section a : project overview - …avalonlearning.pbworks.com/f/avalon_application_fi… · web...

Application form 2008: Lifelong Learning Programme Sub-programmes– Multilateral Projects, Networks, Accompanying measures –

Deadline 31/03/2008

SECTION 1: IDENTIFICATION DATA FOR THIS APPLICATION

For official use only Reference number :

Acronym[limit 10 characters]

AVALON Start date and duration

Start date: 01/11/2008

12 Months 24 months 36 Months Title[limit 50 characters] Access to Virtual and Action Learning live ONline

Language used to complete the form

English For communication with the AgencyOnly 1 choice possible

DE EN FR

This is an application for funding under the following LLP Action (Select one only) :TRANSVERSAL PROGRAMME Deadline: 31/03/2008

Key Activity 3 : ICT Multilateral project Network

Please identify the Sub-programme areas covered by this proposal

COMENIUS (school education)ERASMUS (higher education) LEONARDO DA VINCI (vocational education and training) GRUNDTVIG (adult education)

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Project

Contents

Section 1: Identification data for this application..................................................................................................1Section 2: Participating Organisations....................................................................................................................3

Applicant Organisation.......................................................................................................................................7Section 3: Summary of the proposed project........................................................................................................26

Summary...........................................................................................................................................................26Budget summary...............................................................................................................................................26Profile of Consortium........................................................................................................................................27Associated projects............................................................................................................................................27

Section 4: Detailed Description of the proposed project.......................................................................................28Why does the consortium wish to undertake this project?................................................................................28Aims and objectives..........................................................................................................................................28What will this project produce?........................................................................................................................29What is the approach adopted by the consortium to develop the work of this proposed project?....................29Impact and Sustainability:.................................................................................................................................30Who will produce these outputs?......................................................................................................................31

Section 5 : Workplan and workpackages..............................................................................................................32Section 6: Justification of the project in terms of quality and relevance to the Call.............................................66

Part 1 - Lifelong Learning Objectives and Priorities addressed........................................................................66Part 2: Justification of the proposal according to the Award Criteria...............................................................70

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SECTION 2: PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS

Summary table of partnersPartner number Country Legal name Type P1 Applicant Organisation UK University of Manchester EDU-UNIVP2 AT University of Vienna EDU-UNIVP3 AT Verein Grenzenlos –

Interkultureller AustauschNFP-NGO

P4 AT Verein Offenes Lernen – Sektion ‘TALKADEMY’

NFP-NGO

P5 DE International Certificate Conference e.V.

NFP-NGO

P6 DE LANCELOT School GmbH EDU-VETP7 ES The British Council EDU-OTHP8 IT University of Pisa EDU-UNIVP9 NO Molde University College EDU-UNIVP10 SE Mid Sweden University EDU-UNIV

Associated partnersPlease complete the table below, providing details of organisations that are not formally part of the consortium, but who will be contributing to the work of the consortium.

Country Organisation name Type of organisation

CZ Západočeská univerzita Univerzitní 8 306 14 Plzeň Česká republika

EDU-UNIV

Brief description of the role in the project

In the project the University of West Bohemia will disseminate the project results in the Czech Republic.


SE SEED – Swedish English Educational Database for tertiary educationhttp://dooku.miun.se/mats.deutschmann/seed.htm Philip ShawStockholm University 106 91 Stockholm Sweden

ASC-RESEUI andASC-STD


SEED is a national project aiming at promoting sharing materials and data to promote learning, teaching and research in the subject of English. SEED will help with valorisation of the project.


SE HUMlabhttp://www.humlab.umu.se/humlabinenglish Umeå University 90187 UmeåSweden

EDU-UNIV


In the project HUMlab at the University of Umeå will be helping with valorisation of the project in Sweden. HUMlab is a meeting place for the humanities and technology and has frequent workshops and seminars.

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http://www.humlab.umu.se/humlabinenglish

http://dooku.miun.se/mats.deutschmann/seed.htm



DE University of TübingenProf. Dr. Kurt KohnApplied English LinguisticsWilhelmstr. 772074 Tübingenwww.ael.uni-tuebingen.de

EDU - UNIV


The Applied English Linguistics group cooperates with the Steinbeis Transfer Centre to offer a blended e-learning solution and are keen to develop their electronic portfolio for possible exploitation.


IT University of SienaCentro Linguistico di AteneoPiazza San Francesco, 753100 SienaItaly (IT)http://www.unisi.it/servizi/cla/http://moodle.lett.unisi.it/

EDU - UNIV


The University of Siena Language Centre will disseminate and promote the AVALON project results.


DE Universität KasselFB 2 - Sprach- und LiteraturwissenschaftenInstitut für Anglistik/AmerikanistikFremdsprachenlehr- und -lernforschung & Interkulturelle KommunikationGeorg-Forster-Str. 334109 Kasselhttp://www.uni-kassel.de/flul

EDU-UNIV


The University of Kassel will disseminate and promote the AVALON project results.


UK IH World Organisation LtdUnity Wharf13 Mill StLondon SE1 2BHUnited Kingdom

ENT-LARGE


IH is testing partner of the AVALON training, contributes TEFL training know-how and intends to exploit the results in its 148 schools in 50 countries.


UK Cambridge University Press ENT-PBL


As with any major ELT publisher CUP are interested in developments in language learning and are keen to develop their electronic portfolio.

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http://www.uni-kassel.de/flul

http://moodle.lett.unisi.it/

http://www.unisi.it/servizi/cla/

http://www.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/



UK Learning Technologies Special Interest Group of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

NFP-ASC


The LTSIG (many members in the European Union) has a particular interest in the uses of technologies in language learning, but disseminates its activities to the broader language teaching community.


DE MONDIALE-Testsing systemsKiesstrasse 65 A64283 Darmstadtwww.mondiale-testsysteme.com

ENT-OTH


Mondiale-Testsysteme is an international online language test provider and is eager to exploit the results of the project to further the development of leading-edge testing environments.


UK, DE, BE and others

IBM – Virtual Universe Community NFP - ASC


The IBM Virtual Universe Community consists of approx. 6,000 IBM employees involved in the development of 3D environments and their role will be consultative and informative in the inWorld.


UK languagelab.com46 Manchester StreetLondon W1U 7LSwww.languagelab.com

ENT - SME


Language labs is one of the first language schools which started into Second Life in June 2004 and currently have hundreds of students and 18 language trainers working in the in-World.


NL myngle.comWibaustraat 1291091 GL AmsterdamThe Netherlands

ENT-SME


Europe’s largest live online language learning market place offering hundreds of courses and listing thousands of students looking for live online lessons. Myngle is greatly interested in exploiting the results.


DE European Telecoaching Institute Stühlinger Str. 21 79106 Freiburg i.Br. www.telecoaching.org

NFP-NGO


The ETI is an international professional network for promoting, implementing and disseminating innovative learning concepts throughout Europe and members exploit the technical expertise in the industry.


DE SKYLIGHT GmbHHansaring 6150670 Cologne

CONS-CNST

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http://www.telecoaching.org/

http://www.languagelab.com/

http://www.mondiale-testsysteme.com/

AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectBrief description of the role in the project

SKYLIGHT is a consulting company specialising in communication strategies in medium to large enterprises. It facilitates discussions on learning innovation and teaching quality standards in the language learning industry.


DE Tunnicliff and Kollegen GbrMagdeburger Strasse 19043155 Leipzigwww.Trans-lingo.com

EDU - SME


Trans-lingo is a language school in Leipzig and servicing mainly corporate clients. Its role in AVALON will be exploitation.

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http://www.Trans-lingo.com/


Partner number

Applicant Organisation P1

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name University of Manchester

Short name / acronym UoM Registered Address Oxford Road Street numberPostcode M13 9PL City Manchester Country UKLegal Status For profit Not for profit

Contact details of the Legal Representative of the Applicant Organisation (this person must sign the declaration of honour and attach it to the application. In the event of a successful application, this person will also sign the Grant Agreement on behalf of the Consortium).Title Professor First name AlistairFamily name Ulph Male FemaleDepartment Faculty of Humanities Position Vice-President, Head and Dean of the Faculty of HumanitiesAddress Devonshire House G9, Oxford Road Street numberPostcode M13 9PL City ManchesterCountry UK Region UKD3Telephone 1 ++ 44 161 306 1111 Telephone 2 ++ /Mobile ++ / Fax ++ /Contact Email

[email protected] website http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/

Contact person When the Applicant Organisation is also the Coordinating Organisation, these must be the details of the CoordinatorTitle Dr First name GaryFamily name Motteram Male FemaleDepartment School of EducationPosition Senior Lecturer in EducationAddress Ellen Wilkinson Building, Oxford Road Street numberPostcode M13 9PL City UKCountry Region UKD3Telephone 1 ++ 44 161 881 5905 Telephone 2 ++ /Mobile ++ / Fax ++ 44 161 275 3480Contact Email

[email protected] website www.education.manchester.ac.ukedtechandtesol.info

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation EDU-UNIV

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The Language Teacher Education (LTE) group within the School of Education has been a highly successful deliverer of teaching education in the language field since the 1960s. In the 1980s and 1990s it took its face-to-face courses and initially converted them into a second generation distance teaching operation, but by 1996 LTE was pioneering the move of the degrees online. It now offers two Masters degrees by e-learning, one which specialises particularly in the area of educational technology and TESOL. Because of the team’s interests in educational technology, the delivery of the degree has kept pace with the changing tools used in distance education and a good proportion of our research is targeted at these areas. In the 1980s we used MUDs/MOOs, now we are exploring 3D worlds. Other relevant areas of research in the group include teacher education and intercultural practice. In recent years we have been successful in winning project work in distance education and have gained considerable experience of international project management, particularly in the areas of e-learning.Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] This organisation will take a number of important and key roles in this project: co-ordination and management; the development and trialling of the trainer course and the management of dissemination and valorisation. The LTE group will take an active management approach to the maintenance and development of the project community; collecting and analysing documents and data on a regular basis and communicating proactively with all the teams both individually and in groups. It will make use of these data both to manage the project as well as to disseminate progress to the wider world.

The team has considerable experience of the development of online courseware and will utilise this in the creation of the teacher training course as well as the management of the pilot process. Through its central involvement in all of the stages of the project it will act as an effective mediator between the other members of the team.

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectBecause of our long established engagement with the language teacher education field we will be able to bring the external community effectively into the ongoing project work.

Skills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Limit 50 characters

Summary of relevant skills and experience Limit 750 characters per person

Gary Motteram Gary Motteram has a long track record in the field of computer assisted language learning. He has also been a long time member of the Learning Technologies Special Interest Group of IATEFL (ltsig.org.uk) and seen through its transition from the early days of CALL to its current world of internet-assisted learning, he has worked in a number of different roles to run courses and develop this group. He set up and still runs an MA in Educational Technology and TESOL (www.education.manchester.ac.uk) and conducts research into the field of internet assisted teacher education (edtechandtesol.info). In recent years he has also been instrumental in winning international projects and managing them for the University (www.echinauk.org).

Diane Slaouti Diane Slaouti has been a lecturer in the School of Education, University of Manchester since 1996. Prior to this she worked as a second language teacher of French and German in the UK, and then of English in international contexts. Her current work is with teachers undertaking Masters and doctoral study in educational technology and English language teaching either onsite or by distance learning. This work foregrounds the teacher, in terms of how technology impacts on practice, and the teacher educator, exploring specifically how e-learning facilitates professional development. She has developed online teacher education courses within the Masters provision for 12 years. She has also supported the professional development of primary, secondary and higher education teachers through various local training courses and through mentoring classroom research projects.

Susan Brown Susan Brown’s primary interest lies in Web 2.0 technologies. She has analysed and created courseware for language teachers with several of these. Her primary research focus lies in evaluating the affordances of Web 2.0 technologies as they relate to different language teaching contexts and teacher perceptions of those affordances. She has presented at conferences on this theme including the Eden Conference (Naples, 2007) and LLAS (University of Southampton, 2007) and is publishing on this subject. Susan is also interested in the role of computer mediation in intercultural communication and co-manages a joint computer mediated intercultural project with the Universities of Plovdiv, Sofia, Ljubljana and a language institute in Uruguay.

Details of projects / networks in which your organisation / department has participated with the financial support of any Community programmes/ initiatives in the last five years Starting Year

Programme or Initiative

Identification number

Contracting organisation

Title of the project / network Website

2007 European Commission Inclusion Europe

DG EMPL VT/2006/014

School of Education, University of Manchester

Study on the specific risks of discrimination against persons in situations of major dependence or with complex needs

2005 Leonardo da Vinci

A/05/B/F/LA-158.239

University of Vienna

LANCELOT www.lancelot.at

2004 European CommissionAsia Link

ASIE/2004/91153

School of Education, University of Manchester

Managing Cultural Diversity of Educational contexts: A European-Asian eLearning Course for University students

Details of other LLP applications in this selection in which you and / or your organisation / department is involved (projects / networks / accompanying measures) LLP Sub-Programme Acronym Applicant Organisation

ALL APPLICANTSIs the Applicant Organisation also the Coordinating Organisation ? Yes No

If No, Please complete the sheet for the Coordinating Organisation (Partner number P2)

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Partner Organisations P 2 – Pn if the Applicant Organisation and Coordinating Organisation are the same. P3 – Pn if the Applicant Organisation and Coordinating Organisation are different

Partner Number P2

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Universität Wien

University of ViennaShort name / acronym UoVRegistered Address Dr. Kar Lueger-Ring Street number 1Postcode 1010 City Vienna Country Austria

Contact personTitle V. Prof. Dr. First name ChristianFamily name Swertz X Male FemaleDepartment Faculty for Philosophy and Educational Sciences; Department for Philosophy of Education and Media EducationPosition Full ProfessorAddress Garnisongasse Street number 3/13Postcode 1190 City Vienna Country Austria Region AT13Telephone 1 ++ 43.1.4277.46741 Telephone 2 ++ 43.1.4277.46731Mobile ++ 43.1.664.60277.46741 Fax ++ 43.1.4277.47639Contact Email

[email protected] website http://www.univie.ac.at/bildungswissenschaft


General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The University of Vienna [http://www.univie.ac.at] is one of the largest universities of Central Europe. Traditionally it has strong international relations in research and teaching and continually expands them. 63,000 students are currently enrolled at the University. The university's research efforts rely on approximately 6,100 academics. From the University of Vienna the Institute for Media Pedagogy (Department for Philosophy of Education and Media Pedagogy, Faculty for Philosophy and Educational Sciences) will participate in the project.

The Faculty for Philosophy and Educational Sciences [http://www.univie.ac.at/ Bildungswissenschaft] has significant expertise in international research projects and in the presentation of project results at conferences and exhibitions. In his position as the head of the research unit of media education in the Department of Educational Science, Prof Christian Swertz coordinated the LANCELOT Project (LEONARDO DA VINCI, Language Competence II).Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] The main role of the University of Vienna is the evaluation of the project. This will include the evaluation of the action research phase as well as the evaluation of the pilot testing phase. Contributions to the pre-training needs analysis will be included in the evaluation. The development of the dramaturgical framework will be supported from the perspective of educational sciences.Skills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Limit 50 characters


V. Prof. Dr. Christian Swertz

Prof. Christian Swertz is professor of Media Education at the University of Vienna. The main focus of his research is digital game studies, e-learning and the theory of media education. After his Doctorate he worked as Assistant Professor at the University of Bielefeld in the Department for Education and New Media. On being appointed as a full professor at the University of Vienna he specialised in media education, media theory, computer game studies and e-learning. His publications cover the implementation of e-learning in different sectors including game based learning, educational metadata, digital culture and media theory. He has developed virtual learning environments and evaluated different e-learning projects in various educational spheres of activity.

Mag. Sigrid Jones Mag. Sigrid Jones is a doctoral student and research fellow in the research unit Media Education at the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of Vienna. During her studies she specialised in media education and media literacy, and conducted a qualitative research investigation into children’s media culture at the Institute of Education, University of London and graduated with distinction. She has taught at the UCL, University of London and at the Webster University in Vienna, and has work experience in project co-ordination and cultural management. Owing to her studies and work experiences, she is especially familiar with the international, Anglo-American research in the field.






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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Project2005 Leonardo da

VinciA/05/B/F/LA-158.239




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Partner Number P3

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Verein Offenes Lernen – Sektion talkademy

Open Learning Association - TALKADEMYShort name / acronym TALKADEMYRegistered Address Dorotheergasse Street number 6-8 / 14cPostcode 1010 City Vienna Country ATLegal Status For profit Not for profit

Contact details of the Legal Representative of the Applicant Organisation (this person must sign the declaration of honour and attach it to the application. In the event of a successful application, this person will also sign the Grant Agreement on behalf of the Consortium).Title First name GerhildeFamily name Meissl-Egghart Male FemaleDepartment Position PresidentAddress Wagner-Jauregg-Gasse Street number 36 Haus 1Postcode 3003 City GablitzCountry Austria Region AT13Telephone 1 ++ / Telephone 2 ++ /Mobile ++43 664 8202133 Fax ++ /Contact Email

[email protected] website www.talkademy.org

Contact details of the Legal Representative of the Applicant Organisation (this person must sign the declaration of honour and attach it to the application. In the event of a successful application, this person will also sign the Grant Agreement on behalf of the Consortium).Title First name KlausFamily name Hammermüller Male FemaleDepartment Position TreasurerAddress Meytensgasse Street number 35Postcode 1130 City ViennaCountry Austria Region AT13Telephone 1 ++ / Telephone 2 ++ /Mobile ++0043 676 6487081 Fax ++ /Contact Email

[email protected] website www.talkademy.org

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation NFP-NGO

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The “Open Learning Association” aims to welcome all those who are interested in educating themselves. TALKADEMY is the language learning part of the association. The common goal is to serve and enable the individual learner and develop a truly learner centric organisation.TALKADEMY informally established itself in March 2007 by starting to use 3D spaces for language learning activities in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Arabic and English. It quickly grew to a community of 250 participants, many of them employees of IBM, especially from the “IBM Learning Services” profession and the “IBM Virtual Universe” community.

Different to the professional IBM activities in 3D spaces which include corporate training; the TALKADEMY activities are purely recreational and serve social purposes. Therefore TALKADEMY is privately funded and open to the public, today half of the participants are non-IBMers. One idea of placing TALKADEMY outside of IBM is to explore how a learning organisation could best utilize the properties of 3D spaces when not burdened with social legacy structure. TALKADEMY cooperates with a growing number of universities, companies and not-for profit organisations to extend its reach and provides infrastructure to host different sub-communities.

Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] TALKADEMY is the initiator of this proposal. Its main contribution will be the know-how and practical experience of language learning gained in on-going formal and informal classes, provided for individuals and university partners. The two main assets TALKADEMY will provide to the project are the living community of students and teachers as a test-bed and the integration of an existing 2D and 3D learning platform (named Virtual Learning Environment). The innovatory contribution will focus on:

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Project developing and improved access to 3D learning spaces making them more accessible and usable. The aim is to empower

participants from the Grundtvig target group to participate with their existing internet skills and equipment; contribute in developing a motivating learning experience and atmosphere within the project to keep the students from different target

groups as engaged as possible during the programme.



DI Klaus Hammermüller, MEcon

IBM Digital Media and Metaverse Architect, 7 years of working experience in new media projects including Web, Streaming Media and 3D world technologies. Additional 10 years of working experience as University lecturer, IT Instructor and Coach. Initiator of the TALKADEMY project in 2005.

DI Gerhilde Meissl Egghart

DI Gerhilde Meissl-Egghart is founder and managing director of TALKADEMY. She has 10 years of professional experience in software engineering, project management, quality management and training. Her special interest is progressive educational and its realisation using internet- and computer technology. She has a degree in computer science from the Technical University of Vienna, and is a Certified Quality Manager of TÜV Akademie Österreich and received an initial Montessori diploma from the Institut für aktives Lernen, Vienna.






Details of other LLP applications in this selection in which you and / or your organisation / department is involved (projects / networks / accompanying measures) LLP Sub-Programme Acronym Applicant OrganisationKA 2, Multilateral projects Talk with me KTP - Společnost pro kvalifikaci na trhu práce

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Partner Number P4

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Verein Grenzenlos – Interkultureller Austausch

Association 'without borders' - Intercultural ExchangeShort name / acronym GrenzRegistered Address Latschkagasse Street number 1/4Postcode 1090 City Vienna Country ATLegal Status For profit Not for profit

Contact details of the Legal Representative of the Applicant Organisation (this person must sign the declaration of honour and attach it to the application. In the event of a successful application, this person will also sign the Grant Agreement on behalf of the Consortium).Title First name BirgitFamily name Fetty Male FemaleDepartment Position General SecretaryAddress Latschkagasse Street number 1 / 4Postcode 1090 City ViennaCountry Austria Region AT13Telephone 1 ++43 1 3157636 Telephone 2 ++ /Mobile ++ / Fax ++43 1 3157637Contact Email

[email protected] website www.grenzenlos.or.at

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation NFP-ASC

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The German word “Grenzenlos” stands for “without borders”, as well as “no limits”: It has a geographical as well as a personal meaning.

The mission of Grenzenlos is: intercultural understanding and personal development. Through international working, living, and learning. Grenzenlos is not dependent on any religious or political party. Grenzenlos is a non profit NGO. Its main purpose is to promote world peace through international exchanges and intercultural learning.

Grenzenlos’ Philosophy combines two ideas. Firstly, to create worldwide networks of personal friendships between people of different cultures, replacing racism and ethnic intolerance by ideas of peace and justice. We believe that world peace and mutual solidarity start basically at an individual level. Secondly, to give people of all social classes, ages, religions and nationalities the chance to discover and develop their own personal potentials.

Grenzenlos cooperates with more than a hundred private organisations and networks in Austria as well as abroad and has been developing its programmes hand in hand with them. In the public sector, Grenzenlos cooperates with the city of Vienna who supports the EVS programme in Vienna.Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters]

Grenzenlos will provide selected Grundtvig target group participants in at least 3 local areas. It will do this in cooperation with its partner organisations in e.g. the Basque country, Wales, and Iceland. Other areas will also be possible.

Grenzenlos will perform awareness-rising activities with the recruited students, similar to the work Grenzenlos and its partners performs in the EVS- and similar programmes. Grenzenlos will organise and induct these students and provide a local first level helpdesk to get them comfortable within participating in the project.

Grenzenlos is already an informal learning organisation. Through engagement with the project Grenzenlos expects an extension of engagement of the participant community well beyond the end of the project.

Skills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Summary of relevant skills and experience

Birgit Fetty Birgit studied business administration and has been Grenzenlos General Secretary since 2003,. She is in charge of

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Projectgeneral administration, the development of the social inclusion programmes, the creation of the short term hosting programmes, as well as creation and co-ordination of the international ALL INCLUSIVE large scale project, in order to enable international exchange organisations to receive handicapped and socially marginalised participants. She is a trainer on project management and inclusion for people with disabilities and for youth workers. She is a board member of Youth Action for Peace Österreich.

Christoph Mertl Grenzenlos General Secretary 2000-2003 and has an MA in History and Development Sciences. He is responsible for the management of the Grenzenlos international exchange programmes, partnerships, programme development and marketing. He coordinated the Grenzenlos EU programmes from 1998-2001 and the non-EU programmes from 2000. He has been setting up and designing the Grenzenlos inter-cultural training schemes since 2003.






Since 1997

EVS Various Grenzenlos European Voluntary Service www.melange.at

2005 Youth / Large Scale

124918-5.1.XL-AT-07-2005-R1

Grenzenlos All Inclusive www.allinclusiveproject.org


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http://www.melange.at/



Partner Number P5

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name ICC

International Certificate Conference e.V.

Short name / acronym ICC Registered Address Berner Heerweg Street number 183Postcode 22159 City Hamburg Country Germany

Contact personTitle First name Christel Family name Schneider Male x FemaleDepartment Position Director Address Berner Heerweg Street number 183Postcode 22159 City HamburgCountry Germany Region DE60Telephone 1 ++ 49 40 428 853 233 Telephone 2 Mobile ++ 49 172 9333 042 Fax ++ 49 40 428 853 237Contact Email

[email protected] website www.icc-languages.eu

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation NFP-ASC

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed International Certificate Conference e.V. (ICC) – The European Language Network:The ICC is a non for profit, non-government organisation with participatory status at the Council of Europe whose mission is to promote and improve the learning and teaching of languages in post 16 education and lifelong learning through joint developments and the good practice of its members. With 45 members in 18 countries, the ICC represents the field of language learning and teaching at a local and regional level through individuals, institutions and networks of members, at national level through involvement in national initiatives and government committees, and at an international level through activities and representations at the European Commission, the Council of Europe and other supra-national bodies.

The ICC achieves its aims through the following activities: contributing to policy making at intergovernmental level; acting as a consultant to national bodies, such as adult education associations and ministries; validating examinations of adult learners’ competence in foreign languages; running teacher certification schemes; administering quality assurance schemes for courses, teaching materials and other products concerned with lifelong learning and languages; initiating and cooperating in internationally-funded projects; holding international and regional conferences; dissemination of appropriate materials through its website. The ICC is an international network for language learners, teachers and researchers. One of its major fields of work is the training and certification of teachers as a means of improving the quality of language teaching. The ICC has been partner in three Leonardo da Vinci projects in recent years concerned with life online learning and a-synchronous e-learning in the ‘LANCELOT’, EUROVOLT and NET TRAINER projects. The ICC has its expertise in developing curricula for online training and certification. Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] The ICC because of its experience in Online and multimedia will offer advice on developing training modules and setting up teacher training. ICC will contribute to the training programme and its pilot and will take part in the exploitation and dissemination. Dissemination will be one of the main roles of the ICC. Through its membership, reached by print, email, and website, the ICC would spread information and can advise in developing and implementing the training program for language teachers in partner countries. Like other partners, the ICC will take part in the actual Training, Evaluation and Dissemination. Its second major contribution to the present project will be to advise on setting up a system of certification and accreditation for trainees who qualify under the scheme proposed.



Christel Schneider Director of the ICC / accredited Teacher Trainer (face-to- face and online) / Course Designer (virtual and face-to-face) Local Secretary for Cambridge ESOL (until 2006), Cambridge Examiner for ESOL certificates and The European Language Certificates (writing specifications and testing materials), author of a serious of course books and also teaching guides for trainers with the main focus on methodology and autonomous learning. Christel Schneider has run numerous teacher training courses all over Germany and outside. Her main focus is on teaching methodology. She taught methodology classes at the department of Education at the University of Hamburg for 10 years. Apart from her experience as a teacher trainer for the adult education association in Schleswig-Holstein, Christel Schneider has designed online trainer courses in general and for languages specifically. She has delivered numerous courses online, train the trainer courses, business English courses and general English courses via various VLEs . She was also part of the online tutoring team at the University of London, Dept of Education, UK and the University de Kalb (Illinois), USA.

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectClaudia Nir

Administration and research. Claudia has been involved in organising and managing training session as well as events. She has managed various training events for the ICC and done research on various projects. She is also responsible for marketing and public relations in the ICC.

Add rows as necessary






2008 LLP, KA2 n.a. yet PSLC, LV ActivELP: Mentors Activate European Language Portfolio through Multimedia

n.a. yet

2007 LINGUA-L2 225869-CP-1-2005-1-BG-

School for the Blind “Helios”, GR ELPBVI

Portfolio for the Blind and Visually Impared

n.a.yet

2005 Leonardo da Vinci II

A/05/B/F/LA-158.239

University of Vienna, AT Language Learning by Certified

Live Online Trainers LANCELOT

www.lancelot.at


A/05/B/F/LA-158.238

Verband Wiener Volksbildung,AT

EUROVOLT via VLE: European Vocational Online Language Teaching and Vocational Online Language Learning via a Virtual Learning Environment

www.eurovolt.net

2004 Leonardo da Vinci

I/04/B/F/PP-154111

Istituto Professionale di Stato Peri Servizi Alberghieri della Ristorazione e del Turismo, IT

B.E.A.TR.I.C Building European passport for transparent and international certification

www.beatric.net


BG/03/B/P/LA-166009

ECET, BG Linguapeace Europe: language training and reference materials for peacekeepers.

www.linguapeace-europe.net


FIN-03-B-F-LA-160013

University of Turku DilaPort Digital Language Portfolio

www.dilaport.utu.fi/welcome.htm

Details of other LLP applications in this selection in which you and / or your organisation / department is involved (projects / networks / accompanying measures) LLP Sub-Programme Acronym Applicant OrganisationKA4, Multilateral Projects EuroltaPlus Training and Certification

SchemeUniversity of West Bohemia, Pilsen, CZ

KA2, Multilateral Projects DeafPort: Development of European Language Portfolio for the Deaf

ECET, BG

KA2, Multilateral Projects EMMA: English through modern media University of Turku, FIK4, Multilateral Projects DEW: Diverse Europe at work International House, UK

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http://www.dilaport.utu.fi/welcome.htm

http://www.linguapeace-europe.net/

http://www.beatric.net/

http://www.eurovolt.net/

http://www.lancelot.at/



Partner Number P6

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH

Short name / acronym LANCRegistered Address St.-Ulrich-Str. Street number 2Postcode 79189 City Bad Krozingen Country Germany

Contact personTitle Dipl.Soz.Päd First name HeikeFamily name Philp Male x FemaleDepartment Position Managing DirectorAddress St.-Ulrich-Str. Street number 2Postcode 79189 City Bad KrozingenCountry Germany Region DE13Telephone 1 ++49 /7633-9231056 Telephone 2 ++ 49 /7633-806 9425Mobile ++49 /179-477 2395 Fax ++49 /7633-923 1120Contact Email

[email protected] website www.lancelotschool.com

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation EDU-VET

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed Germany based LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH was founded 05/2006 by Heike Philp and is a training centre for language trainers in the use of virtual classroom technology. It offers the LANCELOT course which was developed by the LANCELOT project within the framework of LEONARDO DA VINCI, Language competence II (2005-2007). LANCELOT SchoolTM was previously known as let’s talk online, who co-initiated the LANCELOT project. www.lancelot.at. LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH provides a marketplace for language trainers on www.lancelotschool.com and virtual classroom technology as well as support for language teachers who wish to teach live online. Currently LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH comprises a global network of language teaching professionals. It actively supports language schools and teachers in working with virtual classroom technology and runs a support centre offering 24/7 support by staff members currently speaking some 8 languages. Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] In the AVALON project LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH will be the leading partner for investigating 3D technology from an end user perspective. With extensive experience in technical aspects of collaboration tools, profound analyst and systematic tester of virtual environments and synchronous communication technology, LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH has provided their tools recommendations continually to associates. With respect to the dissemination of the AVALON project, Heike Philp purposes to attend and present at major e-learning and language training conferences and advertise this project through its global network of language teachers and active memberships in professional associations e.g. EUROCALL, Webheads, ETS etc. In its role as a the leading training institute for live online language tuition, LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH aims to stay at the forefront of the synchronous Internet communication technology know-how and has co-initiated the AVALON project. Skills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Limit 50 characters


Heike Philp Heike Philp is founder and managing director of LANCELOT School GmbH and prior to this had been running a successful live online language school called let’s talk online (2002-2007). Heike Philp has taught for over 20 years in Japan, England, Switzerland and Germany. She has a university degree in Social Education. Her special interest is in investigating Internet communication technology for language training. Heike Philp is a frequent speaker at the Online Educa, EUROCALL, WIAOC, Learntec, TCC Conference and Illinois Online Conference about language learning in virtual classrooms. She blogs at http://www.kolabora.com/experts/heike_philp.htm.

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http://www.kolabora.com/experts/heike_philp.htm

http://www.lancelotschool.com/

http://www.lancelot.at/







2005 LEONARDO DA VINCI

A/05/B/F/LA-158.239




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Partner Number P7

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name The British Council

Short name / acronym BritCRegistered Address C/ Amigó 83, Barcelona Street number 83Postcode 08021 City Barcelona Country Spain

Contact personTitle Mr First name GrahamFamily name Stanley x Male FemaleDepartment Position Senior TeacherAddress C/ Vendrell Street number 1Postcode 08012 City BarcelonaCountry Spain Region ES51Telephone 1 +34 932 531 900 Telephone 2 Mobile ++ / Fax + 34 93 418 8601 Contact Email

[email protected] website http://www.britishcouncil.org

To be completed by each organisation involved in the consortium / network including Applicant and Coordinating OrganisationsType of organisation EDU-OTH

General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The British Council has 495,000 learners, 2,000 teachers, 91 teaching centres in 57 countries and 60 years of experience of language learning in Spain. We have also been involved in exploring the possibilities of language learning in virtual worlds (Second Life) since April 2006.

Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] Trial of materials / piloting of training courseSkills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Limit 50 characters


Graham Stanley Product Manager for the British Council 'Learn English Second Life for Teens'. ICT co-ordinator, Senior Teacher in Barcelona, Spain. MEd ELT & Educational Technology. Special interests include emerging technologies, virtual worlds and language learning.

Kyle Mawer Teacher in Barcelona, Spain. Project Officer for the British Council 'Learn English Second Life for Teens'. Special interests include language learning and digital gaming.

Joe Pereira ICT co-ordinator in British Council, Portugal. MEd ELT & Educational Technology (ongoing). Dissertation on language learning in virtual worlds (Second Life). Teacher involved in piloting of the British Council 'Learn English Second Life for Teens' project.







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Partner Number P8

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Centro Linguistico Interdipartimentale, Università di Pisa

Inter-departmental Language Centre, University of PisaShort name / acronym CLIRegistered Address Via Santa Maria Street number 46Postcode 57123 City Pisa Country IT

Contact personTitle Dott.ssa First name LuisaFamily name Panichi Male FemaleDepartment Centro Linguistico InterdipartimentalePosition CEL/ex-LettoreAddress Via Santa Maria Street number 36Postcode 56126 City PisaCountry IT Region ITE1Telephone 1 ++ /390502215590 Telephone 2 ++ /390586829185Mobile ++ /393482400518 Fax ++ /390502215581Contact Email

[email protected] website http://www.cli.unipi.it/struttura/Members/panichi/index_html/view


General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed The Language Centre of the University of Pisa caters for a significant proportion of the foreign language-learning needs of the University of Pisa. It provides language instruction and language certification for students from all Faculties and at all levels (under-graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral) and for university staff, teacher trainers and the general public. It currently employs 56 permanent teaching staff and 3 temporary contract teachers. The Centre caters for the language learning and certification needs of approximately 10 thousand students per year. The Language Centre carries out research in language teaching and learning and encourages innovation in its teaching practices. It has a particular interest in the use of technology in language learning and has 6 fully equipped language learning laboratories available to teachers and learners. It recently hosted a seminar on teaching and learning in Second Life.

Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] The role of the Language Centre of the University of Pisa will be to design learning scenarios and produce and test language teaching materials for use in virtual environments. The Centre will also bring to the project students from a variety of backgrounds (humanities, engineering, the sciences, economics, computer science, visual and performing arts, communication science, etc.) who have an interest in participating in communicative language events in Second Life with other students under the project. Feedback from the experience will go towards creating guidelines for language educators and learners who wish to teach or learn languages in Second Life or similar environments.



Luisa Panichi Luisa Panichi holds a BA from Monash University, Australia and is a “Dottore Magistrale” in Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Pisa. She was awarded the highest mark of 110/110 cum laude for her thesis on Face-to-Face Tandem language learning. She brings to the project her extensive experience in collaborative language learning, teaching and learning in multimedia environments and materials and syllabus design. Her other areas of expertise which are relevant to the proposal are: teacher training, language for intercultural communication, teaching in Second Life, materials design for language learning in Second Life and learner counselling. As well as 17 years of teaching to university students, she also has experience of teaching to mature students. She teaches under-graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral students and university staff. She is specialised in English for Specific Purposes, English for Economics and Business and Academic Writing.






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Partner Number P9

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Høgskolen i Molde

Molde University CollegeShort name / acronym HiMoldeRegistered Address Britvegen 2 / Postboks 2110 Street number 2Postcode City 6402 Molde Country Norway

Contact personTitle Dr. First name JudithFamily name Molka-Danielsen Male FemaleDepartment Economy, Informatics and Social SciencesPosition Associate ProfessorAddress Adjunkt Dørums Gate Street number 5Postcode City 6413 MoldeCountry Norway Region NO053Telephone 1 ++ / 47 712 14 239 Telephone 2 ++ / 47 712 14 000Mobile ++ / 47 922 31 263 Fax ++ / 47 712 14 200Contact Email

[email protected] website http://home.himolde.no/~molka/


General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed Molde University College (HiMolde) is among the leading education institutions in Scandinavia within the field of logistics, offering from PhD-level, as well as bachelor and masters programmes in economics, business administration, management, informatics, social sciences and health sciences. HiMolde has been the lead partner in a trans-national project called, “Virtual Society as a Platform for Life-long Learning: Using Second Life (SL) (2006/2007) funded by the Norwegian research body called “Norgesuniversitetet” (NUV). The main goal of the NUV project was to test and evaluate how effective virtual societies are as a learning platform in a life-long learning perspective. The core element was delivery of at least three university/college courses that are tailored for a virtual society. The project has developed two virtual sims in SL with auditoriums, meeting rooms, “sandbox” for 3D-design and social meeting places; these have provided underlying support to the education tasks.Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] Molde University College will play a key role in the management and development of the educational virtual environments that will be used by participants of this project. They will contribute to the development of the 3D platform, 2D and 3D artefacts and to the design of tasks and scenarios to be used by project participants including educators and university students in the Erasmus program. Skills and expertise of key staff involved in the project / network Name Limit 50 characters


Molka-Danielsen, Judith Dr. Molka-Danielsen leads the evaluation in an international collaboration “Kamimo Project” funded by the Norwegian government, from 01/2007 to 12/2008. The project examines life long educational opportunities within virtual societies. Her activities in the Kamimo project using Second Life has been to coordinate partners in establishing the sim design, evaluation of course design and activities on the sim, ongoing management of numerous interests groups and subcontracted-partners. As Associate Professor, she teaches in the Information Management Program: “User Support & Education”, “E-Business” and “Knowledge Networks” and advises numerous student theses. Her Ph.D. (1998 in Information Sciences) is from the University of Pittsburgh, USA.







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Partner Number P10

Registered address and type of organisationFull legal name Mittuniversitetet

Mid Sweden UniversityShort name / acronym MidSU Registered Address Universitetsbacken Street number 1Postcode 871 88 City Härnösand Country SE

Contact personTitle Dr First name MatsFamily name Deutschmann Male FemaleDepartment Department of Humanities/ Forum for higher education and flexible learningPosition Lecturer/Coordinator of FlexiblelearningAddress Universitetsbacken Street number 1Postcode 831 88 City HärnösandCountry SE Region SE32Telephone 1 ++ 46/ 611 86024 Telephone 2 ++ 46/611 86178Mobile ++ 46/705 762 732 Fax ++ /Contact Email

[email protected] website http://www.miun.se


General description of the organisation: [Limit: 1000 characters] scope of work, areas of specific expertise and competence in relation to the project / network proposed Mid Sweden University is one of Sweden’s leading institutions in the domain of distance learning. About 60 % of the 14000 students are enrolled on distance and internet courses. In addition, two of the university research profiles, Digital Communities and Learning and Education specifically deal with models and practices for online learning. The university thus has great technical, pedagogic and research expertise in the field of flexible learning. English, under the department of Humanities, has been offering English courses based on models of collaboration over the Internet with great success over the past five years. Since the launch of these courses educators have been using 3D sims and have gained valuable experience in the hands-on practice of teaching in such environments. The department has ongoing research into the social processes involved in on-line community learning, most recently through several test courses in Second Life with other partner universities in Europe. Role of the participant organisation in the proposed project / network [Limit: 1000 characters] The role of Mid Sweden University will be to design learning scenarios and produce and test language teaching materials for use in virtual environments together with Pisa and Molde university. In this process the university will not only contribute with educators and students but will also be primary the coordinator of activities between educators and learners of the involved programs (Erasmus, Leonardo, etc.) and between WPs in development of models, scenarios, and dissemination of deliverables. More explicitly this entails ensuring content and outcome relevance for the heterogeneous target groups and the coordination of the bringing together of the target student groups (Leonardo, Grundtvig and Erasmus). In addition the university will play an active role in valorisation and dissemination of the project.



Dr. Mats Deutschmann Lecturer in English with long hands-on experience of on-line learning. His research from the domain of socio-pragmatics primarily focuses on linguistic aspects that affect group processes in on-line learning communities. He also coordinates an internal internationalisation project aimed at encouraging international on-line collaboration in internet courses. He is also coordinator for the university unit Forum for Higher Education and Flexible Learning, whose role it is to develop, test, evaluate and implement new technologies and pedagogic models for the university as a whole. In this role he has access to the entire internet-based student body of the university and has close contact with educators from all departments.

Nicholas Sheppard With a background from systems administration and programming, Nicholas Sheppard, director of studies in the subject of English, is a key mediator between technology and pedagogy. He has long experience in the development and teaching of on-line courses, particularly in the field of cultural studies. In his role as director of studies, he also has overall responsibility for content, administration and coordination of all the internet courses given by the subject of English at Mid Sweden University.






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SECTION 3 : SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT

Summary For successful applications, this section will be reproduced, as presented below, in compendia etc. You should therefore ensure that it gives a concrete overview of the work you consortium plans to undertake including:

The reason for your project / network / study Concise description of the outputs, results and / or products (including where relevant key pedagogical strategies, media used,

language versions etc) The impact envisaged

It is still very difficult to provide learners with language practice in real environments, it is often too costly and people need to feel confident enough even if they are able to travel. Tandem schemes have proved fruitful, but rely on access to speakers of target languages. The maintenance of motivation is always a problem. Access to digital technologies has become a reality for many more people in recent years and the roll out of broadband has made it possible for many more people to benefit from the high end services that are now online. This project facilitates language learning in virtual 3D worlds offering spaces where genuine communicative acts can take place at a distance. These acts offer an affective experience beyond the classroom, simulating real world activity. They require communication and provide a social network where learners do not necessarily need to be themselves and which is engaging enough to encourage them to return.

Currently, however, immersive environments have some limitations and the following issues are addressed in this project. We will:

create case studies which will include field-tested communicative scenarios and the guidance on how utilise them; provide the necessary skills for language teaching professionals to work in these new online environments through a targeted training

course; facilitate easier access in cases where there are limited computer resources; promote general awareness in mainstream educational contexts of the potential of these environments.

All of the products of the project will be made available in a repository under a Creative Commons Licence and through our dissemination we will build awareness of them amongst a broad community. We will be reaching learners from three different constituencies: community based adult learners; business learners and university students. We will also build the community of teachers who are able to use these tools in a variety of contexts and provide a market place for continued activity through a certificated course.

For Networks onlyThematic Domain / Topic

Limit 200 characters

Budget summary

ExpenditureDirect Costs No decimals

Staff 439.111Travel and subsistence 65.074Equipment 9.938 Cannot exceed 10% of direct costsSubcontracting 73.500 Cannot exceed 30% of direct costsOther 20.370

Sub-Total Direct Costs 607.993Sub-total: Indirect costs 42.007 Cannot exceed 7% of Total Direct

CostsTotal Cost 650.000

RevenueCommunity Grant Requested 487.500 Cannot exceed 75% of Total Cost% of total cost 75%Own funding of the members of the consortium 162.500Other sources of financing - -Total revenue 650.000 Must equal total costs above

Do not forget to attach the detailed financial tables (excel file) to this form before submitting. Check that the financial information provided in this table is identical to that provided in the detailed financial tables.

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Profile of Consortium Countries involved in the proposal

All partners from eligible countries OTHER participants involved in the proposalMS ACC AC OCT TOTAL

N° participants 9 1 10N° countries 6 1 7For Erasmus Networks only: if the number of countries in the Total column is less that 31, please provide a justification below.

Limit 800 charactersQUESTION: Do we need to add the associated partners here?

Organisation TypesAssociations Counselling Education Enterprise Not for profit Public Bodies Other types TOTAL

5 1 3 1 10

Associated projects If your proposal is based on the results of one or more previous projects / networks, please provide precise references to this/ these project(s) / network(s) in the table below.

Identification number (A/05/B/F/LA-158.239)Project / network dates (year started and completed)

2005-2007 Programme or Initiative Leonardo da Vinci, Language Competence II

Title of the project / network LANCELOT (Language Learning by Certified Live Online Teachers)Coordinating organisation University of ViennaWebsite www.lancelot.atPassword / login if required for websiteSummarise the project / network outcomes and describe (a) how the new proposal seeks to build on them and (b) how ownership / copywrite issues are to be dealt with

The aim of the LANCELOT project was to create a specification for live online language teacher training and to develop trial and revise the course and validate it through a certification scheme. The results of the project were a manual for the live online language teacher with a practical guide, providing guidelines on how to acquire the skills necessary to teach languages in virtual classrooms (pedagogy/ methodology/technology) and a certificate, documenting the qualification acquired through the train-the-trainer programme.

The project outcomes are published under a Creative Commons licence agreement. AVALON will build on this background and focus on the affordances of 3D environments. It will develop best practices guidelines for facilitating language acquisition along with field-tested and effective language learning scenarios in order to encourage teachers to extend their use of new technology in their every day teaching. These will form the basis of an AVALON certificate for language trainers which will link to the LANCELOT certificate.

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SECTION 4: DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT

Why does the consortium wish to undertake this project?

Explain the rationale of and background to the project / network by defining the needs or constraints that it seeks to address (current situation in the countries involved, previous or preparatory work in the domain, the results of any needs analysis undertaken, methodologies selected, target languages etc.). Outline the main (published) indicators that illustrate these needs. Include references to any declared national or international political priority in this area.

Through the Lisbon Key Competences the EU has continued to signal the central importance of these eight competences in a globalised world. The governments of all of the countries involved in this project have policies towards increasing the learning of languages (e.g. Dearing 2006) intercultural and digital activity at all levels (e.g. eNorway, 2009; HEFCE e-learning strategy, 2005), there is an also increasing move towards learning online (e.g. 7% of higher education in Sweden is online) which is predicted to continue (OECD, 2005 – E-learning in tertiary education). Italian ministerial guidelines (2007) underline the interdependence of life-long learning and innovation in technology at a tertiary level.

The tools educators and students have at their disposal in order to be able to realise the ambitions towards life-long learning are still rather limited in scope, however. In particular, communications tools, such as desktop videoconferencing, podcasting and learning management systems cater well for the cognitive aspects of learning, but are more limited when it comes to the affective aspects.

The consortium through its prior experiences (e.g. Kamimo Island and EduNation in 2nd Life and the EU project LANCELOT) and discussions with the wider 3D community (e.g. SLED) has the belief that virtual worlds offer spaces where genuine communicative acts can take place at a distance. These worlds offer an affective experience beyond the classroom, linking it to the real world and provide a social network which is engaging for learners and so encourages them to return.

In addition language professionals lack the necessary skills to work in these new online environments. There are a number of practical skills which need to be learned in order to use the full potential of a virtual learning environment, but also need to be developed, so that the right kinds of learning environments can be created and used. These environments also require a different type of 'class management skills', which also need to be developed. Currently there are no training courses that cater to this market.

Aims and objectives

Define the concrete aims and objectives of the project / network and describe the ways in which the situation set out under the previous point will be changed and the specific needs will be addressed by the project / network.

The project aims to:

create and test out exemplar tasks and activities designed to promote communication amongst the active participants. These materials will be based on work being carried out currently and these tasks and activities will be located in linked 2 & 3D environments and will be made available for future users. These will be accompanied by best practice guidelines for the users;

create and pilot a training course for teachers who would like to extend their e-learning skills to include virtual teaching worlds. This course will run for the first time during the project and will be offered after the project has finished as an extension of the LANCELOT School as a separate validated and internationally recognized qualification. The materials for running the course will also be available for any other enterprise wishing to run the qualification. 2 & 3D materials will be stored for future use.

The tasks and materials will be made more accessible for both sets of participants, thus giving better overall access to 3D worlds.

Creating the materials and training course will involve a broad sample of the target language learning and teaching communities. This will lead to a further promotion of the benefits of the use of 3D worlds in the development of real world language skills. It will also feed back its results and findings into the wider 3D educational community via conferences and SLED.

Learners engaging in the communicative activities will enhance a range of the Lisbon Key Competences, as will the teachers as they follow the course. This will have an impact on national policies particularly with respect to language and ICT.

Undertaking this activity is a stepping stone to the creation of virtual university campuses which will further broaden access to communities unable to access conventional education environments and increase the potential for networking and transnational collaboration.

What will this project produce?

Provide a summary of all the outputs / products / results that will be produced in the proposed project. Where relevant, describe the specific pedagogical methodologies / beliefs that this project will exploit.

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The project will have tangible outcomes in four distinct areas. (Comment by Heike: I only changed the order of the outcomes)

1) It will provide a selection of scenarios designed and developed to encourage real world communication and the necessary toolkit to enable learners to make best use of the material. This will be linked to a reward model for tracking activity. In addition it will provide guidelines for educators and a best practice model for exploitation of these materials.

2) It will provide a training course for educators and a school where the course can be taken. The course will be provided in linked 2 and 3D spaces and the objects created will be made available for any training institution to adapt and develop and return to the community. There will be an internationally recognised certificate attached to the course and the initial pilot cohort will be able to act as trainers on future implementations.

3) In the technical arena it will provide a linked 2D—3D platform which is able to host a community of participants who can either learn languages or engage in teacher education. The system will be accessible enabling people to join in activities even if they do not have local institutions available, or when the institutions are not able to meet their specific physical, psychological or social needs. It will be affordable in comparison to other ways of learning and flexible, fitting into to participants’ timetables and other life needs.

4) A series of publicly available reports, conference presentations, a blog and web pages and a developed and lively community of 3D world language educators connected to the broader 3D educator community around the world.

What is the approach adopted by the consortium to develop the work of this proposed project?

Provide an overview of the work of the consortium during the lifetime of the project that summarises the key activities, milestones, management, monitoring and quality assurance

The process of this project has already started with partners already being involved in particular aspects of the work as they come together to write this project proposal. The work going forward will be carried out over four phases. Once the project starts in earnest and following the initial start-up meeting, the partners will meet online regularly to gain a greater understanding of their different roles, to exchange ideas on practice and to maintain the quality and workflow of the project. All of the partners will discuss their work practices and financial management with the coordination, evaluation and quality assurance teams to assure good data collection and management from the start and to surface any risks. Key members of each team will act as liaison between the coordinators and the partners. The scenario and materials designers will at the same time commence work on creating a set of activities for trialing in the project, while the trainer education team will work on their course structure and create pilot materials.

The second phase begins when the trialing of the initial materials observed by the trainer and evaluation teams. These initial activities and outcomes will be presented at EUROCALL in 2009 where a second face to face meeting will occur. An interim report will be submitted at this point. Outcomes from phases 1 and 2 will feed into the training course and the third phase begins when the pilot training course starts. Throughout the four project phases dissemination activity will be occurring and various conferences and symposia will be targeted along with online communication via lists and blogs. Following the completion of the trainer course, the final phase will see materials being revised and made ready for publication to the broader language teacher community. We will finish off with an in-world conference and the submission of the final report.

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Impact and Sustainability:

(a) Who will use these outputs / products / results and how will the consortium reach them? Please describe the intended users who will benefit from the project during the lifetime of the project, and after the project has finished. Explain how these users will be reached.

Short term target-groups: Describe the target group(s) that will be reached during the life of the project

a) Grundtvig Language Students: we want to reach people with difficulties getting involved into the traditional system of learning because of age, location, or for personal reasons:

Local user groups in remote areas (Iceland, the Basque Country, Wales) with little access to existing learning institutions. To those students we want to offer a set of languages demanded by them (including that will include the relevant addressed minority languages and other some more widespread popular languages) as well;

Business user groups with limited time and a very small time budget to learn languages they do not need for business; Senior citizens for whom we want to provide local support in getting familiar with using the 3D Internet.

b) Students of Higher Education: language learning is a significant activity for many students in HE, but is often carried out in quite traditional classrooms or informally with little support and so is plagued by dropout and underachievement. Access to 3D worlds will both appeal to this learner group and provide them access to the broader community making the learning more realistic and connecting it to the world of work.

c) Language trainers wanting to be able to support 3D learning. They will have some interest in technology supported learning and would wish to explore these more socially beneficial tools and their affordances. They see the potential for such activity, but lack the means and the skills to access it.

How will this group / these groups be reached and involved during the lifetime of the project?

a) Grenzenlos, TALKADEMY and the British Council will take responsibility for providing participants from the informal and business worlds as well as the general adult language learning populations. Other partners may also contribute here as required, particularly universities with business students (e.g. Mid-Sweden). Grenzenlos and TALKADEMY will run an awareness campaign concerning the project though their existing marketing channels and will provide a variety of support in initial training in local partner offices. They will also provide a first-line help desk and training for key-users in local partner offices.

b) The HE partners in the team will make initial use of their own students studying on a variety of courses at the universities. Key here will be Mid-Sweden, HiMolde and CLI. Participants will be actively recruited and training and support provided.

c) Teacher trainers will be recruited from the existing network of LANCELOT certified teachers via the teacher market place. They will also come from Manchester University’s teacher education groups, British Council as well as via contacts with the Learning Technologies SIG of IATEFL and EuroCALL.

All of the groups will also make active representation to associated partners for suitable language learners and language trainers.

Long term target groups: Describe the target group(s) that will be reached after the project is finished

a) Further groups of British Council, Grundtvig and Erasmus students will be introduced to these spaces by the partners, associated partners and institutions that are brought on board throughout the project.

b) A community of 3D world language practitioners who will have an AVALON Educators Group in the virtual world of Second Life.

c) Groups with a specific interest in technology supported language learning.

d) The broader language teacher community. Both groups c) and d) will be encouraged to take the AVALON certificate course offered via the revamped LANCELOT School.

How will this group / these groups be reached?

a) These Grundtvig and Erasmus students will be reached by the usual marketing channels of the partner organisations and by maintaining links to the institutions who take an interest at dissemination activity. All of the partner organisations will advertise their involvement in the project via their websites, in blogs and on lists that they either own or belong to.

b) "Groups" are a social network function in SL, that allows members of a group to share notices, and group owned objects. The educators group

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Projectwill allow AVALON project members to communicate during the project in SL, but will also be visible and open to public signup. This will allow other educators worldwide to acquire advice from the group, and to receive notice of ongoing events that will exceed the life of the project.

c) We will encourage interested teachers and teacher groups to become members of the AVALON list and to take an RSS feed from our blog. We will also continue to post notices on teacher group lists and on websites to attract people to our continued activity.

d) Regular marketing of the AVALON certificate course will occur both on internal and external lists.

(b) How will the impact of this project be sustained beyond its lifetime?

Throughout the funded activity a considerable number of dissemination activities will occur, this will facilitate a strong awareness of the process and products of this project. This will be reinforced by reports and articles being made publicly available in newsletters, academic journals and on blogs and websites well beyond the two years that the project will be funded. It will mean that anyone searching for information about language learning in virtual worlds will inevitably come across reports, academic articles and the products of the project.

There will also be a considerable community of interested practitioners who will want to sustain the momentum created by the project. They will be members of the AVALON list, participants in the AVALON Group in 2nd Life and at the same time members of a variety of other formal and informal groups with whom they will interact about the project.

Work products will be made available using an open source e.g. Creative Commons licence and will either be disseminated using an open access publisher or maintained by a public accessible internet repository.

As these resources are available to the community of participants as well, TALKADEMY plus the network of involved NGOs will maintain a 2D / 3D platform which allows the community to stay engaged and help maintain and improve the materials created.

The existence of the AVALON School with accompanying certification will also create a market place for trainers wishing to gain certification in 3D activity. The continued running of this school and the availability of the training course for others to make use of will also sustain the activity.

Who will produce these outputs?

Describe the consortium, demonstrating that all the skills required to undertake this proposed project are available. Identify also, where relevant, specific tasks that will be sub-contracted to bodies outside the formal consortium.

The consortium has a broad and relevant range of skills for production of the activities and materials, the creation and maintenance of the 3D objects and links to the 2D world (with support from a number of sub-contractors) and for the design and development of a training course for teachers wishing to extend their skills into 3D worlds. There are also good links to target learners both for language and teacher training.

There are five interrelated teams:1. Molde, Mid-Sweden and CLI universities have recent experience of in-world scenario design and practice and will make use of a

number of sub-contractors to support the technical process of management and maintenance of virtual sims for controlled stable environments during the project, and for consultation of real world specifications as input to be used in virtual world artefact design.

2. Molde, Mid-Sweden, Pisa, Grenzenlos, TALKADEMY and the British Council will provide the necessary target groups for action learning and have the background and experience of working with a range of learners in-world.

3. TALKADEMY and LANCELOT School have the technical capability to provide the interconnected 2D—3D environment where both the language learners and trainers will engage in meaningful activities. They will make use of sub-contractors for consultation in experience design to build appropriate materials to attract and engage participants.

4. Manchester and ICC-Europe have the background and experience in teacher education and e-learning materials development and delivery to create and trial the teacher training course with support from other members of the team in the 3D worlds. They also have the necessary connections to teacher education networks for recruitment and dissemination.

5. Manchester and Vienna in conjunction with a sub contract on Quality Assurance will provide the project management, quality assurance and evaluation structures to make the project a success.

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SECTION 5 : WORKPLAN AND WORKPACKAGES

Summary of Workpackages

Workpackage number

Workpackage type

Workpackage title Start End

1 MAN Forming and maintaining the community 1 242 DEV Task and scenario design 3 123 DEV Action learning 5 164 DEV Virtual learning environment platform 1 135 DEV Training course development 7 126 DEV Pilot test of training course and revision 13 217 QA Evaluation 1 248 DIS Dissemination 1 249 EXP Exploitation 19 2410 MAN Project management 1 24

Deliverables List

Deliverable No Deliverable title Delivery date Nature Dissemination levelWP1-1 3D Languages Community 12 P PU

WP1-2 3D Conference 24 E PU

WP1-3 Recordings of Workshops or meetings 1-24 E PP

WP2-1 Communication and language-learning models 5 R PU

WP2-2 Guidelines for educators 5 R PU

WP2-3 Introductory multimedia kit for learners 5 P PU

WP2-4 Development of scenarios (tasks and artefacts) 5 P PU

WP2-5 Feedback questionnaires for educators and learners 3 P PU

WP2-6 Learning Scenario – Reward Model 5 P PU

WP2-7 Storyboard/ Plot 5 D PU

WP3-1 Technical skills and equipment questionnaire 3 S PU

WP3-2 Invitation campaign localized marketing material 3 P PU

WP3-3 Action Learning Evaluation 7-16 R PU

WP3-4 Training for associated partners 5 O PU

WP4-1 Repository for 2D and 3D content 4 D PU

WP4-2 2D-3D Integration (Open Source Code) 6 D PU

WP4-3 Graphical User Interface Configuration (GUI) 6 D PU

WP4-4 Comparative study of 3D environments 4 R PU

WP4-5 2D and 3D content 1-24 P PU

WP5-1 Moodle courseware 7 P PU

WP5-2 in-World training space 5 D PU

WP5-3 Project report 13 R PU

WP6-1 Trainer guide 13 P PU

WP6-2 The AVALON Curriculum 13 P PU

WP6-3 Pilot report 20 R PU

WP6-4 The AVALON Certificate 22 P PU

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectWP7-1 Criteria for action learning 4 R CO

WP7-2 Evaluation of action learning phase 10 R CO

WP7-3 Evaluation of pilot phase 20 R PP

WP8-1 Project website with newsletters, news feeds, blogs etc. 5 P PU

WP8-2 Live Online Events 1-24 E PU

WP8-3 Published materials 5-24 O PU

WP8-4 Conference attendance and presentations 1-24 E PU

WP8-5 In-World Conference 24 E PU

WP9-1 Strategic partnership 19-24 O PU

WP9-2 Live online language teacher job portal 19-24 P PU

WP9-3 A service point for language trainers 19-24 P PU

WP9-4 Creative Commons Licensing Strategy 22-24 O PU

WP10-1 Project Plan 2 P PP

WP10-2 Quality Plan 1 P PP

WP10-3 Quality Management (QM) Reports 6,12 R PP

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Workpackage Number 1 Workpackage Type MAN

Workpackage title: Forming and maintaining the communityStartMonth number 1 End

Month number 24 Duration in number of months 24

Description of workpackage

All new communities that come together need to go through a process of adjustment to each other in order to create a better understanding of ways of working and of the different contributions to the project. There is a difference between the discussions that occur in advance of a project and how the project plays out as the work begins in earnest.

We will start off with an initial two-day face-to-face meeting which will enable each team to talk about their contribution and ways of working, the particular parts that they will play and what they see as some of the challenges of the process. There will be demonstrations of the different technologies, discussions about timelines, milestones, reporting, finance, dissemination etc (linking to WP10). This will begin the process of the building of a community that will continue beyond the end of the project.

Subsequent to the initial meeting the community will be developed by a series of meetings in 3D worlds in which partner organisations will show-case their expertise in relevant areas, cross-team interactions will be encouraged and new perspectives surfaced. Ongoing community maintenance will occur via regular in-world meetings alongside the use of a group Forum and a Blog. This Forum and Blog will also include Associated Partners and other interested bodies.

We have planned for an interim face-to-face meeting at EUROCALL where, as well as presentations contributing to WP8, we will spend time exploring the developing the nature of our community and look at ways to strengthen it. We will be inviting other people to join in with our work throughout the project to extend the reach of what we do, but also to broaden the community to include as many interested people as possible via WPs 3, 6 & 8. A final project meeting will be held in-world, where we will display the outcomes of our project and show how these can be used both as a springboard for future development as well as places to engage in the activity. Project and associated partners and the broader community will continue to use these spaces both for language learning activity (WPs 2& 4) as well as teacher training (WPs 5 & 6) beyond the life of the project.

Deliverables – outputs / products / results

Deliverable number WP1-1

Title 3D Languages Community

Type of outcome / product / results

P (Service) /PU

Description:

By the end of this project we will have developed a 3D languages community by bringing together both learners and teachers from the broader languages community and those already involved in a variety of languages activity in 3D worlds. The community will have a base in Second Life for meetings and activity as well as a series of 2D mechanisms: web pages, blog and discussion forum for further dissemination.


Title 3D Conference


E/ PU

Description:

We will mark the completion of the project by running a conference to showcase activity and products. This conference will run in-world and will include practical demonstrations both from the project partners, associated partners, language learners and teaching colleagues that have played a part in the project.

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Title Recordings of Workshops or meetings


E/ PP

Description:

Workshops, Meetings and Discussions in 2D or 3D environments will be recorded and made available to project partners.

Consortium partners involved:

Partner number

Country Short-name Role and tasks in the workpackage

Lead partner: P(1) P1’s role here will be to facilitate the process of community building. It will initially discuss with all of the partners their preferred roles and provide the necessary support for all to make a full contribution. It will plan the opening workshop and work with the rest of the team to provide tools for communication and maintenance of the community; organise the contributions that the team make at the interim meeting and support the activity towards the final in-world conference.

P(2-10) All of the partners will take an equal role in the process and products of this workpackage.

Resources required to complete workpackage

Indicative input of consortium staff: The totals provided for staff days should correspond globally with the staff table in the detailed budget.

Partners involved

Country short name Number of staff daysCategory 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Total

Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 15 30 9 2 56

P(2) AT UoV 8 10 18P(3) AT TALK 15 14 4 33P(4) AT Grenz 15 15 2 32P(5) DE ICC 10 15 1 26P(6) DE LANC 15 2 17P(7) ES BritC 25 15 40P(8) IT CLI 15 2 1 18P(9) NO HiMolde 14 14P(10) SE MidSU 15 15

Total 78 153 15 23 269

Explanation of workpackage expenditures

Please explain and justify budget items included in the detailed budget that relate to this workpackage, specifically, where relevant under the headings: "travel and subsistence (of the staff of the consortium)", "equipment" and "other". This WP includes travel and subsistence because of the need to have face to face meetings to develop and maintain the community. Community building and its maintenance are crucial to the successful ‘forming’ of a group. In addition to the ‘kick off’ meeting we intend to meet up again at the mid-point of the project at EuroCALL where we can give papers to the broader community language teaching community with interests in technology and to recruit members to our 3D activity. In addition we will be ‘norming’ our own community through debate and shared activity. Additional staff days relate to the running of online sessions in-world in the early stages of the project which will need preparation and discussion and the final in-world conference where we will showcase our products. The final conference will need organisation and promotion.

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Workpackage Number 2 Workpackage Type DEV

Workpackage title: Task and Scenario Design

StartMonth number 3 End



The general aim is the creation of content and context for engagement in language learning processes in virtual environments. The objectives are to:

Establish and test models for language teaching and learning in Second Life (SL) Design and produce tasks and scenarios for communicative language learning Provide target users with necessary information to make use of these resources in their own teaching and learning contexts.

The target users of this WP are all parties who have an interest in promoting or experiencing language learning within tertiary education and vocational adult education. The WP is responsible for the creation of tasks and scenarios from the design stage through to the delivery of the final products. This WP brings together partners with expertise in materials design, language education, teacher training, distance learning, task design and teaching in SL, 3D Design and the building of virtual environments for educational purposes. In particular, partners 9 and 3 ensure exchange of information, ideas and concepts between WP2 and WP3. This exchange enables us to explore tasks and interdependencies to determine environmental features that constitute affordances for learning.

Work is monitored and performance indicated via individual and group discussions with all end users of our products under the project and feedback questionnaires. Work is organised in seven phases: 1) modelling 2) design 3) creation and delivery of products 4) trials 5) observation and feedback 6) revisions 7) on-line publication. In addition, the products from WP2 will be tested and evaluated by learners and teachers in WP4 and teacher trainees in WP6. WP2 relies on feedback from WP4 and WP5 in order to establish appropriacy and efficacy of tasks to complete its aims and objectives. Partners in WP2 will meet on a regular basis in video-conferencing, in SL and in person.



Title Communication and language-learning models

Type of outcome / product / Document R /PU

Description:

This document will provide a model of learning and participant interaction in 3D environments. It will take into consideration current best practice

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Title Guidelines for educators


Document R/ PU

Description:

This document will provide guidelines and recommendations for educators and administrators who are considering setting up learning events or conducting language learning modules in 3D environments for the first time. It will draw on information from all phases of the WP. It will be made available on-line upon completion of the project. Source language: English.


Title Introductory multimedia kit for learners


Multimedia document P/ PU

Description:

This information package will provide language learners with information about the potential for language learning in 3D environments and provide them with basic technical information for access to different 3D environments employed in the project. It will draw on information made available to the WP via the established feedback channels of the WP. It will be made available electronically upon completion of the project.

Deliverable number WP2-4Title Development of scenarios (tasks and artefacts)

Type of outcome / product / results Teaching materials and artefacts P/ PU

Description:

All learning scenarios will aim at maximising learner engagement with the physical environment and with other learners. Materials and artefacts will be created that enable the learners to participate in the build of a permanent learning community. This will be achieved by enabling learners to bring their real-life experiences, know-how and knowledge into the learning encounters. All materials and artefacts will be made available on-line or in a clearly indicated 3D environment upon completion of the project.

Deliverable number WP2-5 Title Feedback questionnaires for educators and learners

Type of outcome / product / results Document P/ PU

Description:

The questionnaire form will be an electronic questionnaire with an email reply button for speedy return to the WP partners. Two types of questionnaire will be administered: to participating teachers and teacher-trainers and secondly to participating students. The questionnaire will provide feedback on the tasks designed under the WP and used in WP4 and 5 and will provide input for the completion of the WP. It will be made available electronically upon completion of the project.

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Title Learning Scenario – Reward Model


Demonstrator D /PU

Description:

Development of a prototype model to measure access and tracking of active status and progress of individual participants, where social dimensions add to the atmosphere and motivation of the learning experience. This work product will result in the instantiation of a prototype reward model with balanced values related to specific learning scenarios to allow a practical implementation and tracking of the scenarios in learning events. This WP is required as input in WP3.

Deliverable number WP2-7 Title Storyboard/ Plot


Demonstrator D/PU

Description:

The Storyboard will provide a dramaturgy framework to the individual learning scenes. Its elements consist of: an interesting story ideally allowing participants to change roles “ad hoc”, and “drop in” and “drop out” providing intuitive role models by participating in virtual project teams making participants co-creators of the learning experience

Consortium partners involved: Partner number


Lead partner: P(8) IT CLI Coordination of the work among partners in the WP and with the activities carried out in the other WPs. Creation and development of models for communication and language learning in virtual environments. Execution of the WP and creation and delivery of the outputs and products of the WP together with the other partners in the WP. Coordination of Erasmus students with other learners in the project.

P(9) NO HiMolde Coordination of the work with subcontractors in the management and maintenance of the working virtual learning environments (sims). Execution of the WP and creation and delivery of the outputs and products of the WP together with the other partners in the WP. Contribution to the design of scenarios, tasks and artefacts for learning. Contribution to guideline development.

P(10) SE MidSU Execution of the WP and creation of the outputs and products of the WP together with the other partners in the WP. Primary coordinator of activities between educators and learners the various programmes (Erasmus, Leonardo, etc.) and between WPs in development of models, scenarios and dissemination of deliverables.

P(3) AT TALK Key developer and tester of the motivational model for learners for measuring and rewarding learner engagement. Collaborate to balance didactic and social dimensions in the scenarios WP2 defines. Responsible for deliverables WP2-6 & WP2-7.

P(2) AT UoV Task and Scenario evaluation by learners and teachers will be monitored by the evaluation team.

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Resources required to complete workpackage Indicative input of consortium staff: The totals provided for staff days should correspond globally with the staff table in the detailed budget.

Partners involved

Country short name Number of staff days Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Total

Lead partner:

P(8) IT CLI 56 2 14 72

P(9) NO HiMolde 14 3 17

P(10) SE MidSU 88 30 14 132

P(3) AT TALK 66

P(2) AT UoV2

1012

Total 2 174 32 31 239

Tasks that will be subcontracted

Partner responsible for Sub-contract

Country short name N° days (where appropriate)

Brief description of task

P(9) NO HiMolde 35 Subcontract 3: Management and maintenance of multiple educational island sims as needed by the WP. The subcontracted firm will maintain the substructure on which we develop project deliverables including tasks and tools.

P(9) NO HiMolde 5 Subcontract 4: Consulting from one or multiple firms in specification stages of artefacts for learning in 3D worlds that may be applied later in the teaching or training.

P (8) IT CLI 20 Subcontract 5: A subcontract for technical support will be provided to guarantee all WP ongoing needs can be catered for by the participating partner institution in relation to the partner's role in the WP.

P (3) AT TALK n/a Subcontract 6: Consulting in Experience Design -- to include all of the different participant groups into one motivating learning experience.

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectExplanation of workpackage expenditures

Please explain and justify budget items included in the detailed budget that relate to this workpackage, specifically, where relevant under the headings: "travel and subsistence (of the staff of the consortium)", "equipment" and "other".

Equipment: P9 has budgeted a computer with graphics card, headset, and webcam to W2. P8 budgets 30 headsets and recording software. These will be used for project group meetings in virtual worlds, for student interactions under testing and design of the environment, for presentation at conferences (under WP8).

P9 under Other costs has listed Land Use Monthly fees for one virtual island for 2 years accounting for an Educators discount (50%). This usage cost of virtual space in Second Life is required by the virtual world administrators to be able use the virtual island and is under WP2. The island itself is not a product of this project (it is an open access infrastructure) and through but the use of a pre-existing stable platform will allow quick start into the development of products of this WP.

Subcontracts: 3) Costs under the budget and coordination of P9 will provide for management and maintenance of an educational virtual island sim by a subcontracted firm. Virtual sim managers will be able to adjust parcel settings on request, provide security for a stable environment, address problems with SL participants who are outside the project, maintain a meeting place suitable for ongoing project meetings and presentations at conferences.4) Costs coordinated under budget P9. This is for consultation in the specification of specific artefacts for language learning in 3D worlds.5) Coordinated and budgeted by P8 for work hours otherwise unavailable because of local labour restrictions to personnel on permanent contracts.6) To create a convincing learning experience to engage participants requires the combination of subject mater experts from fields of drama, marketing, multimedia and human interface design. Iterations of work are used to create a consistent implementation of all the interaction points.

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Workpackage title: Action Learning

StartMonth number 5 End



This workpackage will field test the designed tasks and scenarios of WP2 for language learning in 3D environments. Testing will be with groups of University language learners as well as adult learners throughout Europe. The working language will be English. The action learning will be conducted in 3 phases, of 6 months duration. Each of the phases will be conducted with different groups of language learners. Phase 2 starts 3 months after phase 1 is up and running and Phase 3 begins when Phase 1 ends.

Partner 4 Grenz, Partner 3 TALK and Partner 5 BritC will provide language learners from the target group adult learners. Partner 8 Pisa, Partner 9 HiMolde and Partner 10 MidS each provide language learners who are enrolled in a University course.

Partner 6 LANC and Partner 5 BritC will provide English trainers who will conduct tasks and scenarios with the students. Partner 4 Grenz recruits language trainers from amongst its volunteer workers.

At the beginning of each Action Learning phase, language learners are asked to provide data as regards to their technical skills and equipment. Also there will be a general English placement test. The results of each Action Learning phase will be evaluated by means of interviews and surveys and the results of these will feed back into the task and scenario design. All of the action learning will provide input and feed-back to the development team for the training module.



Title Technical skills and equipment questionnaire


P/PU

Description:

As there is no way of predicting people’s skill sets and technology in advance as they are not part of an institution we need a way of capturing this. This involves data collection from the local contacts (the Grenzenlos associated partners in e.g. Wales, Iceland and the Basque Country). This WP provides feedback to WP2 and for the deliverable WP3-2. A technical skills and equipment analysis questionnaire is the deliverable.


Title Invitation campaign through localised marketing material


P/PU

Description:

Here we will create marketing materials to recruit and support participants made up of localised web-pages, flyers and newsletters with multi-lingual information packs. The partners and associated partners with target groups will use this material to invite language learners to become Action learners. The efforts to carry out the campaign included in this deliverable will include the Grenzenlos test sites (and their associated partners) and TALKADEMY. This WP is required for the deliverable WP3-3.


Title Action learning evaluation

Type of outcome / product / R/PU

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral Projectresults

Description:

The report made up of the results of surveys and interviews and statistical analysis will provide the needed feedback for the task and scenario designers as well as the technical teams.


Title Training for associated partners


Other (Network Resource)/PU

Description:

WP3-4 includes a “train the trainer” session for the associated partners who will be providing first level support using their facilities with some local native language support. These network building activities provide a basis for ongoing communications between trainers after the project’s lifespan. This deliverable will be to establish an interest group and to facilitate the initial communications.


Partner number


Lead partner: P(6) DE LANC Provide English language trainers for Action Learning from amongst its LANCELOT certified language trainers.

P(3) AT TALK Provide access to the existing TALKADEMY community.

P(5) ES BritC Provide groups of language learners for Action learning and

P(4) AT Grenz Leading the recruitment campaign and the initial support to feed the participants of the Grundtvig target group into the project.

P(8) IT Pisa Provide English language learners from amongst its University students.

P(9) NO HiMolde Provide English language learners from amongst its University students.

P(10) SE MidS Provide English language learners from amongst its University students.

P(2) AT UoV Evaluation Action Research processes and products.

P(1) UK UoM Provide language trainers for Action Learning.

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Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(6) DE LANC 12 8 3 23

P(3) AT TALK 4 4 8P(5) ES BritC 78 10 88P(4) AT Grenz 36 33 4 73P(8) IT CLI 3 2 5P(9) NO HiMolde 2 2P(10) SE MidS 14 5 19P(2) AT UoV 17 17P(1) UK UoM 9 9

Total 36 172 19 17 244





P(4) AT Grenz 8 Subcontract 9: Local Focus Point Contracting



During the first half of this work package the focus is on creating marketing materials that will attract people from the Grundtvig target group to participate. Therefore we will use the creative potential of Grenzenlos, who are running such campaigns on a regular basis, and include the associated partners of Grenzenlos to localise the concept and materials. The marketing materials need to be produced and distributed physically which is done by subcontracting. The aim here is to attract participants in statistically significant numbers. The expected return quota is between 4 and 7% (which is quite high, but we have good experiences on this). In the second half of this work package the interested participants will need human support to actually commit to the project and may require some local help to assist students to enter virtual 3D worlds. Therefore the associated partners will provide local first line support in the native language (subcontract) and will require travel funds to facilitate this.

Other and Equipment partner costs: TALKADEMY - travel budget to assist Grenzenlos in implementing local support; Grenzenlos - production of marketing material for the invitation campaign; Pisa - purchase of 30 headsets for newly recruited learners.

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Workpackage title: Virtual Learning PlatformStart Month number 1

End Month number 13 Duration in number of

months 13


The purpose of this workpackage is to provide the platform and the technical infrastructure for this project. It will:

provide an online repository for the 2 and 3D content created in WP3; provide a community platform outside and inside the 3D environment; provide ease of access through add-ons or plug-ins for users with less than optimal systems; integrate applications to support the learning process (2D-3D interface) including creating a real time data-feedback component for

social skills (user rating, virtual team building points, motivational social interactions etc) create and maintain the content of 2D and 3D artefacts created during the project

Deliverables – outputs / products / results Deliverable number WP4-1

Title Repository for 2D and 3D object


Prototype D/ PU

Description: The deliverable consists of the following components:

a operational handbook including an operational model to allow others to replicate this infrastructure content repository for all substantial work products created in the project an open source web portal to integrate the learning management system and streaming media (2D) operations and maintenance of the infrastructure throughout the project during the scheduled action dates


Title 2D – 3D Integration (Open Source Patch Code)


Prototype D/ PU

Description: We plan to develop no software but to integrate and, if required, extend the software components we are currently using. As we plan to disseminate all our work products under an open source licence we will contribute all substantial patches to the involved open source communities. This deliverable focuses on the following areas:

extending the data model of the selected open source learning management system to allow a dynamic interaction between 3D and 2D environments, according to the definitions of WP2

automated feedback. An implementation of the most important features designed in WP2 to provide feedback for the participants and allow a retrospective analysis of the scenarios

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Workpackage Number 4 Workpackage

Type DEV



Title Graphical User Interface Configuration (GUI)


Prototype D/ PU

Description:

We intend to create a simplified, more accessible and usable access to the 3D learning experience which will allow an extended audience of users to participate. This will integrated in the AVALON website.


Title Comparative study of 3D environments


R PU

Description:

This initial version of this report will list potential 3D solutions for use with the project and will include a comparison between them with respect to usability and accessibility. The final version will include experiences that project partners have during the in-world workshops (WP1), during action learning (WP3) and the training pilot (WP6) and aims to provide recommendations to the broader community.

Deliverable number WP4-5 Title 2D and 3D content


P/ PU

Description:

A collection of all of the 2 and 3D content created during the project. These maybe pictures, streaming media, audio files, surveys, reports, virtual objects, note cards, tutorials, recordings etc.

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Partner number


Lead partner: P(3) AT TALK Talkademy with its strong background working with IBM in 3D development is best suited to lead this workpackage and will take over the main development part as respects ease of access to virtual worlds.

P(6) DE LANC With extensive experience in any technical aspects of synchronous and asynchronous collaboration tools, profound analyst and systematic tester of virtual environments and synchronous communication technology, LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH has provided their tools recommendations continually to associates. Her team of expert comprises analysts from the technical as well as the pedagogical viewpoint.

P(9) NO HiMolde Molde University College has design experience of virtual worlds for language training experiences. They have developed and delivered courses in 3D worlds with all-virtual meetings with students at university bachelors, masters and PhD levels.



Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(3) AT TALK 28 6 82 116

P(6) DE LANC 5 3 8P(9) NO HiMolde 8 2 10

Total 33 14 85 2 134





P(3) AT TALK 10 Subcontract 6: Consulting for implementing the 2D/ 3D integration

P(3) AT TALK 10 Subcontract 7: 2D/ 3D content publishing component (script)

P(3) AT TALK 10 Subcontract 8: Server hosting for learning platform, e.g.

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectMoodle, project repository etc.

P(6) DE LANC 10 Subcontract 1: Usability and accessibility study from a pedagogical perspective.

P(6) DE LANC 15 Subcontract 2: Scripting and technology comparison of tools.



P3 will coordinate resources required for WP4 deliverables. These will be consumed by installation, configuration and test of the selected software components. Within these activities tuning the system to achieve a satisfying performance will cost the most effort. The other half will be used to integrate and extend the existing components to create a seamless user experience for the participants. As we are handling a very limited budget for these tasks, software development will be not an objective. As most of the components are already in place, the sub-contracting cost for equipment will only address the partial maintenance fees caused by the usage of the equipment for this project.

P6 will conduct the comparative study of different 3D environments and will also conduct several workshops to guide the project partners into these various environments.

P9 under Other costs have listed Land Use Monthly fees for one virtual island for 2 years accounting for an Educators discount (50%). P9 will purchase a new virtual island in Second Life and this amount is required by the virtual world administrators to be able use the virtual island. Some maintenance costs for new virtual island are under WP2. While the island itself is not a product of this project (it is an open access infrastructure) the platform of 2D and 3D tools and content to be built with WP4 to support communities and test access will be built on top of this support infrastructure and will be made publicly available in the Repository after the project.

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Workpackage Number 5 Workpackage

Type DEV

Workpackage title: Training course developmentStart: Month number 7 End: Month

number 12 Duration in number of months 6


This workpackage will develop a 50 hour pilot training module for teachers wanting to learn how to make the best use of virtual worlds for effective learning. It will build on this team’s previous e-learning and 3D experience and other projects including the EU project LANCELOT (www.lancelot.at) and eChina-UK (www.echinauk.org).

Training materials will be generic, created as Reusable Learning Objects and suitable for all teachers wanting to add to their existing e-learning portfolio. Materials will consist of a content course created in Moodle linked to objects and activities in virtual worlds. Initial exemplar materials will concern the use of 3D worlds in language learning.

In order to determine the skills and content to be included in the training module members of the WP5 team will observe and take part in the development activity of teams in WPs 2, 3 & 4. They will also engage in regular synchronous meetings with the AVALON team to discuss developments as well as keeping a journal on the AVALON blog for use both by the team and to disseminate progress.

The first phase (two months) will involve discussions as to the content of the curriculum and initial writing of course content. Phase 2 (two months) will link the Moodle and virtual world materials together and create the necessary in-world objects to make the course function. Phase 3 will involve initial testing with: members of the AVALON team, students at Manchester University, members of the IATEFL LTSIG, EuroCALL and Webheads to gain initial feedback and proof of concept. This will contribute to Valorisation (WP8).

Quality Assurance and Evaluation will take place via WPs 7 and 10. The project management will assure quality with the support of a sub-contract and evaluation of this WP will take the form of a survey of the participants.



Title Moodle courseware


Input materials, tasks and activities (D)

Description:

This will consist of relevant input texts and tasks aimed at linking the participants existing knowledge and understanding of e-learning to virtual worlds. Tasks will consist of discussions, small group activities, study of particular materials, including texts, online links and pod and vodcasts. There will also be reviews and discussions of various virtual tools provided from WP2. All the materials will be made available as Reusable Learning Objects for use by future course providers.

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Title In world training space


3D space for training (D)

Description:

This will consist of an appropriate space created in a virtual world to be made use of as a home and training area. It will consist of objects that facilitate the training process including display, recording and discussion tools housed in a ‘building’. It will also contain links to the scenarios, reports, models and objects created in WP2 and form part of the environment created in WP4. It will act as a repository for tasks and objects created as part of the course run in WPs 5 & 6.


Title Project report


An academic report and evaluation (R)

Description:

This will be an academic report of the processes and products of this WP. It will be used as the basis of conference contributions and the production of academic articles. This will be linked to the evaluation conducted in WP7.


Partner number


Lead partner: P1 UK UoM Manchester will co-ordinate this work package using its experience of e-learning course development to suggest an initial structure. Following discussions with P5 it will then allocate production to different members of the team and manage the creation of the materials. It will approach relevant groups for piloting. Based on feedback it will support the revision of the materials getting them ready for WP6.

P5 DE ICC ICC The European Language Network contributes its extensive experience in teacher training, its expertise in virtual classroom teaching and its experience in creating and conducting the LANCELOT course to this workpackage.

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Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 108 30 2 140

P(5) DE ICC 21 25 5 51Total 21 133 30 7 191

Insert rows as necessary



Country short name

N° days (where appropriate)


No tasks will be sub-contracted



The expenditure on this workpackage covers the creation of the materials and consists only of days worked. The bulk of the activity will be focused on the experienced teacher trainers with some management. All meetings will be either physical or online. Resources used here are already available to the partners.

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Workpackage title: Pilot test of training course and revisionStartMonth number 13 End



WP6 is a continuation of WP5 and is the pilot testing phase for the materials and processes that will have been created for the training course. The course will run for 5 hours a week over 10 weeks. Progress will be monitored and evaluated via WP7. Participants will be observed and interviewed and the findings from this process will be used to improve the courseware and training processes.

Participants will work in small groups and gain an orientation to at least two virtual worlds; an understanding of how to create an appropriate identity and how to navigate in-world; they will also experience a number of the scenarios designed and tested by the teams working on WPs 2 & 3. Building on this experience they will start to work on designing and developing their own virtual scenarios to suit the needs of their own target learners. Alongside this, they will learn how to set up and create activities using objects and characters; they will also experience how to design and build within virtual worlds. By the end of the training they will be competent users of at least two spaces and will have developed the generic skills to transfer to other similar 3D worlds.

This training will not take place in a theoretical vacuum and trainees will be encouraged to explore relevant literature on teaching and learning in online spaces. They will gain an understanding of how good practice from the field of distance learning can be transferred to virtual worlds and will realise that these spaces had well researched precursors, e.g. MUDs/MOOs and also potential rivals, e.g. virtual classrooms. They will consider what not to do in such spaces along with what to do.

During the pilot process a training manual will be created based on the lived experience of the trainers. This will be used by other groups wanting to run the course. An assessment process will be set up and the course will also be certificated via ICC-Europe.


Deliverable number WP6-1Title Trainer manual


2D & 3D courseware created as RLOs P/PU

Description:

This will consist of a purpose created 2D guide for trainers wishing to work in 3D worlds along with necessary objects in the 3D world. Guidance on how to conduct the course created as part of WP6 will be produced and assembled as a course in Moodle. This material will also be produced as Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) for use in other learning management systems, as well as an archived Moodle course. The 2D materials will be linked to a sim and objects in the 3D world that future trainers can utilise.

Deliverable number WP6-2Title The AVALON Curriculum


Curriculum P/ PU

Description:

As part of the process of running the pilot the course will be tested and validated. A finalised curriculum will be the outcome and this will be adjusted at the end of the course based on feedback data provided by the participants.

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Deliverable number WP6-3Title Pilot report


Report R/ PU

Description:

In conjunction with P2 an evaluation report will be produced on the conduct of the pilot. This will critically review the courseware, the course processes, the views of the participants and the course tutors. This will be used as a basis for improvement of WP6 and dissemination at conferences (WP8).

Deliverable number WP6-4Title The AVALON Certificate


Product P/ PU

Description:

The course will be reviewed by an ICC validator and given separate status as an internationally recognised certificate.


Partner number


Lead partner: P(1) UK UoM To recruit and vet the pilot participants making sure that they are a good mix of potential clients and including associated partners.

Create the schedule for activity linking it to project plan. Work with P5 to run the course. Work with P2 to manage the evaluation and to feed the results back

into the materials from WP6.

P(5) DE ICC To conduct the AVALON pilot and revise the course with UoM and to commission a validation.

P(2) AT UoV To conduct elements of the evaluation process with the trainers.



Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 51 18 69

P(5) DE ICC 9 12 1 22P(2) AT UoV 8 4 12

Total 9 71 22 1 103

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Tasks that will be subcontracted Partner responsible for Sub-contract



P(nr) No tasks will be sub-contracted.

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Workpackage Number 7 Workpackage Type QA

Workpackage title: EvaluationStartMonth number 1 End



This workpackage includes the evaluation of the field tests. Evaluation criteria will be developed following expert interviews with the project partners during the Kick-off and in-World workshops. Based on the interviews an interview guide and a quantitative questionnaire will be developed. After the second action learning phase and the pilot phase 4 oral interviews based on the interview guide will be conducted. Quantitative online questionnaires will be provided for all participants. The qualitative data will be analysed by transcriptions, meaning condensation and meaning categorization. The quantitative data will be presented using descriptive statistics. The results of both, the quantitative and the qualitative analysis, will be cross referenced.

This approach allows for reliable findings for the whole group of participants on the one hand and detailed and meaningful interpretations for some participants on the other side. The detailed interpretations are needed to fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of participants’ experiences in the 3D world. To determine whether the advantages and disadvantages lead back to individual attitudes or attributes of the created scenarios and 3D environments reliable findings from the whole group are needed.

The interviews will be conducted with online tools allows for prompt data analysis. This is necessary to inform the development process and to allow for an integration of the results into the subsequent project phases.


Deliverable number WP7-1Title

Criteria for action learning

Type of outcome / product / results R/CODescription:

The report will inform the project coordinator and the project partners about the evaluation criteria identified during the expert interviews.


Evaluation of action learning phase

Type of outcome / product / results R/CODescription:

Evaluation results concerning the designed tasks and scenarios in the action learning phase will be reported. The results will provide input and feed-back to the development team for the training module.


Evaluation of pilot training course


R/PP

Description:

Evaluation results concerning the designed tasks and scenarios in action learning phase 2 will be reported. The results will provide information about the developed products.


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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectPartner number


Lead partner: P(2) AT UoV Set up interview guidelines and quantitative questionaire, conduct interviews, analyse interviews, provide reports

P(1) UK UoM Interview partnerP(3) AT TALK Interview partnerP(4) AT Grenz Interview partnerP(5) DE ICC Interview partnerP(6) DE LANC Interview partnerP(7) ES BritC Interview partnerP(8) IT CLI Interview partnerP(9) NO HiMolde Interview partnerP(10) SE MidSU Interview partner



Partners involved

Country short name Number of staff days

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 TotalLead partner:

P(2) AT UoV 15 140 155

P(1) UK UoM 1 2 1 4P(3) AT TALK 1 1 2P(4) AT Grenz 1 1 2P(5) DE ICC 1 1 2P(6) DE LANC 1 1 2P(7) ES BritC 4 4P(8) IT CLI 1 1P(9) NO HiMolde 1 1P(10) SE MidSU 1 1

Total 20 153 1 174




No tasks will be sub-contracted.


Please explain and justify budget items included in the detailed budget that relate to this workpackage, specifically, where relevant under the headings: "travel and subsistence (of the staff of the consortium)", "equipment" and "other". The expenditure here is focused on staff activity in the planning, execution and evaluation of the pilot. As the pilot activity is conducted in real time this is a considerable staff workload which involves preparation, support, supervision, attendance at in-world sessions, observation of activity and the assessment of the trainees performance. The trainers and trainees will also be involved in collecting and providing data for P2.

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Workpackage Number

8 Workpackage Type DIS

Workpackage title: Dissemination StartMonth number 1 End



This workpackage is responsible managing the promotion and dissemination of the project. It will also provide the means for its maintenance at the end of the two years of funding. The most important dissemination activities will be:

a project website and blog with news feeds; advertising and promoting the created 2D and 3D spaces, materials and training course to the broader language learning

community; providing press releases and articles in professional journals; attending and presenting at conferences; an in-World conference at the end of the project to promote project outcomes; conducting live online events to invite associated partners, key players in the industry, government and education.

Dissemination is an integral aspect of the project and brings together key sectors of the adult language learning world: teachers and trainers; the institutions they work for; the broader teaching community via teachers groups and conferences; the target community including companies, universities, groups and individuals who require language training; and the 3D community itself.

We will start off by working within our own communities who will act as testers for the products, bringing in also participants from the associated partners. We will take into account the views of the participants in the action learning phase (WP3) and the training course pilot (WP6) to better meet the target groups’ needs. Our ongoing processes will be disseminated via blogs and newsfeeds, press releases, internet events of various types, attendance at international conferences as well as conducting our own in-world conference at the end of the project.

Deliverables – outputs / products / resultsDeliverable number WP8-1Title Project website with newsletters, newsfeeds, blogs etc.


P/ PU

Description:

A project website with a new domain name created to suit the project. From this we will put up regular bulletins in the blog and keep people up to date with RSS feeds. The website will also act as the repository for the 2D deliverables and links into the 3D world.

Deliverable number WP8-2Title Live Online Events


E/ PU

Description:

A series of live online events is already in place organised by LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH and will be extended into 3D environments. They are designed to attract visitors and are often a first-time experience. Expert speakers are invited and/ or special activities planned.

Deliverable number WP8-3Title Published materials


O/ PU

Description:

In addition to press releases and short articles written for newsletters there will be academic papers submitted to professional and research journals.


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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectTitle Conference attendance and presentations


E/ PU

Description:

The project partners have budgeted for and are attending or presenting AVALON at the following conferences: EUROCALL 2009 and 2010 (EURO Computer Assisted Language Learning) Online Educa Berlin 2008 and 2009 IATEFL 2010 (International Association of Teachers as a Foreign Language) ICC Conference (International Certificate Conference) Language and Business Conference Düsseldorf 2009 and 2010 BESIG Conference France (The Business English Special Interest Group of IATEFL) ExpoLingua Berlin LearnTec 2009 and 2010 APPI in Portugal 2009 (Associacao Portuguesa de Professores de Ingles) TESOL Spain (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) AICLU (Associazione Italiana dei Centri Linguistici Universitar) AILA (Associazone Italiana Centri Linguistici Universitari NOKOBIT 2009 (Norwegian Conference for Organisationl Use of Information Technology) IRIS AIS Conference 2010 (Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia) DEXA 2009 (International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications) EDEN 2010 (European Distance and E-Learning Network) ECER 2009 and 2010 (2009 Vienna) European Conference on Educational Research by EERA European Educational Research

Association Illinois Online Conference (USA, Online) (Illinois University virtual campus - no admission fee for presenters, no travel costs) TCC Conference (Hawaii, Online) (Technology, Colleges, Communities Conference Worldwide – no admission fee for presenters, no

travel costs) WIAOC Conference (Online) (WebHeads in Action Online Conference – no admission fee, no travel costs) SLanguage Conference, EduNation (Second Life – no admission fee, no travel costs)

Deliverable number WP8-5Title In-World Conference


E/ PU

Description:

This in-World Conference is mentioned once already as a deliverable in WP1 where it justifies working days. Here we would like to mention it again as a part of the dissemination activity which marks the end of the project. This live online conference will be conducted both in in-World and in virtual classrooms and the presentation of the project results will be complemented with guest speakers to present their experience with working and teaching in 3D environments.

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Partner number


Lead partner: P(1) UK UoM The University of Manchester will coordinate the symposium presentations at EUROCALL 2009 (month 10) and be actively involved in disseminating in its professional community. It is also in charge of creating the project website, blog, news feeds and press releases. Manchester will present at the IATEFL Conference in the UK and at EDEN.

P(2) AT UoV The University of Vienna will disseminate the results of AVALON at University level and also in its community of game based learning and educational metadata scientists and experts. UoV presents at the ECER conference of the EERA association.

P(3) AT TALK TALKADEMY is part of an IBM community of 60,000 3D enthusiasts and will disseminate the results showcasing benefits for language learners in the corporate environment.

P(4) AT Grenz Grenzenlos maintains numerous partnerships with voluntary organisations throughout Europe. It will be the main dissemination partner to local communities in Iceland, Wales and the Basque region.

P(5) DE ICC ICC The European Language Network disseminates in its network of 46 members in 18 countries which includes Universities, government departments, private and public language institutes, publishers, adult education centres, consulting organisations etc. It will also present AVALON at the ExpoLingua in Berlin, BESIG conference and conducts an annual ICC conference.

P(6) DE LANC LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH started commercialising the LANCELOT training course in Jan 2008. Its network includes approx. 100 active language trainers, 35 actively associated schools and a lose community of approx. 500 language teaching professionals. AVALON will be presented at the Online Educa in Berlin, Language and Business Düsseldorf and LearnTec Karlsruhe as well as at several online conferences.

P(7) ES BritC The British Council intends to represent AVALON at the TESOL Spain and APPI Portugal events and will promote its activity on the project throughout the very large British Council network of schools.

P(8) IT CLI The University of Pisa intends to present at AILA 2010, at the EUROCALL SIG and at (AICLU) and similar national conferences.

P(9) NO HiMolde Molde University College presents AVALON at the NOKOBIT, the IRIS AIS Conference, the Information Systems Research Seminars in Scandinavia, European Information Sciences for Young Scientists.

P(10) SE MidSU MidSweden intends to present AVALON at the EDEN conference.

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Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 3 2 2 7

P(2) AT UoV 5 5 10P(3) AT TALK 5 2 7P(4) AT Grenz 6 3 9P(5) DE ICC 3 3 6P(6) DE LANC 13 2 15P(7) ES BritC 13 5 18P(8) IT CLI 11 3 14P(9) NO HiMolde 10 10P(10) SE MidSU 11 2 13

Total 35 57 17 109




P(5) No tasks will be sub-contracted.


Please explain and justify budget items included in the detailed budget that relate to this workpackage, specifically, where relevant under the headings: "travel and subsistence (of the staff of the consortium)", "equipment" and "other". It would be assumed that members pay membership fee for professional organisations as per se. If however the conference fee gets cheaper by purchasing membership fees, then this expense is justified to be claimed together with the dissemination efforts.

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Workpackage Number

9 Workpackage Type EXP

Workpackage title: Exploitation StartMonth number 19 End


Description of workpackage This workpackage is responsible for sustaining the project results by the commercialisation of the products and services. It involves promoting its European added value to key decision makers in language learning organisations and the industry and does so by involving three broad target groups (Grundtvig, Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus).

This will mainly be achieved by:

including relevant and strategic actors into the project partnership; maintaining good contact with the associated partners and the broad professional community; developing the professional community of language teachers in 3D worlds (WP1); including key players and early adopters in the action learning and pilot test phase, maintaining activity through products and services.

We will start off by working within our own communities who will act as testers for the products, bringing in also participants from the associated partners. We will take into account the views of the participants in the action research phase (WP3) and the training course pilot (WP6) to better meet the target groups’ needs.

We will have created a course published under a Creative Commons Licence attached to a validated certification process. The course materials will be modifiable and updated by the users, therefore sustainable development is maintained. The existing LANCELOT market place for teachers will be extended to include teachers in 3D worlds and the site re-branded.


Deliverable number WP9-1Title Strategic partnerships


O/ PU

Description:

Because of the diverse nature of the community in this project we can make strategic links to a wide range of sectors. Universities throughout Europe are beginning to explore 3D worlds for a number of reasons and they are on the national agenda; the NGO community that is represented here is also looking at the possibilities. Many of the professional groups that we are linked with will be looking for advice and guidance from a group such as ourselves.

Deliverable number WP9-2Title Live online language teacher job portal


P/PU

Description:

www.lancelotschool.com was established during the LANCELOT project and serves the live online community by providing an online market place, where language trainers can post their résumés and indicate their availability to higher education, institutes, language schools and clients. This market place will be extended to include AVALON. Associated partners such as International House, myngle.com, digital publishing AG will also provide job opportunities.

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http://www.lancelotschool.com/


Deliverable number WP9-3Title A service point for language trainers


P/PU

Description:

A service point for support for language trainers is already in place for LANCELOT and live online trainers. Currently It offers 24/7 first level customer support in 8 languages. This support is mostly undertaken by live online language trainers who use the software themselves and who are technically capable of handling the technical issues. This support team will be involved in the new project from the start.

Deliverable number WP9-4Title Creative Commons Licensing Strategy


O/PU

Description:

All of the products, services, prototypes, reports, events, 2D and 3D objects will be licensed under the Creative Commons Licensing agreement maximising exposure and eliminating any copyright restrictions. This strategy will enable users of the products to add value to them and return them to the community thus keeping the materials refreshed.


Partner number


Lead partner: P(1) UK UoM The University of Manchester will coordinate the exploitation efforts of the project consortium and intends to include AVALON training in its Masters degrees as well as introducing this into the University Language Centre.

P(2) AT UoV The UoV intends to include the research done in AVALON into their curriculum of media pedagogy.

P(3) AT TALK TALKADEMY is interested in exploiting the results by providing easy access to 3D worlds for its client base. It aims to provide the preliminary results to the open source communities and to the IBM virtual community for further development.

P(4) AT Grenz Grenzenlos will make the project deliverables available via its broad network to the edges of Europe.

P(5) DE ICC ICC The European Language Network has the power to award a variety of professional certificates and is unique in providing this service as a not-for-profit organisation in Europe. It intends to add the AVALON certificate to its other certificates such as LANCELOT, EUROVOLT via VLE, SWEDEX, EUROLTA, ACCUEIL.

P(6) DE LANC LANCELOT SchoolTM GmbH is the main exploitation partner of the LANCELOT courses and intends to offer the AVALON training to its growing community of certified Live Online Teachers.

P(7) ES BritC The British Council has 495,000 learners, 2,000 teachers, 91 teaching centres in 57 countries and 60 years of experience of language learning in Spain. It has already started training 7 language trainers for Second Life and will continue to provide its student base with a virtual presence in Second Life.

P(8) IT CLI The University of Pisa will implement AVALON in its Second Life language classes.

P(9) NO HiMolde Molde University College maintains strong traditional ties to major industries in Norway and research in e-procurement of the shipping industry and the logistics industry. In Scandinavian countries distance learning is strong and Molde intends to use the lessons learnt in AVALON to further cross-sector applications of distance learning.

P(10) SE MidSU Mid Sweden University is one of the largest Universities in Sweden and 60% of their students are at a distance. AVALON will provide the needed professional input to enlarge this student base to expand Europe wide.

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectResources required to complete workpackage


Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 3 3

P(2) AT UoVP(3) AT TALK 8 3 1 12P(4) AT Grenz 13 5 18P(5) DE ICC 4 4P(6) DE LANC 5 1 6P(7) ES BritC 3 3P(8) IT CLIP(9) NO HiMolde 1 1P(10) SE MidS 1 1

Total 29 8 1 10 48




No tasks will be sub-contracted.



The expenditures here are concerned with staff time and the transfer of the deliverables to the broader community.

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Workpackage Number 10 Workpackage Type MAN

Workpackage title: Project ManagementStartMonth number 1 End



This workpackage focuses on the proper conduct of the project throughout its 24 months. It includes the planning, monitoring and controlling of project activities ensuring that they are delivered to specification, on schedule, within budget and of the right quality. Its remit will cover:

contracting, controlling and coordination of the finances with the EU; maintaining regular contact with the partners via management and team meetings which will be action minuted; communication which will be maintained through the use of a variety of tools, the maintenance of a project website and blog and

occasional face-to-face meetings (WPs1 & 8); the building, maintenance and extension of the community (WP1); the management of deviation from the project plan; the writing of interim and final reports in conjunction with the partners; the regular collection of financial data; the motivation and mentoring of the teams; the regular collection and mining of relevant data and documentation. These will be used to assess risk to the project and quality

management. Risks will be established and assessed at an early stage so important ones can be monitored. Quality management is sub-contracted in this workpackage to guarantee the quality of the processes; it will include planning, assurance and control. The sub-contractor will liaise with the evaluation team (WP7);

clarification of EU practices and regulations with the teams; the promotion of the project and its dissemination (WP8); adjudication of any disputes or dissatisfaction with the project’s scope, or its processes.


Deliverable number WP10-1Title Project plan


D

Description:

Both at the introductory meeting and in the early stages of the project the project plan will be discussed and finalised. It will be based on the WPs contained in this Application, but produced as a series of Gantt charts with milestones and will contain guidance on risk management.


Title Quality Plan (QP)


Written concept

Description:

The QP will give all project participants a clear understanding on how quality will be ensured on the project and which QM documentation can be expected. The QP will comprise:

Concept for Quality Planning, Quality Assurance and Quality Control Descriptions of quality expectations, requirements, goals, success criteria, indicators, work processes, check points, check lists,

responsibilities, acceptance criteria A prioritised list of final product criteria that must be met before the final products are accepted Reference to any standards that need to be met


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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectTitle Quality Management (QM) Reports


QM Status Reports, QM Audit Reports

Description:

The QM Reports are the regular Status Reports and selective Audit Reports that QM will create to document QM results. They will comprise: Regular reports on punctuality and quality of the delivery of the workpackages outcomes Reports on project communication, reporting processes, failure management, staff and stakeholder satisfaction Interim QM Audit Report, Final QM Audit Report Regular Quality Assurance and Quality Control Reports on the basis of project documentation, of project communication (forums,

mails, project website etc.) and of interviews


Partner number


Lead partner: P(1) UK UoM The UoM will be responsible for the coordination of all management activity in close cooperation with all of the partners. The team will initiate the project and maintain and monitor workflow. It will act as a mediator between the partners and the European Union, manage the finances and create interim and final reports. It will keep in contact with the quality management sub-contractor.

P(2) AT UoV The partners will conduct their own local affairs, but work with and provide reports to the lead partner on a regular basis. They will keep in regular communication with other partners via attendance at meetings.

P(3) AT TALKP(4) AT GrenzP(5) DE ICCP(6) DE LANCP(7) ES BritCP(8) IT CLIP(9) NO HiMoldeP(10) SE MidSU



Partners involved


Lead partner:

P(1) UK UoM 12 15 133 160

P(2) AT UoVP(3) AT TALKP(4) AT GrenzP(5) DE ICCP(6) DE LANCP(7) ES BritCP(8) IT CLIP(9) NO HiMolde

Total 12 15 133 160

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P(1) UK UoM Subcontract 10: Quality management will be subcontracted to enable effective checks and balances within the project.


Please explain and justify budget items included in the detailed budget that relate to this workpackage, specifically, where relevant under the headings: "travel and subsistence (of the staff of the consortium)", "equipment" and "other". The bulk of the funded activity here will be for staff time to maintain the flow of information and to keep abreast of record keeping providing effective and timely responses both to the partners, but also to the European Union. The quality management sub-contract assures independent checks and balances on the management processes.

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SECTION 6: JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT IN TERMS OF QUALITY AND RELEVANCE TO THE CALL

Part 1 - Lifelong Learning Objectives and Priorities addressed

Please identify in the box below, which of the Objectives of the Lifelong Learning Programme this application addresses

CODE Description

LLP-Obj-f

LLP-Obj-h

To contribute to increased participation in lifelong learning by people of all ages, including those with special needs and disadvantaged group, regardless of their socio-economic background

To support the development of innovative ICT-based content services, pedagogies and practices for lifelong learning

Describe briefly how your project addresses this Objective

This project intends to increase participation of disadvantaged groups in terms of education opportunities with particular reference to language learning in a simulated environment on the internet.

One of the chosen target groups is connected to Obj-f, because we are focusing on those that have more difficulties in educational access.

The instrument/means chosen for teaching is connected with Obj-h, and fits with the participants' needs and requirements because it is flexible and innovative.

Please identify in the box below, which of the Specific Objectives this application addresses

CODE Description

GRU-SpObj-2

KA3-SpObj-a

LEO-SpObj-b

ERA-SpObj-a

To help provide adults with pathways to improving their knowledge and competences

To promote European cooperation in fields covering two or more sub-programmes

To support improvements in quality and innovation in vocational education and training systems, institutions and practices

To support the realisation of a European Higher Education Area


This project targets key language and digital competences within a life-long learning framework. It brings together people from three constituencies (ERA, GRU, LEO) into a productive community bringing about the linkage of different sub-programmes. This will extend desired connections between vocational and higher education and further develop the higher education network in Europe.

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Please identify in the box below, which of the Operational Objectives this application addresses

CODE Description

GRU-OpObj-3

GRU-OpObj-5; KA3-OpObj; LEO-OpObj-6; ERA-OpObj-6

ERA-OpObj-5

To assist people from vulnerable social groups and in marginal social contexts, in particular older people and those who have left education without basic qualifications, in order to give them alternative opportunities to access adult education

To support the development of innovative ICT-based content, services, pedagogies and practice for lifelong learning

To facilitate the development of innovative practices in education and training at tertiary level, and their transfer, including from one participating country to others


GRU-OpObj3 is addressed as the project aims to reach out to geographically and socially disadvantaged people in a motivating, creative process thanks to 3D technology. The consortium plans to develop a system able to provide, via the Internet, language skills to the participants. (GRU-OpObj5, KA3-OpObj, LEO-OpObj-6, ERA-OpObj-6) are all addressed as the aim is to create a group composed by teachers and students from different educational levels, different countries, to able to interact, exchange information, and learn together a new language. The developed environment will create new meetings between faculties and students of higher education that may lead to long term networks between these groups. Further and most importantly the project aims to change the character of the education process, by increasing variation and forms of mediation through education in 3D worlds (this also addresses ERA-OpObj-5).

Please identify in the box below, which of the 2008 Priorities this application addresses

Gru-MulPrj-1

ERA-MP-VC-2

KA3-MulPrj-2

KA3-Net-1

Key competences

Providing open educational resources, ensuring that organisational, technical and quality-related issues are addressed in order to share content and make it easily accessible at a European level

ICT as a catalyst for innovation and creativity in lifelong learning

Addressing transversal issues for linking up and connecting learning communities through ICT in an innovative way

Describe briefly how your project addresses this Priority

By providing more easily accessible routes into 3D spaces and creating purposely designed activities that will bring together a broad cross section of the adult learning community including higher education, the project enables people to come together to engage in meaningful communication at a distance.

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Lisbon Education & Training Progress Indicators (See http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html)

CODE Target Description

LIS-B9

LIS-E19

Skills for the knowledge society

Open learning environment

Adults with less than upper secondary education who have participated in any form of education or training

Population aged 25-64 participating in education and training

Please explain how this proposal addresses the indicator selected

Our engagement with adult learners in informal education via the internet will enable us to access more people than is currently possible using geographically fixed educational systems. The learners who are part of the Grenzenlos community are for the most part early leavers from school and return to learning in later life.

Lisbon Key Competences (See http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html)

CODE Description

KC2

KC4

Communication in foreign languages

Digital competence

Please explain how this proposal addresses the competence selected

All of the learners in this project will be negotiating interaction in a social community in a foreign language, thus following recommendations for best practice found in the current literature on language acquisition. Because this social community is in a 3D world and because access to the world is facilitated and supported, digital competence will also be enhanced.

LLP Horizontal policies

CODE Description

a.1 Promoting an awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe

Please explain how this proposal addresses the policy selected

This project will bring together a wide range of people from many different parts of the EU. They will meet people from regions, countries and contexts that they will not have encountered before and come to a better understanding of how diverse and exciting Europe is today. They will appreciate the benefits of the diversity by engaging in activities that will need a broad range of skills, opinions and backgrounds to effectively engage in them.

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http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html

http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html

AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectComplementarity with other policies

CODE Description

1.3

2.2

Media

KA2 Languages

Please explain how this proposal addresses the policy selected

The media policy has as one of its agendas the increasing use of information technology in language teaching, this project will work with teachers who will come from a range of backgrounds and who will go away from this project with skills that they can disseminate to others.

Whilst the medium of activity here will be English, the skills learned through these activities will be transferable to any language learning or language teaching contexts.

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Part 2: Justification of the proposal according to the Award Criteria

This section provides applicants with an opportunity to provide experts with statements in support of their application, as described in the previous sections of this form, according to the award criteria against which they will be judged. More details on these criteria can be found in the Call for Proposals and on the Agency website.

1 - Quality of the Work Programme

This is a well thought through and exciting project. It brings together the right mix of elements which are neatly linked together to provide an important series of innovative deliverables. The quality is guaranteed both by the partner community who are specialists in the different areas addressed by the project and by the careful way in which the elements have been linked together. Workpackages are not created in isolation, but are woven together a significant contribution to the field. Quality is also assured by a separate evaluation workpackage and the sub-contracting of quality assurance itself. The project builds on work that is already being undertaken either separately or in small groups. Some of this activity has already been partially or fully validated by being accepted as presentations at conferences, or by publication of activity in academic journals.

2 - Innovative character

This project will provide language learners the opportunity to engage in scenarios and activities that will support the development of their communicative abilities, something that is seldom possible for learners unless they travel and immerse themselves in the target community. Rather than simply transferring language lessons online and providing the learner with a virtual teacher, the learners will engage in real-world oriented activities with other learners which require the use of language to complete them. Because of the social nature of these activities the learners will be encouraged to return to work with the colleagues they meet online. These activities will then be used as the basis to create a training course for language teachers that will enable them to develop the necessary skills to create similar activities for their own learners.

3 - Quality of the consortium

The institutions engaging in this project all have a long track record in their respective fields and the participants represent key and respected actors in their relevant communities. It is also a broad community with large, top-end internationally recognised universities like Manchester, Pisa and Vienna, smaller high quality universities providing more targeted education in a local context, a collection of important and influential NGOs with good links throughout Europe and the world and the company sector with recently established SMEs as well as more established companies. The consortium through its professional links has a very good reach to the broader language education world and this is further supported by its range of associated partners. All of the consortium members have good track records in joint project working, recognise the challenges of such activity, but have shown through other project work their commitment to high quality outcomes.

4 - European added value

This project provides a number of European added values. The results are exploitable in any European language learning context where the necessary tools are available and specifically targets the threshold for entry into the target environments making it lower than in the past. The project sets up a community which brings together students from very different learning backgrounds providing trans-sectoral benefits and transfer of knowledge and experience in ways that would not normally be possible. The proposal creates a “European community” that interacts in a virtual space and the participants will improve some key competences that will facilitate their mobility and access to the European labour market, but also, they will establish links of friendship that allows them to participate more fully in intercultural exchanges. Finally, the project will enable permanent relationships to be maintained across national boundaries both for the learners and the partners.

5 - The cost-benefit ratio

We have taken care to make sure that all aspects of the budget are clearly related to justified activities in the work programme. The budget provides for adequate resources regarding personnel, equipment, travel and subsistence to make sure that the projects deliverables are achievable, but also that they are well disseminated and have long-term impact. The budget is not overestimated, and the grant requested is appropriate for the amount of work, the nature and number of products and the quality of the outputs. Management costs are kept reasonable by providing a structure where all the partners work closely together. The contribution of the partners will be substantial in terms of staff time and local resources. The quality of the consortium, the workplan and the relevance to the project outcomes guarantee value for money.

6 - Relevance

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AVALON – Key Activity 3 ICT – Multilateral ProjectThis project is both relevant to the community of partners who have come together to write this application as well as to the broader language learning and teaching community. It also addresses key competences within the European project as a whole. One objective is to attract more people to language learning making use of innovative new technologies. This also enables learners to gain the necessary skills to be more mobile within the European family of countries. 3D worlds provide the means for people of any age or background to come to learning without prejudice. The supportive nature of the induction of the different groups will mean that people will work on communicative activities from the perspective of the skills they have to offer rather than from the age or their position ion society. It is also relevant to language trainers who need to adapt their skill set to these new spaces and will show them how such engaging activities can provide a useful adjunct to what they do already.

7 - Impact

This project will start at an optimum time for delivering the maximum impact. There is a growing interest in the development of digital skills and in many countries the technical infrastructure now exists in the education sector for ICT to be a natural extension of many classes as well as providing provision that did not exist before. There is also a developing broadband infrastructure in the home market. At the same time all EU countries are investing in broadening access to education with languages and digital skills as key targets. 3D worlds provide a real opportunity to provide a greater number of people with the necessary practice that they need to develop effective communicative skills at a time and in a place that suits them and without the need to travel until they are ready to do so. Because of their social nature and their orientation to the real world 3D worlds keep learners coming back. They can also now be made more easily accessible and linked to other resources that already exist on the 2D internet.

8 - Quality of the valorisation plan (dissemination and exploitation of results)

The valorisation plan has a very good balance of activity. We will be mixing together the skills of a broad team with a wide variety of skills and experience of dissemination and exploitation. We have plans both to attend a broad range of conferences where we will both present the results of our project and recruit new members to the community. We will also be publishing our results in professional newsletters and journals. We will develop our community using a variety of Web 1 and 2 technologies that will both inform and encourage engagement. In addition through our associated partners and our regular contacts we will provide press releases explaining our progress and encouraging them to become involved. Through the training course we will be building on our work on the LANCELOT project and extending this to include skills for 3D worlds. There will be an AVALON certificate to provide the necessary quality assurance that will encourage teachers to extend their qualifications.

For networks only: Please demonstrate the extent to which the activities proposed are networking activities

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section a : project overview - …avalonlearning.pbworks.com/f/avalon_application_fi… · web...

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