Language teaching in 3D virtual worlds with machinima: Reflecting on an online machinima teacher training course

This article is based on findings arising from a large, two-year EU project entitled “Creating Machinima to Enhance Online Language Learning and Teaching” (CAMELOT), which was the first to investigate the potential of machinima, a form of virtual filmmaking that uses screen captures to record activity in immersive 3D environments, for language teaching. The article examines interaction in two particular phases of the project: facilitator-novice teacher interaction in an online teacher training course which took place in Second Life and teachers' field-testing of machinima which arose from it. Examining qualitative data from interviews and screen recordings following two iterations of a 6-week online teacher training course which was designed to train novice teachers how to produce machinima and the evaluation of the field-testing, the article highlights the pitfalls teachers encountered and reinforces the argument that creating opportunities for pedagogical purposes in virtual worlds implies that teachers need to change their perspectives to take advantage of the affordances offered

Redefining the Higher Education Landscape through Problem-Based Learning

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach impacting instructional delivery in all tiers of K-20 education. The introduction of PBL in higher education first occurred in the medical school setting. Several decades later PBL is widely utilized as a popular teaching and learning strategy in colleges of education, specifically in graduate programs. Adult Learning Theory (Knowles, 1984), Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow & Associates, 2000), and Information Processing Theory (Schmidt, 1983; Norman & Schmidt, 1992) all contribute to a theoretical understanding of PBL. This chapter identifies the key ideas, supporting learning theories, and principles of PBL. It then proposes a practical model that instructors can use to improve the quality of teaching and learning in academia

Digital Fluency in SMEs: A Typology and a Multi-Case Study

In the practitioner and the academic literatures, links between information technology (IT) adoption, IT use and digital fluency (DF) have been emphasized by a number of authors. However, there is a lack of understanding of what exactly digital fluency is, how it can be conceptualized and what role it plays in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on the DF literature and its underlying concepts such as skills, expertise and competencies, as well as on the SME literature, a multi-case study of three Canadian SMEs is conducted to empirically evaluate a typology of DF archetypes. The typology, that is based on a change agent perspective, has three archetypes. Results suggest that SMEs’ managers should focus on the complementarity nature of the cognitive, social, and technological dimensions of DF when assessing and developing their employees’ DF