"Avatars Enhance the Language Learning Experience" written by Laura Jacob of McGuffey High School
1. What is a descriptive title of your aha moment?
Avatars Enhance the Language Learning Experience
2. Organization/Institution Name
McGuffey High School
3. Names of project lead(s) at your organization
Laura Jacob
4. Contact Information
Laura Jacob
McGuffey School District
86 McGuffey Drive
Claysville, PA15323
Email Address: - jacobl@mcguffey.k12.pa.us
Phone Number: - 412.849.4905
5. In which of the following settings does your project take place:
K-12
6. Which of the following will your aha moment explore?
Skill development
7. Which virtual world(s) or gaming environment are you utilizing in the program being described?
Second Life
8. Why did you choose that specific platform or community for your project?
My theory for the project was that students would be more inclined to experiment with language when they have an avatar as opposed to when they are in the classroom. I predicted that Second Life and virtual worlds would create a barrier of “self” to enable the students to have a sense of freedom to practice their language.
9. What are the learning objectives of your project?
Our learning objectives for the activity were to; immerse the students in a virtual world and teach appropriate internet usage, have the students chat in German with other German speakers, have the students explore the Dresden Museum, and have students learn about the artwork in the Dresden Museum.
10. Please write a description of your project and how it leverages virtual worlds for learning.
We completed a collaborative activity with the German 3-4 classes and the Dresden Museum in Second Life. Students were able to chat and explore the artwork in the Dresden Museum. The experience provided students an ability to practice foreign language through their avatar.
11. Aha Moment: Please describe one key element of your program's success that you learned during the process and would like to share with the RezEd community.
The first day I was disappointed because I felt my thesis was going down the drain. The students were enthusiastic, yes, but they spent too much time running, flying and changing their appearance. I felt as though the German teacher and I had to spend most of our time redirecting focus. I was frustrated, but she was not. The German teacher said it would take time for the students to get used to the new environment. I thought the virtual world environment created too many distractions and that learning standards were not being met. I reflected back to an article I read (for the life of me I cannot find who to give the credit to!) and the author explains and observable behavior of one student. When the student walks into the computer classroom, the first things he does are: adjust the mouse, move the monitor to his plane of vision, change the icons on the screen, and change the background to a picture he likes. Once those steps are completed, the student is ready and willing to begin school work. The point the author was making was that students in this generation want customization and want to display a sense of self through the computer. Thinking back on that article, I gave myself another day. The second day I realized how immersive the virtual world environment can be. The students spoke in German with the Dresden docents in Berlin and with other avatars in England and the Czech Republic. The conversations kept the student engaged and they no longer spent time customizing their avatar. The students had an avatar, a barrier to their true selves and therefore had more of an opportunity to experiment with their language. The virtual environment created an immediate immersive culture for the students to follow. They did not need to pretend they were in “Dresden.” They did not need to simulate real conversation. The students were in a virtual world and had true conversations with others who knew the language. The opportunity to take students to a location where this is all possible was immense!
12. What would need to be in place (in terms of skills, staffing, infrastructure, systems, etc.) for someone else to reproduce your aha moment?
I feel if an educator would want to create a similar experience, they would need to set up collaborations ahead of the students' planned time in Second Life. The collaborations will need to be with other 18+ students to allow all access to the Second Life grid. The conversation element was the most powerful and I feel the most critical over the artwork piece.
13. Please include the URLs of any photo(s), video(s), or sound file(s) that are specific to the program you are describing.
http://laurajacob.edublogs.org/
Avatars Enhance the Language Learning Experience
2. Organization/Institution Name
McGuffey High School
3. Names of project lead(s) at your organization
Laura Jacob
4. Contact Information
Laura Jacob
McGuffey School District
86 McGuffey Drive
Claysville, PA15323
Email Address: - jacobl@mcguffey.k12.pa.us
Phone Number: - 412.849.4905
5. In which of the following settings does your project take place:
K-12
6. Which of the following will your aha moment explore?
Skill development
7. Which virtual world(s) or gaming environment are you utilizing in the program being described?
Second Life
8. Why did you choose that specific platform or community for your project?
My theory for the project was that students would be more inclined to experiment with language when they have an avatar as opposed to when they are in the classroom. I predicted that Second Life and virtual worlds would create a barrier of “self” to enable the students to have a sense of freedom to practice their language.
9. What are the learning objectives of your project?
Our learning objectives for the activity were to; immerse the students in a virtual world and teach appropriate internet usage, have the students chat in German with other German speakers, have the students explore the Dresden Museum, and have students learn about the artwork in the Dresden Museum.
10. Please write a description of your project and how it leverages virtual worlds for learning.
We completed a collaborative activity with the German 3-4 classes and the Dresden Museum in Second Life. Students were able to chat and explore the artwork in the Dresden Museum. The experience provided students an ability to practice foreign language through their avatar.
11. Aha Moment: Please describe one key element of your program's success that you learned during the process and would like to share with the RezEd community.
The first day I was disappointed because I felt my thesis was going down the drain. The students were enthusiastic, yes, but they spent too much time running, flying and changing their appearance. I felt as though the German teacher and I had to spend most of our time redirecting focus. I was frustrated, but she was not. The German teacher said it would take time for the students to get used to the new environment. I thought the virtual world environment created too many distractions and that learning standards were not being met. I reflected back to an article I read (for the life of me I cannot find who to give the credit to!) and the author explains and observable behavior of one student. When the student walks into the computer classroom, the first things he does are: adjust the mouse, move the monitor to his plane of vision, change the icons on the screen, and change the background to a picture he likes. Once those steps are completed, the student is ready and willing to begin school work. The point the author was making was that students in this generation want customization and want to display a sense of self through the computer. Thinking back on that article, I gave myself another day. The second day I realized how immersive the virtual world environment can be. The students spoke in German with the Dresden docents in Berlin and with other avatars in England and the Czech Republic. The conversations kept the student engaged and they no longer spent time customizing their avatar. The students had an avatar, a barrier to their true selves and therefore had more of an opportunity to experiment with their language. The virtual environment created an immediate immersive culture for the students to follow. They did not need to pretend they were in “Dresden.” They did not need to simulate real conversation. The students were in a virtual world and had true conversations with others who knew the language. The opportunity to take students to a location where this is all possible was immense!
12. What would need to be in place (in terms of skills, staffing, infrastructure, systems, etc.) for someone else to reproduce your aha moment?
I feel if an educator would want to create a similar experience, they would need to set up collaborations ahead of the students' planned time in Second Life. The collaborations will need to be with other 18+ students to allow all access to the Second Life grid. The conversation element was the most powerful and I feel the most critical over the artwork piece.
13. Please include the URLs of any photo(s), video(s), or sound file(s) that are specific to the program you are describing.
http://laurajacob.edublogs.org/
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Laura Adriance on -
Hi Laura J,
Great description of your experience. Thanks for providing this. I have one question - it says you are working in a K-12 environment, but that your students were interacting in the 18+ grid. Am I reading that right? So, are you just working with high schools seniors who are 18+?
I am wondering whether there are locations in the teen grid where students can practice their foreign language learning?
Laura A
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Permalink Reply by Laura Jacob on -
Hi Laura A:
Sorry to not get back to you sooner. The students that completed the SL Dresden Museum tour were all 18+ in age due to Linden Lab/ SL Rules. I also had students that were under 18 in the teen grid, but the experience was not as worthwhile.
I am currently looking into funding to create an OpenSim Grid Space so that we can have students of both age groups collaborating and working with one another. The red tape with SL and TSL is frustrating for a high school teacher like myself. I am always open to comments and criticisms, or people that want to join our project. Thank you very much for the comment!
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Permalink Reply by Sachiko Kamioka on
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Hi Laura,
Your description helped me to imagine what happens when students log on to SL. We are planning a summer language immersion camp in SL for intermediate-level Chinese speakers by teaming up with a Chinese as a foreign language program in a university in China. (http://casls.uoregon.edu/mychina.php)
Sachiko
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Permalink Reply by Cherie McLaghlin on -
Hi Laura,
How would I go about finding a school with Spanish speaking students that would be interested in using SL with my students?
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Permalink Reply by J. Edwards on -
Thank you for the results of your action research. I hope more K-12 educators not only take the virtual classroom plunge, but, also, take the time and responsibility to report back to us!
I have been working with high school students, grades 11-12 in an off-line virtual world for about 10 years -- we play a game that is a cross between Sims and Monopoly, and I have kind of been waiting around for the world to catch up. We use the net as the main source of information, but the students work in an (old school term here!) imaginary world that they create. For some background and inspirations, please check out my blog: http://virtualityhighschool.blogspot.com/ .
Hope you will leave a comment!
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Permalink Reply by Charles Hamilton on -
Hi Laura, Interesting findings.
We had two related aha observations related to this theme at IBM of late. First we found that a new opportunity or affordance has formed within these spaces that we describe as Common Visual Language. It would take longer to describe than permitted here but what we now understand from working with various global communities is that certain visual cues are viewed similarly across cultures. A simple example is that a chair is intuitively understood by most languages and without any language instruction people will understand you can sit down. So in effect, saving words increases the opportunity to dialogue and language exchange.
Secondly, we are learning that relative anonymity of an avatar provides a sort of filter or cushion for dialogue, particularly in cultures where ‘losing face’ is a concern. Participants in virtual world conversations describe feeling less restrained and more able speak freely, with the whole event space feeling more playful and ‘easy going’ than typical face-to-face events. This is an invaluable opportunity in terms of helping participants to engage in question and answer discussion and encouraging questions from those who might be shy or reluctant to ask questions in a face to face situation.
These are simply observations at this point and deeper research will be required to prove these concepts out, but we can see opportunity.
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Share your voice in response to the featured discussion.Listen to the twice-a-month podcast.Read or contribute to RezEd Community Aha MomentsBrowse or contribute to the libraryJoin a special interest group. or create your ownList an event or learn who is attending. Read or report the latest newsMeet new colleagues and read their personal blogsAdd photos or videos Tell us more ways this community can serve your needs!Featured Podcast
This week's podcast, RezEd Podcast Episode 36 features Thomas Malaby, author of Making Virtual Worlds: Linden Lab and Second Life, plus an 'In Dialogue' session with Lou Ann Phillips, the Virtual Worlds Coordinator of the National eXtension Initiative and Ron Festa, the Virtual Worlds Administrator at the Division of Continuous Education; Outreach at Rutgers University. on disseminating virtual world practices in education.Featured Aha Moment
This week's aha moment, "Avatars Enhance the Language Learning Experience" is written by Laura Jacob of McGuffey High School.
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