MA TESOL Students Explore Second Life as an Environment for EFL Teaching

1. MA TESOL Students Explore Second Life as an Environment for EFL Teaching Gabi Witthaus & Ming Nie LLAS E-learning Symposium University of Southampton, 29 Jan 2010

2. DUCKLING - Delivering University Curricula: Knowledge, Learning & Innovation Gains • JISC-funded project • Two-year project ending Oct 2010 • Online MA in TESOL & Applied Linguistics • Work-based distance learners • Three technologies: • Podcasts • E-book readers • Second Life

3. Challenges (baseline data) • Limited interaction with tutors and peers • Materials seen as ‘dry’ • Limited variety in teaching approaches • Students travel a lot - need for mobility • Diverse student body - need for flexibility

4. The research project • Piloting a series of e-tivities for CALL module • Invitation sent out to 121 students • 18 responded • Six attended initial training • Four went on to observe EFL classes at languagelab.com in SL • The six reflected on their experience in Blackboard, via interviews and surveys

5. Pedagogical design of SL-tivity • Preparation – discussion in Blackboard (spread over 2 weeks) • Training in Second Life (spread over 2 weeks) • Class observations at languagelab.com in Second Life (spread over 3 weeks) • Discussion and reflection in Blackboard (Spread over 7 weeks) • Total time = 7 weeks

6. Partnership withlanguagelab.com

8. The research approach • Action research • Data being gathered* via: • Survey on student use of SL • Semi-structured interviews – cognitive mapping • Blackboard discussion board • Chat logs from SL *Still continuing

10. The 5-stage e-tivity model http://www.atimod.com/e-tivities/5stage.shtml

11. Level 2 – Online socialisation • Introductions and discussion on Blackboard • Familiar, asynchronous technology • Previous experience in SL: • Only one student had tried it before • Reasons for participating: • Could I use SL in my EFL teaching context? • Most were curious to try something new. • Some wanted to get over their ‘technophobia’.

12. Level 1 – Access and motivation • Two-phase training: • Students read training guide and accessed SL alone • 60-minute group training session • Wiki posted on Blackboard with links to more YouTube videos and SL guides • Bb discussion forum & emails used to deal with ad hoc problems • Drop-in support sessions offered in SL

13. Level 3 – Information exchange • Ongoing via Blackboard throughout project • Students wrote about the lessons they had observed • Attempts to get students to meet in SL for a group discussion failed – time zones

14. Level 4 – Knowledge construction & Level 5 - Development • Reflection on what had worked and what had not worked in the lessons observed...

15. Perceived advantages to using SL for EFL • Increasing flexibility for learners: • Learn English at any time of their choice and... • At any place where they have correct set-up • Opportunities for learners to talk to native speakers and people around the world • Social opportunities

16. Perceived disadvantages to using SL for EFL • Lack of eye contact and body language “One of the main disadvantage of using SL is the lack of eye contact, and I find it really hard to know when it’s my turn to talk.  I have to pay really close attention to the conversation, and chip in when there's a pause. However, sometimes there'll be situations where a few people will talk at the same time, which is rather confusing.”

17. Further perceived disadvantages • Second Life is not Real Life: “I don’t think SL can replace a classroom and I think the ‘real world’ has a lot of benefits for learning (seeing the people you’re talking to is an important part of communication and we need to learn how to talk to people in the flesh as well), however as a supplement SL is useful.” • Disruptions due to technical problems

18. Reflection on application to own contexts • SL not seen as relevant to face-to-face teaching • SL not seen as appropriate in Special Education • One student saw commercial opportunities in SL • All felt that SL experience was useful to have on CV for future employment

20. Questions for further research • Low take-up but very high levels of enthusiasm and commitment from participants. What were the reasons for non-take-up? • Technical obstacles? • Fear of technical obstacles? (Comfort zone) • Lack of perceived relevance to studies? • Lack of perceived relevance to work? • Lack of support from staff (no access to SL)? • Lack of academic credit for participation? • Other?

21. Questions for further research • Pedagogical design • Structured support and reflection on discussion board worked well. What aspects of this model could be transferred to the use of SL in other contexts? • Challenge in managing DL students together • Is there a critical mass of students needed in order to use SL successfully?

22. Thank you! Daffodil Moonwall Ming Cham ming.nie@le.ac.uk gabi.witthaus@le.ac.uk

23. Reference • Salmon, G. K. (2004). E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online. London and New York: Routledge Falmer.