madison middleverse 2nd life

Middleverse de Español in Second Life a Virtual Social Space for Language

Acquisi:on

by Maria Alessandra Woolson Spanish& Portuguese Department

Middlebury College, VT

Presented at 2011 NMC Summer Conference Madison Wisconsin June 15-‐18, 2011

© Permission to reproduce if authorship is maintained. All other uses contact author

“I never teach my pupils; I only a;empt to provide the condi<ons in which they can learn”

Albert Einstein


Goals

•  ACTFL Na<onal Standards for FL Learning (2000) –  Communica<on, Cultures, Connec<ons, Comparisons, Communi<es (the 5 Cs)

•  MLA (2007) –  acquisi<on of translingual and transcultural competence –  approach that addresses mul<ple subject areas

–  proficiency to engage in linguis<c and metalinguis<c exchanges

•  Middlebury College –  language and cultural immersion –  integra<on of a mul<-‐disciplinary curriculum in the target language


The Project

•  Immersive 3-‐D space

•  Technology integra<on: browser, images, digitalized text, video, 3-‐D modeling, social networking

•  Synchronous Chat and voice chat in Real Time •  Authen<c linguis<c and cultural se\ngs •  Sensory experiences •  Ini<ally resembles a video game, but bears no specific goal •  Adop<on of Avatar or human/humanoid virtual figure and virtual iden<ty of customizable appearance

•  Par<cipants or ‘residents’ can crea<vely model objects and contribute to and conceive the virtual space they will use


Pedagogical Considera:ons

•  Pedagogy preceded technological choice and guided spa<al construc<on

•  Designed in alignment with Standards

•  Followed extensive use of a variety of technologies through curricular content management system to integrate materials and to further student interac<ons prior to class

•  Increased interac<ons in target language •  Provides a culturally immersive environment •  Interrogates how students construct knowledge in a learning environment that is being transformed by digital technology


Why Use Virtual Worlds? Because: •  we face a genera<on that has entered into a passionate rela<onship with digital technology

•  we are mee<ng par<cipants ‘where they already are’, immersed in an age of informa<on technology

•  digitalized landscapes may already be impac<ng the way we think about knowledge.

•  Using technology in educa<on beyond simple consump<on, may poten<ally promote innova<on

•  Defamiliarizing our ways of knowing is inspira<onal •  It forces a reconsidera<on of barriers that frac<on informa<on and of how to re-‐integrate learning


Middleverse de Español •  Input meets ac<ve recipients

•  Mul<ple sources in Real Time •  Virtual iden<ty offers: –  par<cipa<on in anonymity

–  role-‐play opportuni<es –  spontaneous social interpersonal communica<ons

–  Increases self-‐correc<on strategies and nego<a<ons through synchronous conversa<on

–  Promotes cri<cal thinking and willingness to take linguis<c risks

–  Promotes repair moves, experimen<ng lexically and transfer of grammar and syntac<c complexity form their first language

–  Authen<c tasks highlights focus on process over product


Pilot Goals

•  Observe features of advancement of specific educa<onal units

•  Evaluate environment poten<al for expanding educa<onal space into social space


Pilot •  Site modeled afer photographic images from moderns sec<on of San<ago Chile due to design universality of urban environments

•  Cohort included of all sec<ons of 3rd semester Spanish •  Students pledged to interact solely in Spanish upon entering the space

•  Conceived: – FL acquisi<on to serve mul<ple disciplines

– Guided ac<vi<es mostly interpersonal – Display of student’s crea<ve and analy<cal work


Outcomes •  Promoted dynamic and authen<c interac<ons

•  Facilitated collabora<ve work •  Encouraged reassessing the manner in which students par<cipate:

–  from recep<ve to produc<ve – otherwise re<cent to par<cipate face-‐to-‐face

•  Lowering of affec<ve filters impacted: –  immediate interac<ons upon arrival to class –  Increased in classroom par<cipa<on

–  Increased student-‐centered discussions •  Helped connect materials to other classes and gathered students from different sec<ons into a community of friends


Other pedagogical considera<ons immediate to student

•  Self-‐inquiry into a sense of self and sense of space •  Erasure of distance •  Power of presence and agency •  Expansion of collabora<ve and individual crea<vity •  Addi<onal <me for spoken language prac<ce

•  Choice of synchronous and asynchronous ac<vi<es •  Increase social interac<on or allow further isola<on


•  Distance educa<on •  Presenta<ons and discussions •  Simula<ons and role-‐play

•  Mul<media design

•  Disrupts perceived tradi<onal hierarchy of who teaches and who is taught.

•  Risk of mechanizing delivery of informa<on

Implica<ons to tradi<onal educa<on environments


Poten<al Challenges •  Privacy considera<ons •  How students construct knowledge through virtual representa<on.

•  Implica<ons for learning of –  drivers that bring the current genera<on to adopt certain technologies over others

–  “too clean” a design that lacks signs of daily use and is visually “cold”: color, shape, unnatural properness

•  Students’ percep<on on how they learn vs. how they actually learn

•  Interference between marke<ng strategies in design and pedagogical scopes


Thank you


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