Abstract
E-learning has become an essential element in education today. This chapter reports the tactile experience with simulated 3D learning environments in an English department at a Hong Kong university. With the belief that multimedia instruction and multimedia learning can help learners’ construction of knowledge, we used Second Life to supplement three English courses in the department. Second Life can be used for sharing knowledge, demonstrating language functions, initiating instant communication and enabling peer assessment in the learning process. Various student activities were carefully designed, such as knowledge hunting, intercultural communication, peer assessment and assimilation of workplace operation. The tasks can either be solitary individual activities or collaborative group activities. In order to determine whether the students are motivated to use Second Life and the 3D multimedia environment is more effective than a traditional classroom, different research instruments were used to obtain student feedback. The data reveals that more than half of the students regard virtual learning activities in Second Life stimulating, interesting, interactive and entertaining.
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Acknowledgments
This project was sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Fund of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I am also grateful to Dr. Christina DeCoursey’s sharing the data of student writing.
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Li, L. (2018). Multimedia EAP Learning in Virtual Reality: Second Life in an English Department. In: Muñoz-Luna, R., Taillefer, L. (eds) Integrating Information and Communication Technologies in English for Specific Purposes. English Language Education, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68926-5_8
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