| Industry | Education |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Area served | Global - Online |
| Services | Online English Training |
| Employees | 80 |
| Website | www.Languagelab.com |
Languagelab.com is an English school based on Second Life. It is the first school that teaches exclusively online in a virtual environment; students and teachers use avatars to navigate the environment and take part in lessons. Lessons are also completely contextual, which is in direct contradiction to the traditional classroom system.
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Languagelab.com was founded in 2005 in London by David Kaskel. Having been amazed at how quickly foreign players had picked up language skills in MMORPGs, he began to look into how learning took place in video games. To date Languagelab.com has 80 employees based in 14 different countries and caters to about 1000 students (2011).[1][2]
Languagelab.com raised $1 Million USD in funding in 2011 from investors in the UK and Saudi Arabia.[3][4]
Languagelab.com teaches English to students from more than seventy countries.[5]
The CEO of Languagelab.com is David Kaskel.[6]
In 2011 Languagelab.com announced a partnership with Pearson Education to produce a virtual world product for Business English. The product is called Market Leader Live and contains content from the Financial Times.[7][8]
Languagelab.com’s methodology is based on immersive learning, the idea that all lessons should be taught contextually and uses virtual environments to recreate the scenarios where interactions would take place in the real world. Experts believe that virtual worlds and immersive learning are far more effective for studying higher order cognitive lessons "Generative Learning" than the traditional classroom based system, which is taught in abstraction.[9] Modern research suggests this method of learning is more effective than traditional methodology in which new words are introduced gradually through abstraction.[10][11][12][13] This method is similar to Situated cognition.
All teaching is done in real time by real teachers.[14]
Languagelab employ a mix of teachers and actors who appear as avatars to help guide learners through a range of simulated "real life" situations. Students can develop communication skills by working as a team on such tasks as tackling an oil rig explosion and the resulting environmental catastrophes or more conventional courses.[15][16]
English City is a virtual city created on Second Life where all the language classes take place. It seeks to mimic the learning process that gamers undergo in video games. The premise is that in video games players learn how to play through participation, and are taught new skills in situ. Players also receive instant feedback from their actions throughout the game; the penalty for failure is minimal as the player gets the chance to immediately try the mission again. These qualities allow game players to learn far quicker than if they were given a class on the subject.[17]
English City contains an airport, cafes, hotels, museums and galleries, and even clubs and bars, numerous settings for students to practice English in both classes and in their own time. The city is also populated by English speaking actors, who are there for the students to practice their English.[18]
"Students who visit English City (pictured), a language-teaching program, can chat to passers-by as they wander through the streets, meet their tutors’ avatars in virtual cafés and order snacks from Pebbles, an aspiring actress played by a teacher"[19]