events

The choice became the online universe Second Life. After some investigation activity and production of material BABEL Language School could start in February 2007 with German and English teaching. The first two trainees were from Puerto Rico and the United States and were taught German. They had not been able to take a German course in their home area, but in cyberspace, they could.

The teachers were recruited in Second Life, and after interviews and a trial period with guidance they were put to the task. Many of them also work with education in the real world and they are fond of the vision BABEL Language School has, e.g. that the use of virtual worlds has the likeable aspect of being democratically and geographically reachable, why they are willing to make their contribution to a very modest salary.

Students in class feel safe in their virtual language learning process. A couple of interviews might have taken place prior to their classification in the respective courses and some may also be tested by the school to find the right level positioning in relation to the school course levels.

For the Second Life environment BABEL Language School is working in, special learning material has been developed. First of all BABEL Language School bases its class instruction on the personal presence of both the teacher’s and the student’s avatar. In the classroom Media Boards with the complete content of the current unit are used, which also are handed out to the student for homework. Some lessons will also be held as “field studies”, which for example could be to take a walk in the school’s park or to visit other well-chosen locations in Second Life, using the foreign language on what one sees and experiences.

At the moment BABEL offers beginner level courses in the following languages:

- Dutch

- English / American

- German

- Italian

- Spanish

- French

- Danish

- Russian

- Chinese

Classes are either in groups from 4-8 students, highly intensive with 2-3 students or intensive individually lessons with only one student on different price levels.

Although the content could vary depending on the language to learn and depending on the needs of the students, a typical structure could be:

The beginner level would be available from

- Monday in a given week. This class will continue at

- Thursday in the same week

and on Mondays and Thursdays for all the following weeks as long as the student keeps the membership of the group.

The Monday courses will focus on usual needs such as presentation, housekeeping, gardening, building, establishing, buying and selling, at work and on phone.

The Thursday courses will focus on leisure and love issues such as making appointments, suggest ideas, make a conversation run, express feelings and wishes, ordering drinks or other needs in a polite way. 

 

 

 

 

Personal meeting and environment

A virtual world like Second Life lets you appear in a way you want. The avatar, your personal replacement, can carry out a special style in hairdressing, clothes, shape and accessories. The visible profile of your avatar can be filled out by your purposes or wishes for being there; also containing pictures of places you want to tell others about. There also are a lot of groups to choose between and to join. 

Communication is in face to face chat – written or oral – while getting a first impression of the other’s virtual appearance or in long distance instant messaging or group talks. In an educational perspective, the interaction can be adjusted by poses, gestures, whether or not using lip synchronization or the typing avatar animation in talks to optimize the use in class. Instant messaging and group chat is a good tool for making class appointments and for the exchange of information.

The environment of classrooms can get highly inspiring and so can field trips in near or far areas. There are plenty of places in Second Life, which are created by demographical groups of residents, reflecting the places they live at, for educational visits. We can there e.g. talk about what we see and experience in a very concrete approach. Also the near circumstances can invite to educational visits – talking about the colors and plants and maybe animals we meet on our walk through a park around. In a classroom we have numberless and better options than in real life to expose cultural and language training material for the use of engaged students. Basically all visual and audio material can be stored in media boards to keep the red thread in chapters to work through. Additionally on video screens actual input from e. g. broadcasting stations can be shown and there can be objects and chalk boards present, to display the correct writing and even to trigger the proper pronunciation of topics in focus.

Babylon and BABEL Language School

In the ancient and multicultural Babylon, people of huge diversity and from numberless nations, all lived together. Opposite to this way of life in the classical ancient world 5 ½ thousand years ago, the Christian/Old Testament tradition tells us about God’s punishment of the human arrogance, which denied any longer to follow the natural language that the creator had spoken by developing this, our world.

Genesis 11:7-9(King James Version):

7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

From here we get the heritage of a myth with seven themes about Babel, containing Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylon system, City of Sin, Semiramis, the Tower, Apocalypse and linguistic confusion. All used not to tell the historical truth concerning Babylon but the truth about a civilization that needs the Babel myth in order to understand itself.

What has all this to do with language learning in Second Life (sl) anno 2009?

At BABEL Language School, we try to bridge the gap between the cultural identities through the use of visual material both in classrooms and through the use of archetypal impacts in the environment such as our animals, but also through a new and open architecture which leads the thoughts forward to new possibilities in an enlightened world.

On one side: The creation of new virtual worlds (vws) is time expensive and object to a particular critic of giving up too many former ways of human communication, arguments similar to the day when the TV appeared. Some enter the caveat that vws push to the megalomania of putting our real world’s rules and laws out of order.

On the other hand: The use of virtual worlds has the likeable aspect of being democratically and geographically reachable. In sl for our avatar it’s also possible to achieve new horizons of personal existence, to get a new range of socializing competencies, which is build on the picture of the avatar in the corresponding part, a kind of alternative and supplemental identity; in a way “homo virtualis”.

On one side: We are bound to national and cultural vanes and, as stated in one society, we as good citizens are expected to make contributions to our society. We can’t carry out and maybe not even capture multiple ways of living as they are found on our planet. So, language borders prevent us from taking too much irrelevant information into account, which would weaken our mental health.

On the other side: The world of art has inspired to follow up the myth of Babel in numerous paintings and sculptures; the world of music has prompted pictures of people with their joy and sorrow, photographically documented world wide; and the world of music and opera have always given us common references and motivation to explore the other and to get together again. Virtual Worlds can help us to achieve that end result with language learning being one of the ways how we can explore these possibilities.

Educational Media

Organisation of learning materials in Second Life

 

To support the students’ learning process, this school – BABEL Language School -  has chosen to implement the instruction in equipped classrooms. The set up in classrooms covers actual Media Boards, Study Boards showing grammatical structures, video screens for displaying web based podcasts, like a broadcasted news program or a popular science episode from tv-stations web pages.  Not all residents of Second Life have a place where they can put training material and practice. These avatars like to get back to classrooms between classes, in order to deepen what is learned.

The normal communication is written chat, which generally gives the students fairly good writing skills, but according to the teacher’s planning also talk via the built-in function “voice”, which corresponds to speak with each other through Skype, is incorperated in language courses. In all cases, the used teaching materials will also be sent out to the students’ avatars to use for homework. System limitations are so, that students will need to be in Second Life to work with the lesson material. Often they will draw their homework on the so-called “note cards” and send them to the teacher’s avatar. 

Media Board, containing the material of 4-6 lesssons. In the top frame the controls for browsing through and playing the related  audio content are found. Furthermore there are buttons to let the Media Board board give out a task notecard and to open a webpage with an online dictionary. At the bottom of a frame, the user goes through the pages of the chapter.