JISC

Overview

A team within the School of Modern Languages at the University of Southampton will conduct the M3 Project. It will explore the potential of integrating Second Life and Twitter with an existing Moodle course [1]. Twitter is a convergent technology allowing learners a choice of communication platform for connecting to their online course and freeing them from the need to always be sitting at a computer. Twitter can also bridge the ‘in-world’ (SL) environment, with the 'outside world' of Moodle. Twitter will be investigated to see whether the short messages (Tweets) that it allows could encourage in-course participation from learners.

Aims and objectives

The M3 Project aims are to:

• enhance the online experience of international students on a pre-arrival course by adding a 3D dimension to their language learning and acculturation to British academic life.
• investigate how effective language learning and acculturation activities can be developed in Second Life.
• develop an appropriate convergent technology offering learners choice of communication tool for linking their course-based community of practice.
• develop community using social networking software and offer opportunity to maintain contact outside Second Life or Moodle environments.
• adapt existing activities and learning objects for use with microblogging and in SL environment.

Project methodology

This project focuses on the use of 3 technologies, Second Life, Moodle and Twitter. The project will have 3 iterations with the first iteration exploring Twitter, Moodle and Second Life with a group of MA students, the second with a group of pre-arrival students in an online course. The first two phases will be undertaken by the M3 team, and students taking University of Southampton courses. The final, third phase will take place with learners in external institutions and/or through the Emerge community outside the Modern Languages context.

Anticipated outputs and outcomes

The M3 Project outputs are:

• A Twitter / Moodle plug-in available to learning community to promote use of microblogging in both language learning and the wider community.
• Real experience of tool use by a variety of communities, which can be disseminated to the JISC, SL, LLAS communities.
• Building upon existing communities of practice from previous projects for dissemination and piloting, ensuring a vested interest in outputs, and a shared interest and experience.
• A set of demonstrator Second Life teaching activities and learner feedback presented as case studies.
• Contribution to the Emerge Users and Innovation Community.

Technology / Standards used

M3 will extend and develop web services available to Moodle users, and contribute to E-Framework through the enhancement of existing web services and open source software. This takes the form of RSS related feeds using the Twitter web service for the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment.

Lead Institution

• University of Southampton

[1] Second Life is a MultiUser Virtual Environment, Moodle is a Virtual Learning Environment and Twitter is a microblogging web service.

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