MLA 2009 / Session 120 / Virtual Worlds and Pedagogy Electronic Roundtable

Presenters give demonstrations of their projects at individual computer stations as attendees move from station to station at their own pace.

Who and What

Moderator

Gloria Clark (Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg )
- Gloria Clark (Ph.D., SUNY, Binghamton), Associate Professor of Humanities and Spanish, teaches Spanish language and comparative literature courses as well as interdisciplinary humanities. She emphasizes the connections between Spanish language and Latin American cultures and often addresses human rights and environmental issues in her courses. Her most recent, very innovative work has developed Spanish teaching and learning through use of Second Life, where her avatar resides and leads her students through that virtual world. She received Penn State Schuylkill’s award for excellence in teaching (2004).

Presenters

Mary McAleer Balkun ( Seaton Hall University)

Project: Teaching in Virtual Worlds: Recreating the House of Seven Gables in Second Life

Abstract

Jerome Bump (University of Texas)

Project: 3-D Interactive Multimodal Literacy and Avatar Chat in a College Writing Class

Abstract

Jerome Bump, Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin. First director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab (1985-1989). Author of C.A.I. in Writing at the University: Some Recommendations," Computers and Education,” 11.2 (1987), 121-133; "Radical Changes in Class Discussion Using Networked Computers," Computers and the Humanities 24 (1990):49-65; "Teaching English in Second Life," Currents (2007); "Left vs. Right Side of the Brain: Hypermedia and the new Puritanism" Currents (1997); “Collaborative Learning in the Postmodern Classroom” in Situating College English: Lessons from an American University (1996); papers on computers and English at the Universities of Paris, Pittsburgh, Indiana, and NCTE, CCCC, CCTE, and the Fifth and Sixth Computers and Writing Conferences, the IBM AEP conference; and recipient of grants for writing in virtual worlds, computerized invention heuristics, and multimedia autobiographies. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/

Bola C. King (University of California Santa Barbara)

Project: Information vs.Content: Second Life in the Literature Classroom.

Abstract

Matt King (University of Texas)

Project: Rhetorical Peaks: Gaming the in the Writing Classroom

Abstract

Beth Ritter-Guth (Hotchkiss School)

Project: Literature Alive

Abstract

Formerly a teaching professor at DeSales University and Lehigh Carbon Community College, Ritter-Guth is currently the Educational Communication and Technology Facilitator at the elite Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. Her passion for using technology to enhance the teaching of literature and composition has been documented by the Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, AOL, and the Wall Street Journal. She has presented lectures, workshops, and papers at institutions like Princeton, Tulane, and Drexel.

Katherine Rowe (Bryn Mawr) / Mark Childs (Warwick University)

Project: Virtual Theater History: Teaching with Theatron

Abstract

Mark Childs is a Principle Lecturer at Coventry University, UK, where he advises faculty on the uses of technology in learning and teaching. He was also the project manager of the Theatron 3 project, which recreated 20 historical theatres in Second Life for performance and teaching, and has taught extensively in Second Life over the last three years. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Warwick, investigating the student experience in immersive virtual worlds. Mark is also a conference committee member of the DIVERSE network, a group of practitioners and academics working with visual technologies in education and is a member of the IEEE VS-Games (Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications) Conference committee.

Katherine Rowe Prof. of English at Bryn Mawr, teaches and writes about literature and media change. Trained as a scholar of Renaissance drama, she turned her attention to questions of media history and adaptation. Her courses explore the history of reading, writing and performance, from the Renaissance to the digital age. A recipient of grants from the NEH, the Mellon Foundation, and the PA Department of Education that support her work in media history, Prof. Rowe is a member of the editorial board of Shakespeare Quarterly and Associate Editor (responsible for the online edition) of The Cambridge World Shakespeare Encyclopedia. Rowe currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of Departments of English

Julie M. Sykes (University of New Mexico)

Project: Realms of Possibility: Understanding the Role of Multiuser Virtual Environments in Foreign Language Curricula

Abstract

Julie M. Sykes is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of New Mexico. Her research interests focus on the acquisition of second language pragmatics related to a variety of mediated and non-mediated contexts, with special attention to emerging digital spaces. Her current projects entail the design, implementation, and evaluation of Croquelandia (a synthetic immersive environment for learning Spanish pragmatics) as well as the use of place-based mobile games (Mentira) to engage language learners in a variety of non-institutional contexts.

Victoria Szabo (Duke University)

Project: Virtual World-Building as Collaborative Knowledge-Production: The Online Crystal Palace

Abstract

The MLA Committee on Information Technology

Resources for Virtual Worlds and Pedagogy

A list of projects and sites can found at http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses

Clickable Searches from ERIC and Academic Search Premier

ERIC Searches

http://alturl.com/a7pw will generate a list of articles derived from a broad search of the government (free) version of ERIC and using the search terms "virtual reality and secondary or higher education."
http://alturl.com/doxh is a search on higher education and simulated environments
http://alturl.com/84wg is a search that looks for articles on the insturctional effectiveness of virtual learning.
http://alturl.com/ea5d is a search that looks at virtual reality and cooperative learning.

Academic Search Premier

http://alturl.com/cdkj will generate a set of articles on virtual reality's use in education. The article set is derived from a search of a proprietary EBSCO database, Academic Search Premier. This being the case, the link will not work unless you are on campus' network and your institution subscribes to Academic Search Premier.

Second Life Bibliography by Mark Pepper

Annotated Bibliography of Second Life Online Educational Resources

MLA 2009 / Session 120 / Electronic Roundtable: Virtual Worlds and Pedagogy

Sponsored by the MLA Committee on Information Technology

The MLA Committee on Information Technology

Clickable Searches from ERIC and Academic Search Premier

Second Life Bibliography by Mark Pepper