Experiences with NIFLAR’s 3D virtual worlds

Ton Koenraad & Silvia Canto

Structure

• NIFLAR 3D worlds

• Recordings of university student activities

Sense of presence: social interaction

Settings for functional dialogues

Flexible, adaptable

NIFLAR requirementsfrom first ideas to realisation

Design principles for NIFLAR 3D-VLE• Objectives for L2 learners & (student) teachers

• 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

NIFLAR’s 3D Learning Enviroments:

Second Life Open Simulator

SL for adult students: Access to authentic places &

interaction (chance meetings)

NIFLAR @ Second Life Launchroom

Instant scenes for tasks

Open Sim NIFLAR for secondary pupils & student teachers

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

• Reception Region

• Spanish Region

• Asterix Village Region

+ Projectlandia

Reception SIMProject Home, International Meeting Area (tandem learning)

Spain / Valencia city (culturally specific settings)

Asterix village:Curriculum support for:

historical topics, roleplay + perspective change

Projectlandia: default scenario & facilities

for ad hoc projects

•Projectlandia: Regions for future target groups, e.g. ChinaVillage

Tasks & activities for secondary learners

- Treasure Hunt: find hidden cultural artefacts and discuss use/origin

- Guided tour:Guide partner and provide cultural information

Object based activities (Self Access)

Comics Puzzler (Info Gap: problem solving)

Object based activities (2) Talking Lottery Balls (Communicative Game)