5th Virtual Round Table web Conference: To text or not to text

The 5th Virtual Round Table Web Conference (20-22 April 2012) is a 3-day free conference offered to teachers who integrate language learning technologies into their classes. This wonderful conference is organised by Heike Philp, Shelly Terrell, Steven Herder and Berni Wall.

The conference takes place primarily in a virtual classroom
environment (Adobe ConnectPro) with sessions for language learning in virtual worlds being presented using slides and screenshared.

Twitter Hashtag #vrtwebcon

Closing conference party is on EduNation in Second Life on Sunday 22 April, 8am slt.

Pio was invited to participate in this session:

A Round Table called: To text or not to text

Watson & Baker published 1984 their studies on how we communicate. Their research showed that we humans communicate 55% by listening, 24% speaking, 13% reading and 8% writing. Has this changed? Today we communicate mostly in text chat via Instant Messenger (Skype, AIM, Yahoo), write short messages on the mobile and tweet. A large amount of communication takes place in forums. A large amount of communication takes place via text chat in virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft, Second Life etc.

So, here is the public debate question: Are teachers hitting the air by teaching speaking skills?

Moderator Natalya Eydelman

Dr. Doris Molero

Matt Firth

Questions for open mic discussion:

1. Today we communicate mostly in text chat via Instant Messenger (Skype, AIM, Yahoo), write short messages on the mobile and tweet. A large amount of communication takes place in forums. A large amount of communication takes place via text chat in virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft, Second Life etc. As language educators are we aware of this? Should we do something about it in the classroom? If no, why? If yes, what?

2. How has texting changed the way of communication in the age of the Internet?

3. Does the chat/texting/culture affect the use of the language in a more positive/negative way? Whose perspective?

4. What do you see as some of the advantages of texting? What happens with our ability to make jokes? Do you think it is possible to keep your sense of humor in text chats? Anybody for a good joke?

5. What do you see as possible teachable moments involved with texting? What would the benefit of using it to teach about the evolution of the language might be?

6. Should these new modes of communication be used in the classroom? What about the opinion many of my Ss share, for example: “texting and other new tools are not for classroom use, they are for our private communication; it’s one thing we use if with each other and it’s a completely different thing to make use of them in the classroom”.

7. How do we as teachers make use of mLearning tools in the classroom? Are your students excited about using mobile devices in the classroom?

For World Time click here http://tinyurl.com/21Apr1pmGMT

Adobe ConnectPro room (enter as guest)
http://lancelot.adobeconnect.com/virtual-round-table
Livestream
http://www.livestream.com/letstalkonline

Resources:
Blogs
EFL professor in SL http://pioniadestiny.blogspot.com  
Matt Firth: Legal English Trainer http://www.legalenglishtrainer.com/

MSM
Shambles Home http://www.shambles.net/pages/staff/sms/
The List of Chat Acronyms & Text Message Shorthand http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php
SMS Texting  Dictionary http://www.mob1le.com/sms.html
Interpreting Internet Slang & Symbols http://www.safesurfingkids.com/interpreting_internet_slang.htm

Infographics
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-instant-messaging-facts-figures/
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-twitter-statistics-facts-figures/
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-statistics-facts-figures-for-2010/

Roleplaying
Guide to Roleplaying http://www.wowwiki.com/Guide_to_roleplaying
Yet Another Role Playing Guide http://harald.ist.org/uo/post/index.php?page=rp_guide 

Role Play: Emotes, Vocabulary and Expressions http://medievalroleplay.blogspot.com/2011/05/role-play-emotes-vocabulary-and.html 
Roleplaying Guide and Tips for the Beginner http://medievalroleplay.blogspot.com/2010/07/roleplaying-guide-and-tips-for-beginner.html
Role Play 101: Emote Crafting  http://www.thatdamnrper.com/role-play-101-emote-crafting/
Wow emotes http://www.wowwiki.com/List_of_emotes
Roleplaying Emotes http://secondliferoleplay.com/2009/04/28/roleplaying-emotes/
Understanding the Emote http://magazine.roleplayguide.com/2011/08/understanding-the-emote/

Roleplaying in a medieval sim and languages

These are interviews conducted by Anna Begonia to role players of different languages who use virtual worlds and roleplaying a s away to improve their English.


On roleplay: interview with Sir Edge, the battlemage http://aberriolo.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/on-roleplay-interview-with-sir-edge-the-battlemage/
On roleplay: interview with Sir Soltel’vayas, the drow http://aberriolo.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/on-roleplay-interview-with-soltelvayas-the-drow/