| The Power of Social Simulations of Facilitate Learning |
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Location: Large Seminar Room, London Knowledge Lab
Host/Speaker: W. Lewis Johnson, Ph.D.
CEO and Chief Scientist, Alelo
Date and Time:
Tuesday, 22 November 2011, 12:30 - 14:00
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 In the modern interconnected world it is increasingly important for learners to acquire intercultural competence: the ability to communicate effectively with people of other cultures. Social simulations can be powerful tools for helping learners acquire essential intercultural competencies. For example, learners can develop foreign language skills in simulated worlds inhabited by interactive characters that communicate in socially and culturally appropriate ways. Learners can practice anytime in environments that are nonthreatening and that are tailored to their level of competence.
This seminar will introduce examples of learning environments for foreign languages and cultures which are currently in use in various countries around the world. It will describe the underlying social simulation technology and methods for developing animated agents capable of robust culturally appropriate dialogue. The application of social simulation technology to human learning affords the opportunity to investigate a number of learning science issues. For example, how do we design such simulated environments to best promote learning? What is the best way to combine learner-agent interaction with learner-teacher and learner-learner interaction so as to optimise learning? Such learning environments serve as rich sources of learner performance data that can be analyzed to evaluate instructional outcomes and develop dynamic models of learner competencies.
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