Task-based Teaching Approaches of Chinese as a Foreign Language in Second Life through Teachers’ Perspectives

Second Life adoption in education: A motivational model based on Uses and Gratifications theory

“…On the one hand, our results confirm that gratifications stimulate the use of Second Life in e-learning programs, and therefore, the potential of Second Life to carry out educational and training activities has been demonstrated. On the other hand, as a consequence of these findings, they indicate the opportunities for institutions of developing educational programmes via Second Life (Benetoli, Chen & Aslani, 2015;Grenfell, 2013;Lin et al, 2014;Sarac, 2014;Sutcliffe & Alrayes, 2012;Tiffany & Hoglund, 2014). In a similar way, this research has consolidated the idea that users seek gratifications when they decide to use this kind of social media (Joo & Sang, 2013).…”

“…Examples include: Sarac (2014) and Lin, Wang, Grant, Chien and Lan (2014) analysed the use of Second Life to learn foreign languages; Benetoli, Chen and Aslani (2015) studied Second Life in pharmacy practice; Grenfell (2013) explained the possibilities of the use of Second Life for Art education; Tiffany and Hoglund (2014) studied the application of Second Life in Nursery education, and Sutcliffe and Alrayes This study attempts to fill this gap. The aims are twofold: (1) to analyse the motivation of Second Life users in education and training; (2) to propose a model that explains and predicts the adoption of Second Life in this application area.…”

Restorying a “Newbie” Teacher’s 3D Virtual Teaching Trajectory, Resilience, and Professional Development Through Action Research: A Narrative Case Study

“…For example, Cheong's (2010) study discovered that preservice South Korean teachers were able to hone their teaching skills through ongoing collaborative teaching in avatar-enabled practicum in SL, leading to their stronger sense of teaching efficacy. Nevertheless, other technical and instructional issues also need to be ironed out, such as the comparability of transferring lecture materials and assessment tasks into SL, the ease of managing a virtual class, communication channels, virtual community building, and on-site support safeguarding novice teachers from grappling with technical glitches (Lin, Wang, Grant, Chien, & Lan, 2014).…”

“…It also mirrors the crux of orienting teachers to SL features and the sense of confidence building in virtual teaching (Cheong, 2010). The key to successfully implementing TBLT in SL rests with teachers' preparedness of task design "in conjunction with the 3D technology used" (Kozlova & Priven, 2015, p. 86), which requires well-placed teacher training and ongoing technical support (Lin et al, 2014). As Sabrina stated, "It's been several weeks now of [preparing] for our teaching study in Second Life.…”

“…Equally important is the guided mentoring support provided for newbie teachers such as Sabrina during their SL teaching. Challenges encountered in their teaching practices should be evaluated carefully and resolved in a timely fashion (i.e., observing and reflecting in AR), especially when qualms tend to arise in the initial stage (Kozlova & Priven, 2015;Lin et al, 2014). The following episode shows that Sabrina secondguessed whether this new approach would work when faced with the unforeseen uncertainties in the planning stage, which were then addressed by me offering heartfelt reassurance in our dialogue blogging: Indeed, dialogue blogging provides a third space for the mentee to voice concerns and seek advice and for the mentor to track the mentee's teaching trajectory and offer ongoing scaffolding.…”