Blended Learning: SL in the RL classroom

Second Life in Singapore's General Paper classrooms

Ms Tan Li WeeLiwei Velde

Background

• General Paper, a compulsory subject in Singapore’s Junior College education

• Requires students to analyse and evaluate issues across disciplines, express informed opinions and a maturity of thought

• Students’ limited life experiences

• Role playing in SL

Timeline

• Planning: October – December 2008

• Cycle 1: March – April 2009

• Cycle 2 to begin in July 2009

Implementation

• Issues to be aligned with the lecture

• Reading materials to build up students’ knowledge

• Pre-writing

• Role play in SL, with role cards

• 4 avatars in a group

• Post- writing

Cycle 1: Family Scene 1

MARS MIGRATION LOTTERY They have done it. Earth is dead! A population ballot has chosen 10% of its global population tobe sent to Mars to start human life anew.

At the spaceport before blastoff you chat with other Singaporeans who have also been selected.Discussions revolve around the impact on the family unit and your fears for the future.

Shannon

You are married to Benny. You are happy

that Benny has been selected too. You are

pregnant and cannot wait to start a family on

Mars. You wonder the impact on those

whose family members have not been

chosen to be sent to Mars.

Benny

You are married to Shannon. You are happy

that Shannon has been selected too. You

are excited and anxious at the same time

due to the imminent arrival of your baby.

You wonder how your child will develop

while living on Mars their entire life.

Cindy

You are single. You have always put your

career before romance. You think life may

be better on Mars as people would have

fewer family commitments which can disrupt

work.

Johnny

You are divorced. You no longer believe that

marriage is essential for a family unit. As not

everyone has their family members with

them, life in Mars would be better as the

family no longer conforms to social norms.

Cycle 1: Family Scene 2

ZERO GRAVITY LOVE The new colony has faced various difficulties settling on Mars. One such problem is the lack of population growth. The government has implemented a baby bonus scheme to boost the fertility rate.

Benny and Shannon are meeting Johnny and Cindy for dinner at the 8 star quadrant restaurant. The conversation revolves around updating one another about life on Mars and the impact of the baby bonus scheme.

Shannon

You are pregnant and the baby bonus

scheme comes as an unexpected surprise.

You love children and it seems that it is now

possible to have 5 children with Benny (your

husband). Of course, with effective

parenting.

Benny

You are married to Shannon. You are happy

with the baby bonus scheme. You are also

aware that there is no guarantee in

increasing the fertility rate because people

have to be prepared to be parents. Effective

parenting is important too.

Cindy

You are now a high-ranking official on Mars.

You are single and annoyed by the

measures. Not only do you not benefit from

them, you may be indirectly paying for the

measures given the huge amount of taxes

you are paying annually.

Johnny

You do not think you would benefit from the

baby bonus scheme as you are certain that

you would not be married again.

Q & A

slanguages.net

SLanguages 2009

This presentation was given at

SLanguages 2009

The Conference for Language Education in Virtual Worlds