Second Life and Language Learning discussions - part 1

We had two interesting discussions in Second Life on Friday evening and Saturday morning, as part of the IATEFL Aberdeen Conference proceedings. The discussions were held at Edunation, on the subject of language learning and Second Life.



First, the Friday session.

Background: Held at 21.30 GMT, Kyle and I ended up having to share one avatar, and were in a great Aberdeen cafe/wine bar in the centre of town (Beans). There we were, wine in hand, in the back of the cafe with my laptop, and in SL, as people started coming in and taking up the seats, enjoying the live jazz music and generally cool ambience of the place. Apologies for the abrupt exit, after an hour-and-a-half of stimulating discussion - my laptop batteries could take it no more, and died on me. With all that in mind, here is the transcript, with photos to give those who haven't been in Second Life a better idea of the experience:

[13:29] Misha Writer: I thought it started half an hour ago - so I
took a seat & waited. I think Link has gone for a shower ...
[13:30] Kita Coage: hi ingrid
[13:30] Misha Writer: hi - welcome to the session!
[13:30] Ingrid Lindman: Hi Kita!
[13:30] Ingrid Lindman: Hi everybody!
[13:30] You: hi everyone
[13:30] Kita Coage: hi
[13:31] Misha Writer: Baldric - are you here?
[13:31] Kita Coage: are you here for a meeting too Ingrid
[13:31] Misha Writer: there you are!!
[13:31] Ingrid Lindman: Yes, I have read about the meeting on the
Learning english website
[13:31] Ingrid Lindman: about iatefl aberdeen
[13:31] Kita Coage: i see
[13:32] You: hi everyone
[13:32] Kita Coage: what will be going on then?
[13:32] You: great you could all come
[13:33] You: I am sitting in an Aberdeen Internet cafe with Kyle
Mawer (Frank Spearmann in SL)
[13:33] You: we are sharing this avatar tonight
[13:33] You: we are sharing this avatar tonight
[13:33] You: we have just come back from a vigorous Sots dancing session
[13:34] You: erm...Scottish dancing
[13:34] You: lol
[13:34] Misha Writer: are you suggesting the Scots are sots ??
[13:34] Kita Coage: two right hands I suppose ... :O)
[13:34] You: sorry...slurring my words - tooo much whisky
[13:34] You: I met a couple of webheads tonight
[13:35] You: Valentina dodge and Ana Falco
[13:35] Misha Writer: you both did?
[13:35] You: lol
[13:35] Kita Coage: where?
[13:35] You: at an old dance hall in Aberdeen
[13:35] You: we are having a lot of fun
[13:35] Kita Coage: oh - good
[13:35] You: thanks for coming tonight
[13:36] Kita Coage: fun is good
[13:36] You: the idea is to have a conversation about language learning and SL
[13:36] You: perhaps we can start with introductions
[13:36] You: I am going to post the chat trasnscript later
[13:36] You: on the Moodle
[13:37] You: so, who wants to start?
[13:37] Osnacantab Nesterov is Online
[13:37] Misha Writer: I'm Michael Shade, I teach Spanish at Uni of Brighton, UK
[13:37] Ingrid Lindman: I'm Ingrid Braband, I am a teacher trainer at
the German government language school.
[13:37] You: encantado, michael
[13:38] Webhead Link: hola
[13:38] Kita Coage: I'm Jeanette Tranberg from Norway - just here for
exploring, but a substitute teacher in english now and then, and I'm
an ICT teacher
[13:38] Webhead Link: Vance Stevens, a webhead and computing teacher
in Abu Dhabi
[13:39] You: I am Graham Stanley, teacher and ICT co-ordinator at the
British council in Barcelona, Spain
[13:39] Webhead Link: graham are you still holding your eflbridges skypecasts?
[13:40] You: And also Kyle Mawer, teacher also at the Barcelona Young
Learner Centre, and we are setting up a self-access centre for the
British council on the SL teen Grid
[13:40] You: Vance, I am going back to that as soon as I get back from Aberdeen
[13:40] Webhead Link: great
[13:40] Redaktisto Noble is Offline
[13:40] You: not this sunday, but the week after
[13:40] You: I have had chats about that with people here
[13:41] You: I met Pete Travis of Flo-Joe here, and talked to him about it
[13:41] Ingrid Lindman: Can everybody participate in your skypecasts, Graham?
[13:41] You: he is giving a skypecast and language learning session tomorrow
[13:41] You: http://www.flo-joe.com
[13:41] You: yes, Ingrid, anyone
[13:41] You:
href="http://www.eflbridges.net/" target="_blank">http://www.eflbridges.net
[13:42] Ingrid Lindman: supe!
[13:42] Ingrid Lindman: super!
[13:43] Webhead Link: sounds like a really fine conference up there
[13:43] You: hi dennis - come and join us
[13:43] Kip Yellowjacket: ah
[13:43] Kip Yellowjacket: That's better.
[13:43] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[13:44] Kita Coage: your on fire!
[13:44] Kip Yellowjacket: Hi everyone. ;)
[13:44] You: hi kip
[13:44] You: it's great you can join us
[13:44] Kip Yellowjacket: Thanks for the invite. ;)
[13:44] You: please can you intrioduce yourself
[13:44] You: please can you intrioduce yourself
[13:44] Kip Yellowjacket: Well, I'm Kip Yellowjacket from Second Life English.
[13:44] Jonny Hubble: Can I join you?
[13:45] Osnacantab Nesterov: Thanks Baldric
[13:45] Kip Yellowjacket: I currently reside in Germany and work as a
language instructor.
[13:45] Kita Coage: hi Jonny
[13:45] Kip Yellowjacket: My wife and I have a language school in Germany.
[13:45] Jonny Hubble: Hello again
[13:45] Kita Coage: sit down
[13:45] You: well, everyone, our discussion tonight is about
'language learning and Second Life' - can it be done?
[13:46] Osnacantab Nesterov: Kip. Where in Germany?
[13:46] Bunny Barbarossa is Offline
[13:46] You: hi Dennis - please come and join us - take a seat
[13:46] Kip Yellowjacket: I have tons of thoughts on this topic, but
I'd like others to give their comments. ;)
[13:47] Webhead Link: offhand I'd say yes
[13:47] Kip Yellowjacket: ...don't wish to pig the talk.
[13:47] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[13:47] Jonny Hubble: I haven't trained with SL but using chat rooms
so I assume it works the same
[13:47] Jonny Hubble: except for the added advanatges of SL
[13:47] Jonny Hubble: I wish I'd used it when running a distance course
[13:48] Kita Coage: is there an easy way to voices? - in SL?
[13:48] You: what do you think it would have added, Jonny?
[13:48] Webhead Link: voice is coming to SL
[13:48] You: Kita, voice is coming in June
[13:48] Kita Coage: oh really :O)
[13:48] You: integrated voice that is
[13:48] You: yes, quite exciting
[13:48] Jonny Hubble: I just love the extra paralinguistic stuff with
SL that makes it more like a real seminar instead of the coldness of a
chatroom
[13:48] Kita Coage: yes - good
[13:49] You: I agree, Jonny
[13:49] Kita Coage: then there is a big potensial i think
[13:49] You: there is a sense of space, of presence that I love
[13:49] Webhead Link: do any of you sit in on Fire Centaur's classes?
[13:49] You: but what about actual teaching of languages?
[13:49] You: good question, Webhead
[13:49] Webhead Link: (speaking of paralinguistics)
[13:49] Kip Yellowjacket: I teach at the English Village.
[13:49] You: Kip is one of the teachers
[13:49] Bunny Barbarossa is Online
[13:50] You: could you tell us about that, kip
[13:50] Webhead Link: i don't know about it, so do tell
[13:50] You: I think you have more experience than anyone else
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: Sure...
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: There is so much to say. Each lesson
teaches me something new.
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: ...about the challenges
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: potential
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: etc
[13:50] Kip Yellowjacket: logistics is often a big problem
[13:50] You: hi bunny, please come and take a seat
[13:50] Bunny Barbarossa: hi everyone
[13:51] Kip Yellowjacket: getting i think sl is highly immersive and
can be seen as a great component
[13:51] Kip Yellowjacket: an add-on
[13:51] Kip Yellowjacket: to the esl/efl experience
[13:51] You: kip is just telling us about his experience teaching in SL
[13:51] Kati Voss is Offline
[13:51] You: please introduce yourself, though, for the benefit of everyone
[13:51] Kip Yellowjacket: i dont think it can replace real life teaching
[13:51] Kip Yellowjacket: there are too many limitations at the moment for that
[13:51] You: I agree, kip
[13:52] Bunny Barbarossa: that sounds interesting, I'd like to know more
[13:52] You: but it can augment rl teaching
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: but as a highly immersive chat environment
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: absolutely
[13:52] You: good for e-learning and autonomy
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: it can absolutely augment the rl
teaching/learning experience
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: i use it to compliment my rl lessons
[13:52] You: kip, what kind of reaction have your students given you?
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: have students from rl in sl
[13:52] Kip Yellowjacket: mostly all positive
[13:53] Webhead Link: they must have first rate computers
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: there is a certain wow effect bc of the
coolness of sl anyway
[13:53] Webhead Link: good bandwidth
[13:53] You: what do they say to you about their experience of learning in sl?
[13:53] Bunny Barbarossa: sorry if you've already asked this
question, but what kind of activities do you do with your students
Kip?
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: and students find it very interesting
learning in such an environment
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: k
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: bunny
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: i do a variety of things and am slowly expanding
[13:53] Kip Yellowjacket: so far
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: private, small group (1 teacher) and
team-taught lessons
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: have been offered
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: role-playing
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: is nice
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: and chat sessions
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: with active correction
[13:54] Kip Yellowjacket: of mistakes
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: use a blog to compliment the sl lessons
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: to follow up lessons
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: for ex
[13:55] Bunny Barbarossa: do your students come with their own ideas
about what they'd like to do?
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: well...
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: for the most part they dont
[13:55] You: it's good to use elements outside of SL then, Kip?
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: i try to get feedback from them
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: and we r in the process of doing more evaluation
[13:55] Bunny Barbarossa: how do you do that exactly?
[13:55] Kip Yellowjacket: i am working witha professor at a univ in france to
[13:56] Bunny Barbarossa: get feedback from them?
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: implement actual evaluation methods
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: to judge our performance
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: for teachers and students
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: and student progress
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: bunny..
[13:56] You: questionnaires?
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: its rather informal
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: i use a forum for ex
[13:56] Kip Yellowjacket: post questions
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: and ask for responses
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: but many students send me emails
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: or IMs
[13:57] Bunny Barbarossa: do you think you're getting it right? It's
a massive new area
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: providing feedback
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: well...
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: i will not settle
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: for what has been done so far
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: its not perfect
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: so smth new is being learned in each lesson
[13:57] Kip Yellowjacket: so progress can surely be mmade
[13:58] Kip Yellowjacket: sorry baldric...missed your questions
[13:58] You: how about taking us through a typical lesson, kip?
[13:58] Kip Yellowjacket: hmmm
[13:58] Kip Yellowjacket: well bc it's all so new...i have bee trying
various things
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: so i dont have a typical yet
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: but i can give u an impression
[13:59] You: I think you have changed the way you are doing things at
the English Village, for example
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: i tried to get out of the classroom
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: originally i did that
[13:59] You: now you do less in a classroom in SL, and more
role-playing, is that right?
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: and acted...as i read somewhere online...as
a sage on the stage
[13:59] Kip Yellowjacket: and now im trying to get out
[14:00] Kip Yellowjacket: and use the full potential
[14:00] Kip Yellowjacket: of sl
[14:00] Kip Yellowjacket: one of the last lessons
[14:00] Kip Yellowjacket: was called marketplace english
[14:00] You: how can you get more student involvement?
[14:00] You: is building a good idea?
[14:00] You: I always thought that asking students to build things,
you can see how much they understand you
[14:00] Kip Yellowjacket: we have had lessons which combined building
and english
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[14:01] You: how did they go?
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: we've done it...was good fun
[14:01] Misha Writer: can you tell us more about the marketplace idea?
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: but
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: the focus is then
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: not so much on language
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: but on building
[14:01] You: obviously, the students need to be familiar with the interface
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: as far as student is concerned
[14:01] You: ok, I understand
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[14:01] You: How about communciation games?
[14:01] Kip Yellowjacket: well...
[14:02] You: I would like to try playing games such as 'alibi' in SL
[14:02] Kip Yellowjacket: am planning to moving more in that direction
[14:02] Kip Yellowjacket: i would like to create instructional tools
[14:02] Kip Yellowjacket: which can be used for game-based learning
[14:02] Kati Voss is Online
[14:02] Kip Yellowjacket: in sl
[14:02] Kip Yellowjacket: this is a current plan
[14:02] You: such as?
[14:03] You: what about lesson plans?
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: well am in the brainstorming phase regarding that
[14:03] You: a lot of people in Aberdeen who we have talked to have
mentioned this
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: lesson plans...
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: we will soon begin using moodle
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: amd have an actual course structure in place
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: so that sl is only one component
[14:03] You: I think that this might make it a concrete thing to many
people who are not familiar with SL
[14:03] Kip Yellowjacket: of a bigger package
[14:04] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[14:04] You: yes
[14:04] susan Williams is Online
[14:04] You: one idea...
[14:04] Misha Writer: I'd still like to hear a bit about the
marketplace activity, Kip
[14:04] Kip Yellowjacket: sure..
[14:04] Jonny Hubble: sorry I have to go - thanks it was interesting
listening...bye
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: see u jonny
[14:05] Kita Coage: by jonny
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:05] Bunny Barbarossa: bye Jonny
[14:05] You: thanks Jonny
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: marketplace
[14:05] Ingrid Lindman: bye
[14:05] You: bye for now
[14:05] Kita Coage: hello susan
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: was basically intended to be a role-playing
environment
[14:05] susan Williams: hi there
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: the atmosphere was created using various stands
[14:05] Bunny Barbarossa: hi
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: at each stand
[14:05] You: hi susan
[14:05] Kip Yellowjacket: their was a learning task
[14:05] You: come and join us
[14:06] You: please introduce yourselfç
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: related to lanuage which would be needed
when buying things
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: for ex:
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: polite language
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: use of interjections
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: showing interest
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: disinterest etc
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: this was a team-taught lesson
[14:06] Kip Yellowjacket: involving multiple teachers
[14:06] You: kip, are most of your students in SL young adults?
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: young and older id say
[14:07] Bunny Barbarossa: I like the idea of that, although it's
probably not viable business-wise
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: 25-45
[14:07] You: do you have any students that are not your RL students?
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: bunny
[14:07] Misha Writer: loads of questions now - how are the stands set
up, how are student responses monitored, is it spoken language or
written ??
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: business was not my focus there
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: that is secondary in what i do
[14:07] Kip Yellowjacket: i am genuinely interested in teaching
[14:08] Bunny Barbarossa: sure, I was imagining a teach + student group
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: and seeing that learning occurs
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: ic
[14:08] Bunny Barbarossa: that is one teacher per student
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: yes...i do that as well
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: have 2 lessons lined up
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: tomorrow
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: basically just chat with active correcting
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: followed up by blogwork
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: and sometimes
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: skype
[14:08] Kip Yellowjacket: session
[14:09] Kati Voss is Offline
[14:09] Kita Coage: by blog work, do mean reflections?
[14:09] You: I suppose voice contact makes a big difference
[14:09] Kita Coage: you
[14:09] Kip Yellowjacket:
www.SecondLifeEnglish.com
[14:09] Kip Yellowjacket: or
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: www.BlogYourEnglish.com
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: basically various forms of exercises
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: using
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: text, audio and video
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: images
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: etc
[14:10] Misha Writer: this may be a sensitive question - but would it
be possible to see one of these lessons - sounds great but it's a bit
difficult to visualise
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: and providing correction
[14:10] Kip Yellowjacket: is always possible
[14:10] Webhead Link: can one drop by?
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: the friday lessons are open to everyone and
id be more than happy to open up other lessons to observation on
request
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: pls just let me know if u plan to come to a
lesson other than the friday one
[14:11] Misha Writer: that's brilliant!
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: so i can expect u
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: u can also participate
[14:11] Webhead Link: back in the days when we were introducing
studnets to text chat, ten years ago
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: i have the efl/esl team group
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: u can join and come teach
[14:11] Kita Coage: where at?
[14:11] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:11] You: I think it is great that you let people observe, kip
[14:12] Kip Yellowjacket: lessons take place at the english village
[14:12] Webhead Link: it was amazing how motivating it was to have
native speakers interested and interacting with the EFL students
[14:12] You: it's very generous of you
[14:12] Kip Yellowjacket: sure...i love seeing other people get involved
[14:12] Kip Yellowjacket: but i dont claim to do anything perfectly...lol
[14:12] You: I hope you receive positive feedback in return
[14:12] Kip Yellowjacket: there r still many kinks to get worked out
[14:12] Webhead Link: i think it would be great for the students to
interact with interested observers
[14:12] Kip Yellowjacket: thx baldric i tend to
[14:12] Bunny Barbarossa: isn't there always?
[14:13] You: of course, you are a pioneer in this brave new world
[14:13] Kip Yellowjacket: aren't we all? ;)
[14:13] Bunny Barbarossa: hahaha
[14:13] Webhead Link: suppose a month from now I got to thinking I
had time to drop by one of these lessons
[14:13] Webhead Link: how would I find the schedule?
[14:14] Kati Voss is Online
[14:14] Osnacantab Nesterov: Kip, can you give the URL for your
lessons again, please?
[14:14] Kip Yellowjacket: you can find it here: www.eslteacherlink.com
[14:14] Kip Yellowjacket: we use google calendar
[14:14] You: yes, I suppose we are...our project on the teen grid
will soon be launched...we aren't going to be teaching there (at least
not at the moment), but setting up language learning facilities
[14:14] Osnacantab Nesterov: Thanks
[14:14] Kip Yellowjacket: that's fire's site
[14:14] You: thanks for the references, kip
[14:14] Kip Yellowjacket: sure thing ;)
[14:14] You: we are thinking about a lot of interactive mysteries,
treasure hunts, etc
[14:15] Ingrid Lindman: I have already seen one of Kip's lessons and
it was very interesting!
[14:15] Bunny Barbarossa: yes, thanks. You're very inspiring
[14:15] Kip Yellowjacket: thx ingrid ;)
[14:15] You: using audio clips as clues, embedded in the island, etc
[14:15] Kip Yellowjacket: oh quests are fun! ;)
[14:15] Bunny Barbarossa: hide and seek?
[14:15] You: ingrid, what did you like most about it?
[14:15] You: hide and seek is a fun activity
[14:16] Ingrid Lindman: It was the first time I saw a lesson - I
liked the environment very much ....
[14:16] Kati Voss is Offline
[14:16] Ingrid Lindman: it was like real life - though only with
written language
[14:16] Bunny Barbarossa: kip, do you get students coming back on a
regular basis like in a rl class?
[14:16] Kip Yellowjacket: sure do...
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: and i could do more to ensure that
[14:17] Bunny Barbarossa: is that the majority?
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: well...i think many come when they can...
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: its that kind of a scenario
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: but we will soon be charging for lessons
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: at the english village
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: to help to ensure sincerity
[14:17] Kip Yellowjacket: on the part of the students
[14:17] Bunny Barbarossa: linden or US?
[14:18] You: I see...and the idea of using a holodeck - could you
explain what that involves, Kip?
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: sure baldric...one sec
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: bunny
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: both
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: will be possible
[14:18] You: ok, sorry...lots of questions!
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: although many of my courses will be for the
german speaking audience
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: bc i plan to offer packages
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: involving more than sl
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: e.g.
[14:18] Kip Yellowjacket: email correspondance
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: + editing
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: telephoning
[14:19] Chris Eggplant is Offline
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: sl lessons
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: etc
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: so they will cost more
[14:19] You: that sounds like a very well-thought out offer, kip
[14:19] Kip Yellowjacket: but the friday lesson will remain free
[14:19] You: good idea, to encourage participation and new people
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: well...seems like sl alone cant make enough
money to justify the effort
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: friday is to
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: encourage new teachers
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: to become involved
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: and students as well
[14:20] Bunny Barbarossa: what time are the classes on Friday?
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: 11:30 sl time
[14:20] Misha Writer: my question too - what time?
[14:20] You: there is a company that thinks that SL alone can be an
alternative to RL language lessons - http;//www.languagelab.com
[14:20] Bunny Barbarossa: which is GMT?
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: yes
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: i know them
[14:20] You: have you all heard of this?
[14:20] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:21] You: what do you think, Kip?
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: ironically i have applied to work for them
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: but no response
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: lol
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: so
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: am not sure whats up...
[14:21] Misha Writer: are they the ones setting up a Spanish course -
Granny's Kitchen??
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: but i seriously doubt it can ever replace rl
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: would say it cant
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: until it frows
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: grows
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: develops more
[14:21] Kip Yellowjacket: and even then
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: doubt it
[14:22] You: i think thats www.languagelab.com- the granny kitchen
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: yea...they own like 6 sims
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: i think
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: if im correct
[14:22] You: 21
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: ohhhh
[14:22] Kip Yellowjacket: wow
[14:22] Misha Writer: sims = areas in SL ??
[14:22] Bunny Barbarossa: 21 or 12 Baldric?
[14:23] You: the first but i-ll have to confirm that
[14:23] You: sorry twelve
[14:23] Kip Yellowjacket: still
[14:23] Webhead Link: semantic check
[14:23] Kip Yellowjacket: quite a few
[14:23] Bunny Barbarossa: it must be the haggis!
[14:23] Webhead Link: I keep hearing this word sims
[14:23] Kip Yellowjacket: i hope to soon own 1
[14:23] Kip Yellowjacket: lol
[14:23] Webhead Link: what does it mean exactly
[14:23] You: sorry, I have seen both quoted
[14:24] You: a sim is an island
[14:24] You: there are 2 on one server
[14:24] Kip Yellowjacket: like the English Village
[14:24] You: we have now got three sims on the teen grid
[14:25] You: one is being developed and will be launched in May
[14:25] Kip Yellowjacket: how hard is it to teach on the teen grid?
[14:25] susan Williams: how is that going baldric
[14:25] susan Williams: where are you intending to recruit your students?
[14:25] You: it is more difficult as there are more restrictions, kip
[14:25] Kip Yellowjacket: right
[14:25] Kip Yellowjacket: have read
[14:25] Kip Yellowjacket: background check etc
[14:26] Kip Yellowjacket: but i can do that...just would need to go
thru the steps
[14:26] Kip Yellowjacket: i suppose
[14:26] Kip Yellowjacket: ?
[14:26] You: susan, we are creating an interesting environment for teens...
[14:26] You: and hope to attract teens already in SL...
[14:26] susan Williams: and are you intending to rent out or lend
space on your teen island for other projects?
[14:26] susan Williams: or just keep to one project
[14:27] You: and also will be promoting SL and our island in our 100+
centres over the world
[14:27] Kip Yellowjacket: very nice
[14:27] You: we are looking at collaborative projects at the moment,
discussing ways of getting teens involved in helping us, etc
[14:27] susan Williams: one of my colleagues wants to trry out 2nd
life as a way of teaching texual health issues to teens
[14:27] susan Williams: sexual even
[14:28] susan Williams: interesting ifddea
[14:28] susan Williams: perhaps by using teens to mentor each other
and lead discussions in small groups
[14:28] You: though, at first, we won't be teaching, just providing
extra self-access laguage learning opportunities, and a community for
chat, etc
[14:28] Bunny Barbarossa: on the teen grid, Susan?
[14:28] susan Williams: yes
[14:28] susan Williams: but has not yet set up their own space
[14:28] You: sounds interesting, susan
[14:28] susan Williams: hence my question to baldric
[14:29] Kip Yellowjacket: what sort of self-access language learning
do u have in mind?
[14:29] You: that is what we want to do, susan - set up a mentoring project
[14:29] You: I think there is a great opportnity for community
building, intercultural work, etc
[14:30] Bunny Barbarossa: yes, i agree it's very exciting
[14:30] susan Williams: very
[14:30] You: kip, we have got all sorts of things planned - a mystery
mansion, for example, which is a kind of game that involves clues
(audio and text)
[14:30] Kip Yellowjacket: wow...sounds great ;)
[14:30] You: we are grading the language depending on the area of the island
[14:30] You: yes, we are very excited about it
[14:30] Bunny Barbarossa: you know, I'm sure most of the stuff that's
being developed would be equally as interesting to adults
[14:31] You: then we'll have a village that will be full of buildings
with language games, etc
[14:31] Kip Yellowjacket: wow...would love to see that
[14:31] You: you are right bunny - we now have an adult island too
[14:31] susan Williams: what kind of games
[14:31] You: çwell, vocabulary games, but also games based on functions
[14:31] Bunny Barbarossa: me too, but it's impossible to go in
without breaking the rules
[14:32] Kita Coage: can you give an example of a function game Baldric?
[14:32] Misha Writer: it would also be great to have facilities like
you describe for learners of other langauges - to what extent is it
all transferable ?
[14:32] You: we are discussing specific content with developers at the
moment, trying to keep things open, so we can change them if possible
[14:33] You: functional language game? Well, for example, shopping language
[14:33] susan Williams: what are you using to develop the games? baldric?
[14:33] Kita Coage: oh, thanks, i see
[14:33] You: theyhave a shopping list and need to find them
[14:33] You: we are developing the games using an outside company
[14:34] Kip Yellowjacket: very cool
[14:34] You: specialised in building and scripting in Sl
[14:34] You: with experience in the teen grid too
[14:34] You: the company are Kim and the Magicians
[14:34] Misha Writer: sounds like a lot of expensive development work
involved ...
[14:35] Kita Coage: nice
[14:35] susan Williams: worth it however if the outputs are
transferable and can be re - used
[14:35] Bunny Barbarossa: quite
[14:35] Osnacantab Nesterov: Baldric, will adults be able to visit
(if not use) the island when it is complete?
[14:35] You: http://themagicians.us
[14:36] You: no, Dennis - the teen grid is only open to teens
[14:36] Bunny Barbarossa: unless you break the rules
[14:36] You: and educators who have been background checked
[14:36] You: yes, bunny, but then you run the risk of a police record in the US
[14:36] Osnacantab Nesterov: It's hard being old. :-)
[14:36] susan Williams: how straightforward is the background check?
[14:36] You: lol
[14:36] Bunny Barbarossa: exactly
[14:36] Misha Writer: how easy would it be to replicate what you have
described to the adult SL ?
[14:37] Bunny Barbarossa: hahahaha
[14:37] You: it's not easy, susan - you need to submit 10 years worth
of addresses
[14:37] Kip Yellowjacket: ive had a background check and would be
interested in checking out the teen grid...can also have another
background check done if needed
[14:37] Kip Yellowjacket: whats the step after that?
[14:37] You: fairly easy, misha
[14:38] Misha Writer: so the initial investment in development work
wouldn't have to be repeated?
[14:38] You: after that, it's 50 dollars per address
[14:38] Kip Yellowjacket: ic
[14:38] You: and then you need a project to work on
[14:38] Kip Yellowjacket: man...ive moved a lot
[14:38] Kip Yellowjacket: lol
[14:38] susan Williams: baldric would it be possible to take some
camtasia videos of the games in use
[14:38] You: you are limited to that project - cannot move off the island
[14:38] Kip Yellowjacket: ah ic
[14:38] You: lol, kip - I was lucky
[14:38] susan Williams: to demonstrate to educators in the adult grid
[14:39] You: yes, susan - we will be doing videos
[14:39] susan Williams: smashing
[14:39] You: I want to do some, but we are still at the building stage
[14:39] You: I have posted some photos on my flickr site of our island
[14:39] You: the games still have to be uilt
[14:39] You: built
[14:40] You: we have a long project in front of us
[14:40] Misha Writer: camtasia videos ??
[14:40] susan Williams: whats the timescale baldric
[14:40] You: in may, we will have the space (island 1) and some of
the mysteries, etc ready
[14:41] You: then, we'll be working on preparing the 2nd iland
[14:41] You: island
[14:41] You: that'll be June
[14:41] You: and the thrid one, and the adult island
[14:41] You: we are going to be kept very busy!
[14:41] Kip Yellowjacket: m sure ;)
[14:42] You: From what I have seen/heard, we will also be getting a
lot of teen visitors
[14:42] You: there are few interesting projects on the teen grid open
for visits
[14:42] Bunny Barbarossa: where did you get your info?
[14:42] You: lots of places, bunny - there are blogs of teen grid
projects, for example..
[14:42] You: I'll post one...hold on a mo
[14:43] Bunny Barbarossa: from teens?
[14:43] Kip Yellowjacket: nice slippers susan ;)
[14:43] Bunny Barbarossa: I can't stop looking at them!
[14:43] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:43] Misha Writer: can't see them from here ...
[14:44] Bunny Barbarossa: you don't know what you're missing! bunnies!!
[14:44] Misha Writer: no wonder you like them!
[14:44] susan Williams: thanks kip
[14:44] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:44] You: http://grahambluecoat.edublogs.org/
[14:44] susan Williams: there is also a panda slipper option
[14:44] Bunny Barbarossa: Sorry I didn't introduce myself when I sat
down, I'm a colleague of Balrdirc's at the British Council and have
been following the iatelf a little this week
[14:45] You: I set up a blog to document the project
[14:45] You: kyle says 'trust women to start talking about shoes'
[14:45] You: lol
[14:45] Kip Yellowjacket: well i started it
[14:45] Kip Yellowjacket: lol
[14:45] Kip Yellowjacket: ;)
[14:46] Bunny Barbarossa: hi kyle!
[14:46] Bunny Barbarossa: didn't know you were there!
[14:46] You: hi bunny
[14:46] You: im baldric too
[14:46] You: hi sus
[14:46] SusNy Foss: Hello !
[14:46] Webhead Link: hey sus
[14:46] You: come and join us
[14:46] Kip Yellowjacket: hi susny
[14:46] susan Williams: hiya sus
[14:47] You: sus, did you see what I wrote about you and our meeting
last year on my new blog?
[14:47] You: http://grahambluecoat.edublogs.org/
[14:47] SusNy Foss: I'll take a look:-)
[14:47] Osnacantab Nesterov is Offline
[14:47] SusNy Foss: oh yes I actually thin I read it some time ago
[14:48] SusNy Foss: we met in a cinema and you had your winter outfit
ready at hand
[14:48] You: that's right
[14:49] You: it was a lot of fun
[14:49] You: it was a lot of fun
[14:49] SusNy Foss: it was in my early days and I was really begining
to feel at easy by meeting old frinds
[14:49] SusNy Foss: now I begin to feel more like a veteran
[14:50] You: sus, do you know of anyone teaching languages in SL?
[14:50] You: and could you give us an intro too?
[14:51] SusNy Foss: well, I'm in Denmark and I help with teacher's
web 2.0 development in several projects at the moment
[14:52] SusNy Foss: I'm no language teacher myself, but as I've
followed Webheads in Action for the past six years...
[14:52] You: and an active webhead you are too
[14:52] SusNy Foss: I felt it was a natural thing to start here in SL
as did my online colleagues
[14:52] You: what about other language learning and teaching projects in SL?
[14:53] You: has anyone come across many non...

This is the point where we lost the connection. If anyone was there and has the rest of the chat, please can you post it? Thanks!