NIFLAR 3D world

Social interaction through video-

webcommunication and virtual worlds:

Designing for ICC in 3D

Ton Koenraad, Kristi Jauregi, Silvia Canto,

Rick de Graaff,

Utrecht University and partners

Structure

• Background to NIFLAR

• Design principles

• NIFLAR 3D VLE’s

Task and object driven activities

• Reserach results on added value

• Conclusions

• To enrich and innovate academic programs of foreign languages and make them more rewarding and relevant

Promoting blended learning by the use of two technologies:

– Video web communication (Adobe Connect)

– 3D Virtual Worlds (Second Life / Open SIM)

• To study the added value of implementing networked interactions

Three target groups:

– FL learners at secondary and tertiary levels

– Pre- (in) service teachers

Main NIFLAR objectives :

NIFLAR

• Time span: 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2010

• Partners: Universities of

– Utrecht in the Netherlands

– Granada and Valencia in Spain

– Coimbra in Portugal

– Palacky in Olomouc the Czech Republic,

– Nevsky and Novosibirsk in Russia

– Concepción in Chile

TELL Consult (Netherlands)

Secondary schools, in Spain and The Netherlands

Coordination: Utrecht University

• Target languages: Dutch, Portuguese, Russian & Spanish

EU-Project ‘NIFLAR’• Time span: 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2010

• Partners: Universities of:

– Utrecht in the Netherlands

– Granada and Valencia in Spain

– Coimbra in Portugal

– Palacky in Olomouc the Czech Republic,

– Nevsky and Novosibirsk in Russia

– Concepción in Chile

TELL Consult (Netherlands) http://www.koenraad.info/tellconsult

Secondary schools, in Spain and The Netherlands

Coordination: Utrecht University http://www.uu.nl/faculty/humanities/EN/Pages/default.aspx

Target languages: Dutch, Portuguese, Russian & Spanish

Second Life

Open Sim

Adobe connect

Pedagogical approaches

ConstructivismSecond Language

Acquisition

Task Based Language Teaching

TELL

Task design criteria for:

Example in Second Life:Task

Task 2 People and adventures:

-pre-task & task

-NS & FLL

People and adventures:

-pre-task & task

-NS & FLL

Scenarios:

-Participants meet at a restaurant and have

to decide where to go to on holidays:

winter/summer holidays.

-Go to a hotel (reception/room)

-- Depending on their choice go to the

summer or winter slurl

Scenarios:

-Participants meet at a restaurant and have

to decide where to go to on holidays:

winter/summer holidays.

-Go to a hotel (reception/room)

-- Depending on their choice go to the

summer or winter slurl

Design principles for NIFLAR 3D-VLE

• Objectives for (student) teachers + L2 learners

• Pedagogical principles:

– Pedagogy re ICC-training & assessment

– Blended approach

– Teacher Ed.:

Experiential learning (competence development)

• Analysis of good practice (Warburton, 2009; Molka-

Danielsen & Deutchmann, 2009; Sweeney, 2009; Jauregi et al., 2009; 2010)

• Scalable, sustainable

Reception / Exploratorium

Game SpaceSimulation Space

Open Simulator Platform

VLE

COMPONENTS

Exploratoriumfor cultural info, encounters and events

Simulation Space

for ICC-training & assessment

Game Space

for cultural knowledge quests & games

NIFLAR @ Second Life

Launchroom Virtlantis

NIFLAR @ Second Life

Launchroom & Holodecked Tasks on Virtlantis

Task Example : Discovering Mexico

NIFLAR OS design processfrom first ideas to realisation

NIFLAR OS MegaSim: Four (4) voice-enabled Regions

• Reception

• Spanish SIM

• Asterix Village

+ Projectlandia

NIFLAR OS MegaSIM: 4 regions

Reception SIMProject Home, International Meeting & Communication Area,

Tandem Language Learning Space

Cartoon Puzzler

Info Gap: collaborative problem solving

Talking Lottery BallsInspired by: Talking Dice

• oral proficiency practice with embedded ICC

development goals through symbols & images

that trigger statements and interactions on

personal lives and cultural topics.

Cultural Knowledge Quiz:exchange, discuss, convince, move, apologize…

Asterix Village

3D-visualisation of Third Place concept and

historical dimension (ICC pedagogy)

Asterix village:

PUB + antique tourist artefacts

Asterix: Harbour & Campo Sportivohistorical approach to folk/street games

Spain: Urban area(Valencia design by Nadia Revenga García)

NIFLAR Valencia city

Projectlandia: default scenario & facilities + ad hoc activities &

projects (e.g. Adventures in 3D)

•Projectlandia: Regions for future target groups, e.g. ChinaVillage (holodeck approach)

Projectlandia: French Village

SLOODLE for NIFLAR OpenSim Worlds

• WebIntercom -- links text-chat in-world to a Moodlechatroom

• Quiz Chair -- students can do a Moodle quiz from in-world, and receive audio-visual feedback on their progress

• CultureQuest

• Awards system

Student involvement & CoP development

• Ownership: student profiles / cultural knowledge sharing

• Authorable content objects facilitating blended approach

• Partner consortium

• OS-LingoGrid

Experiences

• Tasks for Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and

Spanish.

• Several pilot experiences in video-web and

Second Life,

• Both with secondary and tertiary learners

• Almost 400 students have participated in the

experiences.

Research issues

Is there any added value of implementing virtual

interaction in language teaching curricula?

1. Students’ perceptions (evaluation of experiences)

2. Meaningfulness of interactions

3. Impact on motivation: Willingness to communicate (MacIntyre et al. 2001)

• Perceived competence

• Communication anxiety

Data sources

• Recorded interactions

• Pre & post oral tests

• Surveys (pre, mid and post)

• Interviews

Results participants’evaluation

• Interactions with pre-service native teachers:

- enhanced learning processes

- contributed to: self-confidence, fluency,

vocabulary, cultural awareness).

• The environments:

- effective for interaction

- strong preference for VWC or SL above other

SCMC tools (chat or audioconferencing).

• Interactions: relevant & fun.

• Tasks: motivating & useful.

Results: Positive impact on motivation

Willingness to communicate (McIntyre et al, 2001) measured

by repeated mid questionnaires;

Comparisons between experimental and control

groups reached significant values for:

• perceived competence in the target language,

• positive attitudes towards talking to native

speakers,

• and decrease of speaking anxiety.

Results: Significant impact on WTC

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Week

2

3

4

5

Ave

rage

Ans

wer

VC VC VC

VC

VC

VC

VC

SL SL SL

SL

SL

SL

SL

C C C C C C C

Competence

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Week

2

3

4

5

Ave

rage

Ans

wer

V

V V V V V V

S

S SS

SS

S

C C C C C C C

Like speaking to native speakers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Week

2

3

4

5

Ave

rage

Ans

wer

VV

VV

VV

V

SS

S

S

S

S

S

C C C C C C C

Perceived competence

Get nervous talking in the TL

5 point Lykard scale

Conclusions

Pedagogy as the clue for the added value:

• Adequate and balanced integration in the curriculum

• Effective tasks that trigger meaningful interactions in virtual encounters taking into consideration

– the learners’ their needs, styles,

– the affordances of the environment,

Synchronicity might turn out to be a problem: efficient organisation and good communication among partners is critical.

Would you like to know more about

the NIFLAR project?

Read about results in our publications&

Join us at

niflar.ning.com

www.niflar.eu

Thank you for your attention!!