
Language Teaching in 3D Virtual Worlds with Machinima: Reflecting on an Online Machinima Teacher Training Course
ARTICLE
Michael Thomas, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom ; Christel Schneider, CSiTrain, Hamburg, Germany
IJCALLT Volume 8, Number 2, ISSN 2155-7098 Publisher: IGI Global
Abstract
This article is based on findings arising from a large, two-year EU project entitled “Creating Machinima to Enhance Online Language Learning and Teaching” (CAMELOT), which was the first to investigate the potential of machinima, a form of virtual filmmaking that uses screen captures to record activity in immersive 3D environments, for language teaching. The article examines interaction in two particular phases of the project: facilitator-novice teacher interaction in an online teacher training course which took place in Second Life and teachers' field-testing of machinima which arose from it. Examining qualitative data from interviews and screen recordings following two iterations of a 6-week online teacher training course which was designed to train novice teachers how to produce machinima and the evaluation of the field-testing, the article highlights the pitfalls teachers encountered and reinforces the argument that creating opportunities for pedagogical purposes in virtual worlds implies that teachers need to change their perspectives to take advantage of the affordances offered.
Citation
Thomas, M. & Schneider, C. (2018). Language Teaching in 3D Virtual Worlds with Machinima: Reflecting on an Online Machinima Teacher Training Course. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 8(2), 20-38. IGI Global. Retrieved September 30, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/186252/.