FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Virtual World Language Education Comes of Age: SLanguages Turns 3
Barcelona, Spain, 26 January 2009 - - the “SLanguages” conference will celebrate its 3rd year exploring the use of virtual worlds in language education. The event takes place within the 3D virtual world “Second Life” on 8 – 9 May 2009...
The SLanguages 2009 conference celebrates and explores the use of 3D virtual worlds for language learning and teaching. The conference is held entirely within Second Life, giving participants around the world an immersive environment to share experiences and exchange ideas. The online conference is free to attend and includes talks, workshops, discussions and posters on methodologies, teaching tools and experiences in language education using virtual worlds.
3D virtual worlds have become an established part of the online language sector, with major language institutions and universities using virtual worlds to create a more immersive language experience. The British Council, Confucius Institute, Goethe Institut and Instituto Cervantes all use Second Life for language education. “It’s a measure of the growth in virtual world education that SLanguages has gone from one venue in 2007 to five in 2009,” says Second Life educational consultant Gavin Dudeney, and co-author of the award-winning book How to Teach English with Technology, Longman 2007, “We expect to see another significant increase in participant numbers and are looking forward to the biggest virtual world event ever for language learners.”
The conference offers an excellent opportunity to see first hand how virtual worlds offer new approaches to language learning. 3D virtual worlds can bring together global learners in an infinite range of environments – from a supermarket to the moon. Learners in Second Life can even create and change their surroundings.
Over 300 language educators attended the 24-hour event in 2008, which featured presentations by universities, language institutes and online schools. "SLanguages 2008 was a unique opportunity to meet everyone involved in this rapidly growing sector of online language education. The quality of papers and presentations were very informative and the conference was so well attended by people who cared about new ways of learning languages that the conversations continued into real life" says Dongping Zheng, who established the Confucius Institute’s presence in Second Life.
The SLanguages 2009 conference starts 11am (PDT) Friday 8 May and ends 11am (PDT) Saturday 9 May. The event will be hosted within Second Life on the tropical “EduNation” islands owned by The Consultants-E. The www.slanguages.net website includes archives of presentations from previous conferences.
To register for the conference or for further information, please contact Gavin Dudeney of The Consultants-E or visit the website www.slanguages.net.
The Consultants-E is an educational consultancy company specializing in online education, offering tailored consultancy in technology for education. Their consultants assist companies and educational institutions to integrate innovative technologies into their teaching practices. The company also offers courses in e-learning tools such as Second Life, wikis, podcasts and Moodle. The Consultants-E own and run three private islands in Second Life that foster language education and training.
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Contact
Gavin Dudeney
The Consultants-E
c/ Cerámica 54
08035 Barcelona
Spain
gavin.dudeney@theconsultants-e.com
www.theconsultants-e.com
Dudeney Ge (Avatar in Second Life)
