Pedagogical Practices for Virtual Worlds

As a result from activities carried out within Module 2 of the MUVEnation programme about exploring active learning approaches, we have created a collection of practices for teaching and learning in Virtual Worlds, organised in 21 chapters, classified in the following categories of instructional methods: Presentation, Demonstration, Discussion, Drill-and-practice, Tutorial, Cooperative Learning, Gaming, Simulation and Discovery. The educational professionals who participated in the course worked in teams, but in some cases individually to map and describe the existing range of teaching practices in Second Life, and to draw a reflection about the elements for their success. Practices describ…

Integrating the Real and Virtual World for Academic Language Education in Second Life

This chapter focuses on a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) study conducted in virtual worlds that could help teachers in terms of knowledge about acquisition processes, in which technology is integration between formal and non formal education. The research comprises of two studies strongly focused on the development of Italian oral language proficiency. It was held within Second Life® (SL™)1 in order to explore the affordances of public spaces to enhance Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC)2 and to stimulate the oral production through learner’s engagement. Since 2007, a new pilot project, Café Italia, was developed by Carmela Dell’Aria (aka Misy Ferraris) in Second Life®. Startin…

Stagionalità del Web e processi d’apprendimento. Insegnare italiano L2 con Second Life.

Soluzioni innovative nell’e-learning: l’insegnante “in ruolo” nelle comunità virtuali.

Un settore dinamico nella ricerca educativa è quello relativo alla correlazione tra la formazione degli insegnanti, la progettazione del sillabo e i risultati conseguiti dagli studenti. Alla luce dei recenti comportamenti sociali emergenti, in questo saggio si analizza la figura dell’insegnante nella progettazione degli ambienti di formazione online. Superando i limiti del Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) e le criticità del Personal Learning Environment (PLE) si focalizza l’attenzione sul concetto di person in place, che vive esperienze formative in luoghi densi di relazioni sociali e tecnologicamente arricchiti. Oggi le tecnologie permettono la creazione di ambienti di apprendimento cara…

MULTIMEDIALITÀ WEB E DIDATTICA DELLA PROSODIA

La presenza del Web e l’introduzione di tecnologie informatiche di tipo immersivo e collaborativo nella didattica delle lingue straniere servono a ricreare un ambiente cognitivo tipico di un contesto extra-scolastico, nel tentativo di superare quel gap esistente tra apprendimento formale e apprendimento spontaneo. E’ importante prestare attenzione alle ‘modalità’ con cui le tecnologie contribuiscono a creare un ambiente di apprendimento, in cui gli aspetti cognitivi e sociali dell’interazione uomo-macchina si intrecciano formando un unico contesto operativo. In questa prospettiva la multimedialità avvolgente del Web opera una sensibilizzazione diversa delle varie parti della macchina cerebr…

Developing Phonological Awareness in Blended-learning Language Courses

This study is based on Second Language Acquisition through blended learning and explores the application of new educational technologies in the development of distance education. In particular, the paper focuses on ways to enhance oral, aural, and intercultural skills through learners' engagement, develop authentic social interaction and intercultural awareness in virtual environments and at the same time actively engage the students' powers of perception, communication DQGUHDVRQLQJ��$ �VSHHFKYLVXDOL) DWLRQWHFKQRORJ\ �LVLQWURGXFHG�� VSHFL?FDOO\�WDLO RUHGWR� pronunciation training. It provides relevant and comprehensible visual feedback of all three components of speech: prosody-intonation, …

Will Second Life Help Me Survive in Italy?

This paper aims at sharing the experience we had in the design and implementation of a short pilot course of Italian in Second Life® (SL). The paper will provide a description of the course mentioning preliminary findings, discussed in relation to the theories adopted by the two researchers. The paper is the result of the course, La Lingua in gioco: dire, fare e giocare in SL, that had a strong focus on the development of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) and Oral Language Proficiency and was aimed at a group of third-level Irish students of Italian in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), who will spend the third year of their degree in Italy (Erasmus programme). SL was used…

MANAGING A MIXED SKILL CLASS

In a digital environment students need to manage different types of skills - cognitive, emotive and manual. When working in a mixed-skill class the differences between student abilities can disrupt the rhythm and style of the learning process and demand flexibility in the teaching approach that is adopted.

Dealing with interruptions in text-based chat sessions

Running a teaching session that achieves its aims and objectives requires organised and structured dialogue between teacher and students that leaves room for a clear line of instructions. However, participants can disrupt the flow and prevent the achievement of these objectives through constant interruption (via questions or comments). The interruptions mentioned here include any discursive interaction that halts the flow of the argument and causes distraction for teacher and students.

Educational Tools for Second Life: a handbook for educators in virtual worlds.

As a result of two collective activities organised during the MUVEnation programme, we have produced a collection of educational tools for Second Life. This collection has been produced in two stages. First, back in September 2008, 33 partcipants in the introductory module worked together in groups for the identification of more than 100 tools used for teaching and learning in Second Life. Later, in March 2009, 55 education professionals (lecturers, researchers, learning technologists and teachers) have collected, tested and fully described more than 150 tools. The result of this collective work has been transformed into a book, published as an Open Educational Resource under CC licence by …