SLanguages 2009 - Report

Twenty-four hours down the line and SLanguages 2009 has come to an end. Thirty-nine sessions including seminars, presentations, scripting workshops, sample classes and field trips over the duration of the event, 359 unique avatar visitors and a high point of 91 concurrent on Friday evening.

“It's been the best organised conference (in RL or SL) that I've been to all year - well done!” [ feedback from SLanguages 2008 ]

I'd like to thank all the speakers who did sessions at the conference, and all the participants who contributed so actively over the day. Also special thanks to Avatar Languages for the official SLanguages website, Language Lab for the new-user orientation sessions and Carolrb Roux for all her help with sessions, organisation and recording.

Some of the event will be archived on the official website, and you can find Twitter reports by searching for #slang2009 and blog posts and Flickr photos searching for slang2009.

"Well, the SLanguages 2009 conference is over. Phew! This was undoubtedly the best online conference that I have ever attended. I learned an enormous amount about teaching foreign languages in virtual worlds, and I even took part in a lesson for beginners in Spanish."

Finally, if you came to the event, we need your feedback in order to plan next year's event. Please take a few minutes to fill in the survey here: http://tinyurl.com/dahpo6 . Thanks in advance, and see you next year!

Selected comments on The Consultants-E SLanguages 2009 in-world conference:

• "The whole atmosphere, and the ethos of sharing, hints, tips, skills, links, anything that is useful to other educators is just so wonderful - it is a real privilege to be part of it."
• “Somebody said this and it really rang true: 'it isn't the tools that we use in teaching, but the people we are meeting as a result of these tools that is really great!' (my paraphrase)”
• “Fantastic ..learned heaps...saw lots fo different projects and sims..and wonderful sharing between educators...”
• “Totally, opened up new opportunities for language learners, cultural exchanges, especially for us down under... when time lag allows. Definitely changed my perception on SL”

Selected comments on The Consultants-E SLanguages 2008 in-world conference:

• "The use of tools and building session were not only excellent because of their content but also because of the different dynamics used. I've had very few opportunities to experience real interactive teaching in SL. The presentation given by the two Spanish Teachers was an amazing example of presentation skills is SL."
• “I learned more about SL in the few hours I was in this conference than the whole of the rest of my time in SL so far. In fact I signed up in SL to have just these types of experiences, so I finally felt that I got what SL was all about (finally)!”
• “All very positive and inspiring , makes me want to put it into practice. One day.... Thanks Gavin for all the work you have put into it, (and also all the work you did on redesigning the islands) it has really paid off and you should feel very proud of yourself!”
• “It's been the best organised conference (in RL or SL) that I've been to all year - well done!”
• “It was awsome! I think this is definitely the way to go. Two days non-stop educational conference? Where else???”

Selected comments on The Consultants-E SLanguages 2007 in-world conference:

• “Thank you for the "all-in-all" excellent organization of SLanguages 2007!”
• “An inspiring event. It was great to see educators from across the globe generously sharing their experience - an illustration in itself of the educational benefits of SL!”
• “One day seminars have inherent difficulties in real life: there’s only room for 4/5 sessions so how broad / deep? One dud session can cast a pall over the whole day etc. This held up VERY well. Congrats.”
• “An inspiring event. It was great to see educators from across the globe generously sharing their experience - an illustration in itself of the educational benefits of SL!”
• “I was excited to be part of this conference. I can't help thinking that, in the future, we'll look back on it as the start (or part of the start) of something important in education.”
• “would love to see this event happen next year...and the next...and the next...;)”