EGC Works Podcast #3: A Virtual Hacienda in Second Life
Gloria Clark, associate professor of humanities and Spanish at Penn State Harrisburg, has created an immersive environment in the virtual world Second Life to encourage students to practice Spanish. This includes a Virtual Hacienda, a cathedral, a beach, and more.
Clark found it was difficult to create an immersive foreign language environment in the classroom. So, with the help of the Educational Gaming Commons, she went to work to produce one in Second Life. She was impressed with the way Second Life offered a three-dimensional world where one could create just about any place or environment.
Clark created the Virtual Hacienda, where students have the opportunity to converse and interact in Spanish in an environment where they can be immersed in Spanish culture in a cantina of sorts. Clark has found this to be a more immersive way to get students to converse and interact in Spanish. Along with the Virtual Hacienda, Clark has created a cathedral, a beach, and more, giving students the opportunity to virtually experience “real” places.
Along with these virtual places that Clark created, she encourages her students to visit other places in Second Life where they can practice their Spanish. For example, students have visited Columbia’s virtual embassy.
Clark is especially proud of an assignment where she had students visit a virtual Costa Rica in Second Life, and then design a travel brochure using images from the simulated country. The travel brochures were created and posted in ANGEL. “I think that was one of the best projects I ever done, the results were fantastic,” she said.
The Educational Gaming Commons, led by Brett Bixler, lead instructional designer with Education Technology Services, has not only helped Clark with the creation of the Virtual Hacienda, but with support as well. “They have done a lot of trouble shooting whenever I have a problem or something doesn’t work, or I am not sure how to do something,” she said. “I can e-mail Brett, and he has been an immense help to me.”
To learn more about this successful educational venture in Second Life, listen to the recently conversation Jamie Oberdick had with Clark about this amazing project, via podcast. To learn more about educational gaming at Penn State, please go to the Educational Gaming Commons
