Blended Learning by Tan Li Wee/ Liwei Veide A SLanguages 2009 Presentation

1. Blended Learning:
SL in the RL classroom
Second Life in Singapore's
General Paper classrooms
Ms Tan Li Wee
Liwei Velde

2. Background
• General Paper, a compulsory subject in
Singapore’s Junior College education
• Requires students to analyse and
evaluate issues across disciplines,
express informed opinions and a maturity
of thought
• Students’ limited life experiences
• Role playing in SL

3. Timeline
• Planning: October – December 2008
• Cycle 1: March – April 2009
• Cycle 2 to begin in July 2009

4. Implementation
• Issues to be aligned with the lecture
• Reading materials to build up students’
knowledge
• Pre-writing
• Role play in SL, with role cards
• 4 avatars in a group
• Post- writing

5. Cycle 1: Family Scene 1
MARS MIGRATION LOTTERY
They have done it. Earth is dead! A population
ballot has chosen 10% of its global population to
be sent to Mars to start human life anew.
At the spaceport before blastoff you chat with other
Singaporeans who have also been selected.
Discussions revolve around the impact on the
family unit and your fears for the future.

7. Shannon
You are married to Benny. You are happy
that Benny has been selected too. You are
pregnant and cannot wait to start a family on
Mars. You wonder the impact on those
whose family members have not been
chosen to be sent to Mars.

9. Benny
You are married to Shannon. You are happy
that Shannon has been selected too. You
are excited and anxious at the same time
due to the imminent arrival of your baby.
You wonder how your child will develop
while living on Mars their entire life.

11. Cindy
You are single. You have always put your
career before romance. You think life may
be better on Mars as people would have
fewer family commitments which can disrupt
work.

13. Johnny
You are divorced. You no longer believe that
marriage is essential for a family unit. As not
everyone has their family members with
them, life in Mars would be better as the
family no longer conforms to social norms.

15. Cycle 1: Family Scene 2
ZERO GRAVITY LOVE
The new colony has faced various difficulties
settling on Mars. One such problem is the lack of
population growth. The government has
implemented a baby bonus scheme to boost the
fertility rate.
Benny and Shannon are meeting Johnny and Cindy for
dinner at the 8 star quadrant restaurant. The conversation
revolves around updating one another about life on Mars
and the impact of the baby bonus scheme.

17. Shannon
You are pregnant and the baby bonus
scheme comes as an unexpected surprise.
You love children and it seems that it is now
possible to have 5 children with Benny (your
husband). Of course, with effective
parenting.

19. Benny
You are married to Shannon. You are happy
with the baby bonus scheme. You are also
aware that there is no guarantee in
increasing the fertility rate because people
have to be prepared to be parents. Effective
parenting is important too.

21. Cindy
You are now a high-ranking official on Mars.
You are single and annoyed by the
measures. Not only do you not benefit from
them, you may be indirectly paying for the
measures given the huge amount of taxes
you are paying annually.

23. Johnny
You do not think you would benefit from the
baby bonus scheme as you are certain that
you would not be married again.

25. Q&A

26. SLanguages 2009
This presentation was given at
SLanguages 2009
The Conference for Language
Education in Virtual Worlds
slanguages.net