SLanguages 2008 - Information & Call for Papers

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Following on from last year's inaugural SLanguages conference, we are pleased to announce a call for papers for this year's bigger and better event, to be held 23rd May 11:00 PDT to 24th May 11:00 PDT on EduNation II and III.

The conference aims to bring together practitioners and researchers in the field of language education in Second Life for a 24-hour festival celebrating languages and cultures in Second Life, and will include a variety of social events as well as an exciting mix of plenary and
simultaneous sessions throughout.

We would like to invite speakers to submit proposals for seminars, workshops, discussions, demonstrations and poster displays on all aspects of language learning and teaching in Second Life. Sessions should be a maximum of one hour, and you should be prepared to do your session twice over the 24-hour period in order to maximise audience participation globally.

Presentations (in any language) should be voice and text (ask us for tools to facilitate this) and, where possible, include handouts and summaries for the seminar archive, which will be made available shortly after the live event itself.

Space will also be made available for exhibitions, poster displays and demonstrations of teaching tools, gadgets and games.

Proposals should draw on experiences to advance the knowledge and information available about virtual worlds in language education.  It is important that attendees leave with a sense of what they could do – either themselves or through collaborating with others. 

Proposals should include case studies of experiences.  Of particular interest is how projects developed and evolved in reaction to any changing circumstances and challenges faced.  Conclusions should be drawn including specific recommendations and lessons learned. 

Please consider the possible thematic areas at the bottom of this page to guide you in drafting your proposal.  The conference is one of praxis and so although a theoretical foundation will be well received, the focus is on practical insights and tangible advice for other practitioners.  

The proposed event (presentation, discussion, workshop etc) can be held in any language.  However, the proposal must specify the event’s language and the proposal itself must be submitted in either English or Spanish. 

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If you would like to participate, please contact Dudeney Ge in world (please use a notecard as IMs are often capped), or write to:gavin.dudeney@theconsultants-e.com. You'll find a 'call for papers' notecard dispenser at all the sign-up kiosks in-world, or send the following:

SLanguages 2008, [ please complete this and drop it to Dudeney Ge's inventory ]

SL Name:
Title of presentation:
Type [ workshop / seminar / discussion / demonstration / other ] :
Length:
Abstract:
Biodata:
Your availability on the day [ as wide a margin as possible, please - PDT/UTC ]

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Submission deadline: Thursday 1 May 2008.

Possible Thematic Areas...

Activities, Materials and Content
What activities work well in Second Life, what can we do that we couldn’t do before?

• Material Development and Lesson Planning
• Classroom Management in Virtual Worlds
• Evaluation of Online and Immersive Language Learning
• Games for Learning – What Makes a Good Game?

Second Life as a Learning Environment

• Second Life for Self Access and Independent Learning
• Blended Learning – Second Life in the Real Life Classroom
• Second Life as a Complete Virtual Environment
• Virtual Learning Environments, Personal Learning Environments and Sloodle
• Attracting and Engaging Students (What do students like about SL?)

Mechanics of Second Life

• Teaching Tools and Gadgets
• Scripting and Building in Second Life
• Games for Learning – What Can be Built?
• Teen Grid – Differences from Adult Grid
• Learning to Use Second Life – How Students Learn to Use the World