Video Clip of EUROCALL 2009 Social Events
Those of you who attended the EUROCALL 2009 conference in Gandía can relive some of the social events in the video clip that I've uploaded to the EUROCALL CMC SIG Ning.
I have uploaded this video just once to the CMC SIG Ning rather than uploading it three times to all three EUROCALL Nings to which I belong, namely:
EUROCALL CMC SIG: http://cmcsig.ning.com
EUROCALL Teacher Education SIG: http://eurocallteachereducation.ning.com
EUROCALL/CALICO Virtual Worlds SIG: http://virtualworldssig.ning.com
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
EUROCALL/CALICO Virtual Worlds SIG
Following discussions between Graham Davies (EUROCALL), Randall Sadler (CALICO) and Thom Thibeault (CALICO) in early 2009, it was decided to approach EUROCALL and CALICO members with a proposal to create a joint EUROCALL/CALICO Worlds Special Interest Group (VW SIG) for teachers of modern foreign languages and English as a foreign language. A meeting, attended by 20 participants, took place on 11 September at the EUROCALL 2009 conference and it was agreed that a joint EUROCALL/CALICO VW SIG should be established, managed by Graham Davies on behalf of EUROCALL and Randall Sadler on behalf of CALICO. We have recently set up the VW SIG Ning.
It is clear that there is a growing interest in virtual worlds among EUROCALL and CALICO members. There have been several presentations on virtual worlds in recent EUROCALL and CALICO conferences, including presentations by the NIFLAR team and the AVALON team. Introductory workshops for newcomers to Second Life have also taken place at the annual conferences of both associations. In November 2007 EUROCALL began setting up a headquarters building on EduNation III Island, and in early 2009 CALICO established a presence on the land immediately next door. The two locations now form a significant joint environment linked by a teleport system. Our Welcome Pavilion is located at
http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/31/35/22
Thierry Chanier (Thierry Claremont in SL) has recently established a headquarters for ALSIC, the French association for Computer Assisted Languages Learning, and Françoise Blin (Francie Bialyk in SL) has set up a headquarters for Dublin City University's iMUVE project. Both HQs are located close to the CALICO/EUROCALL HQ on EduNation III.
As for the direction that the new VW SIG will take, we are completely open to suggestions. It will be possible, for example, to offer training courses in using virtual worlds, language classes, quests and virtual tours, as well as advising on places to visit in Second Life where students can be exposed to a wide range of different languages. The joint EUROCALL/CALICO Resources Centre, which is accessible via the teleport system, already offers a range of resources that can be used by language teachers.
If you are new to Second Life there is a wealth of information in the rapidly expanding
Section 14.2.1 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT site (edited by Graham Davies):
Your VW SIG contact persons are:
Graham Davies (EUROCALL) – Groovy Winkler in Second Life
Randall Sadler (CALICO) – Randall Renoir in Second Life
Thom Thibeault (CALICO) – Doktor Tammas in Second Life
It is clear that there is a growing interest in virtual worlds among EUROCALL and CALICO members. There have been several presentations on virtual worlds in recent EUROCALL and CALICO conferences, including presentations by the NIFLAR team and the AVALON team. Introductory workshops for newcomers to Second Life have also taken place at the annual conferences of both associations. In November 2007 EUROCALL began setting up a headquarters building on EduNation III Island, and in early 2009 CALICO established a presence on the land immediately next door. The two locations now form a significant joint environment linked by a teleport system. Our Welcome Pavilion is located at
http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/31/35/22
Thierry Chanier (Thierry Claremont in SL) has recently established a headquarters for ALSIC, the French association for Computer Assisted Languages Learning, and Françoise Blin (Francie Bialyk in SL) has set up a headquarters for Dublin City University's iMUVE project. Both HQs are located close to the CALICO/EUROCALL HQ on EduNation III.
As for the direction that the new VW SIG will take, we are completely open to suggestions. It will be possible, for example, to offer training courses in using virtual worlds, language classes, quests and virtual tours, as well as advising on places to visit in Second Life where students can be exposed to a wide range of different languages. The joint EUROCALL/CALICO Resources Centre, which is accessible via the teleport system, already offers a range of resources that can be used by language teachers.
If you are new to Second Life there is a wealth of information in the rapidly expanding
Section 14.2.1 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT site (edited by Graham Davies):
Your VW SIG contact persons are:
Graham Davies (EUROCALL) – Groovy Winkler in Second Life
Randall Sadler (CALICO) – Randall Renoir in Second Life
Thom Thibeault (CALICO) – Doktor Tammas in Second Life
Thursday, September 24, 2009
EUROCALL 2009 - after the conference: new VW SIG
EUROCALL 2009 in Spain was fantastic: perfect location, great food, super social events and excellent presentations. I ran a workshop on Second Life for newbies, assisted by my wife Sally, who acted as a fashion consultant to the ladies. We had 14 people in a state-of-the art lab equipped with computers with excellent graphics cards and big high-resolution display screens. The workshop ran without a hitch for three hours and then I gave a plenary presentation on a big screen to 50 local teachers, with a contribution from Randall Sadler speaking to us from the USA.
Randall Sadler (representing CALICO) and I (representing EUROCALL) have set up a joint Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group (VW SIG) for CALICO and EUROCALL members. 20 people were present at the launch meeting at EUROCALL 2009. I presented the EUROCALL HQ to the meeting and Randall was there "virtually" to give us a tour of the CALICO facilities next door, including his fabulous new castle holodeck. Further information on the new SIG has just been announced at the EUROCALL website:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/sigs/vwsig.html
Regarding the Virtual Strand, you can replay the CoveritLive events via this blog and our Twitter feeds are still live at @EuroCALLVirtual:
http://twitter.com
Graham Davies
Randall Sadler (representing CALICO) and I (representing EUROCALL) have set up a joint Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group (VW SIG) for CALICO and EUROCALL members. 20 people were present at the launch meeting at EUROCALL 2009. I presented the EUROCALL HQ to the meeting and Randall was there "virtually" to give us a tour of the CALICO facilities next door, including his fabulous new castle holodeck. Further information on the new SIG has just been announced at the EUROCALL website:
http://www.eurocall-languages.org/sigs/vwsig.html
Regarding the Virtual Strand, you can replay the CoveritLive events via this blog and our Twitter feeds are still live at @EuroCALLVirtual:
http://twitter.com
Graham Davies
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Symposium on new trends in telecollaboration
This morning (Saturday), I attended the symposium on new trends in telecollaboration by Melinda Dooly, Mirjam Hauck, Sarah Guth and Francesca Helma. It was a very well structured symposium, the contributions seemed to build nicely on each other. Whereas Mirjam concentrated on current research trends on multimodal competences and Melinda focused on teachers preparations and skills needed to carry out telecollaboration exchanges, Sarah and Francesca explored the dimensions involved in telecollaboration. These are the operational dimension (attitudes, beliefs, technical), the cultural one (mainly based on Byrams “savoirs”) and the critical (thinking) dimension. Teachers who are motivated to incorporate telecollaboration projects in their teaching need to be aware of these multiple dimensions and need to take them into account when thinking of meaningful tasks for the exchange. Studies showed that otherwise such exchqanges can quickly result in stereotypes being reinforced during the exchange rather than overcome.
Sarah and Francesca managed to put their fingers right at the burning issues of the new generation of telecollaboration in language teaching and learning. For me, it was the most inspiring presentation of Eurocall2009 so far. I am very much waiting for their book, due to come out soon.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Preparatory study for the design of Visu, a desktop videoconferencing platform for synchronous language tutoring
One of the highlights of the day was Nicolas Guichon´s presentation on the use of desktop conferencing (DVC) for effective language teaching. Visu (pronounced in different ways, but all are just fine) is a project that reflects the joint efforts of foreign language teachers and computer specialists to design a system that would assist the former in their tasks. Such system combines video conferencing features in addition to other functionalities. Nicolas identified a number of skills as essential for effective online teaching using DVC, the most important of which were: social (the ability to establish and maintain a relationship with the learner), pedagogical (ability to design suitable teaching tasks), and multimedia-related (ability to operate software). As for the methodology followed in this study, two teachers of French as a foreign language were selected (out of a group of ten). Through a DVC platform, they were in regular contact with American students at UC Berkeley. Their 2nd and 3rd teaching sessions were captured using ´screenvideo´ recorder. After eight weeks of instruction, a focus group was formed to receive feedback from the teachers and validate inferences. One of the challenges that the teachers encountered was the number of tasks that had to be undertaken at the same time. For example, they had to maintain conversations with the learner(s), take notes, and manage time simultaneously. Teachers´ comments were taken into account for the future development of the project. Further research will be conducted especially in relation to the impact of Visu on the learners.
New e-frontiers of assistive software and their positive impact upon a blind student´s language learning experience
In her usual engaging style, Mariana Orsini-Jones gave us a presentation on the role of new technologies in enhancing student learning in the specific case of a visually-impaired learner. Harry is currently studying French for his BA. He used to access learning material through the JAWS for Window software, which reads data on the screen using synthesized speech. Gradually, he found it quite artificial and therefore disliked it. Later, he was introduced to Apple MacBook with a voice-over tool for each key he used. The new application improved his learning and raised his motivation. It was interesting to watch Harry recount his personal journey using various software for the betterment of his learning. One of the attendees found his account particularly interesting, as she also has a Chinese visually-impaired learner. By the way, Mariana is trying to find Harry a job, in case you come across something suitable :-)
Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
Hello,
in connection with the presentation on the Language Box, I just wanted to attract your attention to the website of the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies from the Higher Education Academy.
It is a great source of information regarding future events (both from LLAS and third parties) and contains articles on a whole range of language-related topics.
In addition, I suggest you look at the bank of materials, as it contains a whole range of language learning materials, with background information from the authors.
in connection with the presentation on the Language Box, I just wanted to attract your attention to the website of the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies from the Higher Education Academy.
It is a great source of information regarding future events (both from LLAS and third parties) and contains articles on a whole range of language-related topics.
In addition, I suggest you look at the bank of materials, as it contains a whole range of language learning materials, with background information from the authors.
The Language Box
Hi,
I attended another very interesting presentation today on the Language Box. It is an online repository for storing, managing and sharing language teaching and learning materials. It is open to all teaching staff and learners who want to produce and share materials.
The Language Box offers the possibility to upload and download materials, and also to write comments about them. In the presentation, it was interesting to learn that students fully embraced the culture of sharing materials and making comments about them, but that teachers did not really make comments.....
so I really think we should have a go at this, register, show what we do....and make comments as well!
I attended another very interesting presentation today on the Language Box. It is an online repository for storing, managing and sharing language teaching and learning materials. It is open to all teaching staff and learners who want to produce and share materials.
The Language Box offers the possibility to upload and download materials, and also to write comments about them. In the presentation, it was interesting to learn that students fully embraced the culture of sharing materials and making comments about them, but that teachers did not really make comments.....
so I really think we should have a go at this, register, show what we do....and make comments as well!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Motivation revisited:empirical and theoretical validation of the Distributed Language Learning model
Another great presentation this afternoon by Frederik Cornillie and Josep Colpaert, which focused on two learning tools:
- Eurocatering (an online language learning tool for students and workers in the hospitality sector to be used in preparation for a work placement in Europe or as a stand-alone tool). The courseware application and social platform are available on http://www.eurocatering.org and it is free to register. It is really worth it looking at the range of activities and how they work....and also to try languages you don't speak!
- DISCO (Development and Integration of Speech Technology into Courseware for language learning) which aims to develop a CALL application which focuses on speaking skills in Dutch as a second language language. I particularly appreciated the realistic communication situations included in the presentation.
- Eurocatering (an online language learning tool for students and workers in the hospitality sector to be used in preparation for a work placement in Europe or as a stand-alone tool). The courseware application and social platform are available on http://www.eurocatering.org and it is free to register. It is really worth it looking at the range of activities and how they work....and also to try languages you don't speak!
- DISCO (Development and Integration of Speech Technology into Courseware for language learning) which aims to develop a CALL application which focuses on speaking skills in Dutch as a second language language. I particularly appreciated the realistic communication situations included in the presentation.
Comparative usability study of ICT tools for collaborative language learning
Hi,
just to let you know that I attended a great presentation by Andras Ketyi this afternoon, about a study he conducted among students at the Budapest Business School, who study German as a second language. The presentation focused on how using ICT tools in everyday teaching practice, with a view to increase efficiency and motivation. The following tools were used as part of the study: Moodle and CooSpace (Virtual Learning Environments), an interactive whiteboard and electronic voting system. These replaced the coursebook and study received the info in electronic format only.
I would be very grateful to hear from anyone who has been involved in (or knows about) studies regarding the use of collaborative learning tools and student motivation.
Thanks!
just to let you know that I attended a great presentation by Andras Ketyi this afternoon, about a study he conducted among students at the Budapest Business School, who study German as a second language. The presentation focused on how using ICT tools in everyday teaching practice, with a view to increase efficiency and motivation. The following tools were used as part of the study: Moodle and CooSpace (Virtual Learning Environments), an interactive whiteboard and electronic voting system. These replaced the coursebook and study received the info in electronic format only.
I would be very grateful to hear from anyone who has been involved in (or knows about) studies regarding the use of collaborative learning tools and student motivation.
Thanks!
Info regarding EUROCALL Virtual Strand
Dear all,
you find all info regarding the Virtual Strand here:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/vslinks.php
Mirjam
on behalf of the VS team
you find all info regarding the Virtual Strand here:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/vslinks.php
Mirjam
on behalf of the VS team
E-politeness
I just attended the session on "E-politeness strategies and the Development of Interculturality". Participants in the virtual strand may not be able to hear the entire presentation, as the presenter was not cabled up all the time.
Having done politeness research, but not in CMC environments, I was very interested to hear this presentation. Meei-Ling Liaw used a very interesting methodology to identify politeness strategies, which I have to look up (Bretag 2006: keyword / phrases approach).
I actually cannot remember the specifics of her results now, but a few questions came to my mind later - the main one being: In finding reasons for the results, how do you delineate
- cultural influences (the people communicating online in this instance were Taiwanese students and U.S. American pre-service teachers). Culture is a mindfield anyway for any politeness research!
- interlanguage and English as lingua Franca: While the Taiwanese students were communicating in what is essentially a foreign language for them, the U.S. students were communicating in their native language. However, English was also used as a lingua franca between them
- the specific affordances of the CMC environment
I would be really interested to do politeness research in a CMC environment, specifically focusing on interlanguage. Does anybody know previous studies in this area?
Having done politeness research, but not in CMC environments, I was very interested to hear this presentation. Meei-Ling Liaw used a very interesting methodology to identify politeness strategies, which I have to look up (Bretag 2006: keyword / phrases approach).
I actually cannot remember the specifics of her results now, but a few questions came to my mind later - the main one being: In finding reasons for the results, how do you delineate
- cultural influences (the people communicating online in this instance were Taiwanese students and U.S. American pre-service teachers). Culture is a mindfield anyway for any politeness research!
- interlanguage and English as lingua Franca: While the Taiwanese students were communicating in what is essentially a foreign language for them, the U.S. students were communicating in their native language. However, English was also used as a lingua franca between them
- the specific affordances of the CMC environment
I would be really interested to do politeness research in a CMC environment, specifically focusing on interlanguage. Does anybody know previous studies in this area?
Twitter Tweeters
The EuroCALL Virtual Strand Twitter is http://twitter.com/EuroCALLVirtual . It is possible to find other EuroCALL-ers by looking at the follower list of EuroCALLVirtual, but not all of those people are participating in the Virtual Strand, and/or at the conference IRL.
I suggest that we leave a comment on this post with our Twitter names so that we can (more) easily follow each other IRL, virtually, and all those spaces between.
Please leave a comment with:
Your Twitter username
Whether you are participating in the VS, IRL, or otherwise
I suggest that we leave a comment on this post with our Twitter names so that we can (more) easily follow each other IRL, virtually, and all those spaces between.
Please leave a comment with:
Your Twitter username
Whether you are participating in the VS, IRL, or otherwise
Hello from Penny
Hello all!
My name is Penny and I'm a graduate student from Perth, Western Australia. After two years of participating in the EuroCALL conference virtually, I'm finally here in person! I am very much looking forward to meeting the people I've been tweeting, blogging, and following with, and repaying the kindness of previous participants by contributing to the VS "live" myself this year.
My name is Penny and I'm a graduate student from Perth, Western Australia. After two years of participating in the EuroCALL conference virtually, I'm finally here in person! I am very much looking forward to meeting the people I've been tweeting, blogging, and following with, and repaying the kindness of previous participants by contributing to the VS "live" myself this year.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Virtual Strand registration still possible!
It is still possible to register for the Virtual Strand. However, we seem to experiencing some problems with the registration form at the moment. If you are trying to register, but can't, contact us at
virtualeurocall AT gmail DOT com
to hear the latest about the problem. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Peppi
On behalf of the Virtual Strand Team
Peppi
On behalf of the Virtual Strand Team
Sunday, September 6, 2009
CoveritLive is now active, 6 September 2009
This year we are using CoveritLive for live blogging:
http://www.coveritlive.com
If you scroll down the opening page of this blog you will find the CoveritLive window.
Graham Davies
http://www.coveritlive.com
If you scroll down the opening page of this blog you will find the CoveritLive window.
Graham Davies
Friday, September 4, 2009
Pre-Conference Workshop on Second Life
Dear Colleague
If you have signed up for my pre-conference workshop for beginners in Second Life on 9 September can you please spend some time having a look at Section 14.2.1 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT website before attending the workshop. This will give you essential background and introductory information that we can build on and explore in more detail during the workshop:
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm#secondlife
It will save time on the day of the workshop if you can also download the tutorial materials that I shall be using and if you can create your avatar - which is explained in the materials:
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/Euro08PCWSL.doc
This is all you need to do in advance of the workshop.
I look forward to seeing you at EUROCALL 2009!
Graham Davies
If you have signed up for my pre-conference workshop for beginners in Second Life on 9 September can you please spend some time having a look at Section 14.2.1 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT website before attending the workshop. This will give you essential background and introductory information that we can build on and explore in more detail during the workshop:
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm#secondlife
It will save time on the day of the workshop if you can also download the tutorial materials that I shall be using and if you can create your avatar - which is explained in the materials:
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/Euro08PCWSL.doc
This is all you need to do in advance of the workshop.
I look forward to seeing you at EUROCALL 2009!
Graham Davies
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Virtual Strand & Second Life
Just a reminder that you can join the EUROCALL 2009 Virtual Strand online if you are unable to attend the conference in Spain. We have set up a Twitter account, and we will also be using CoveritLive alongside this blog:
http://twitter.com/EuroCALLVirtual
You need to have your personal Twitter account and then contact @EuroCALLVirtual via Twitter in order to seek permission to view our updates. Your Twitter feeds will also be viewable in a window in the blog (see above).
CoveritLive is new for us. It's a live blogging facility, so you can interact with conference presenters and participants in real time. The CoveritLive window in the blog (see above) will become active on 5 September. Incoming comments will be moderated.
Finally, I shall be dropping into the EUROCALL/CALICO HQ in Second Life from time to time. The joint HQ has really moved on in the last few weeks, thanks to the great work that has been done by Randall Sadler (CALICO). The Resources centre contains a growing collection of useful tools, objects and landmarks, and Randall has created some fantastic new holodecks. The combined HQ is linked via an internal teleport system that we have set up. At EUROCALL 2009 we will be formally endorsing the decision to set up a joint EUROCALL/CALICO Virtual Worlds SIG at our first SIG meeting, where we welcome suggestions for future developments. Here is the SLURL of the EUROCALL/CALICO Welcome pavilion:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/28/36/22
If you are a Second Life newbie then you may be interested in the introductory half-day workshop that I shall be running at EUROCALL 2009:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/acwork.php#wkshp4
The AVALON team will be running a half-day workshop on their project, which will be useful as a follow-up to my workshop or for people who are already familiar with Second Life:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/acwork.php#wkshp5
Further information about the Virtual Strand can be found here:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/vsinfo.php
Graham Davies
http://twitter.com/EuroCALLVirtual
You need to have your personal Twitter account and then contact @EuroCALLVirtual via Twitter in order to seek permission to view our updates. Your Twitter feeds will also be viewable in a window in the blog (see above).
CoveritLive is new for us. It's a live blogging facility, so you can interact with conference presenters and participants in real time. The CoveritLive window in the blog (see above) will become active on 5 September. Incoming comments will be moderated.
Finally, I shall be dropping into the EUROCALL/CALICO HQ in Second Life from time to time. The joint HQ has really moved on in the last few weeks, thanks to the great work that has been done by Randall Sadler (CALICO). The Resources centre contains a growing collection of useful tools, objects and landmarks, and Randall has created some fantastic new holodecks. The combined HQ is linked via an internal teleport system that we have set up. At EUROCALL 2009 we will be formally endorsing the decision to set up a joint EUROCALL/CALICO Virtual Worlds SIG at our first SIG meeting, where we welcome suggestions for future developments. Here is the SLURL of the EUROCALL/CALICO Welcome pavilion:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/28/36/22
If you are a Second Life newbie then you may be interested in the introductory half-day workshop that I shall be running at EUROCALL 2009:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/acwork.php#wkshp4
The AVALON team will be running a half-day workshop on their project, which will be useful as a follow-up to my workshop or for people who are already familiar with Second Life:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/acwork.php#wkshp5
Further information about the Virtual Strand can be found here:
http://eurocall.webs.upv.es/eurocall2009/vsinfo.php
Graham Davies
Friday, July 10, 2009
Graham has signed in for EUROCALL 2009
Here I am, ready to go and looking forward to visiting Spain again. I am finding the BBC's Spanish Steps quite useful for brushing up my survival Spanish:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/
Graham
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/
Graham
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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