Educational Technology Research and Development, Volume 44, Number 3,, 1996
Learning English by creating, writing and playing WWW adventure games. Abstract The project descr... more Learning English by creating, writing and playing WWW adventure games. Abstract The project described in this paper harnesses the immense motivation of adventure games for the purpose of improving foreign language skills. It implements an authoring environment for adventure games, in which language exercises are used as obstacles. The students can improve their language abilities either by playing a game written by someone else, or by writing new games. The implementation is based entirely on the WWW; this unique feature enables both playing and authoring the games to be an international activity.
English Oral Skills Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, 1991
The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present ... more The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present shortage of resources has forced the Language Centre to devise and set up new ways and possibilities for language acquisition. We are developing a good learning environment with inspiring tools, equipment, programs and other learning materials to support autonomous learning and self-access projects.-Electronic mail gives students and their teachers a convenient channel of communication. It also gives them the chance to contact people in other universities throughout the world. Some international penpal contacts have been started in our English classes. A local English language discussion group, started at HUT in January 1992 is very active, and a national discussion group has just been established for all university language teachers in Finland. Why Self-Access and CALL ? The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present shortage of resources has forced the Language Centre to devise and set up new ways for language acquisition. We are developing a good learning environment with inspiring tools, equipment, programs and other learning materials. Language teachers have to take into account all the situations where students actually use their language skills. Many of the course books at HUT written in a foreign language. Students attend lectures given by visiting foreign professors. About 150 HUT students spent a year studying abroad in 1991 and in Otaniemi there are 440 foreign students this year.
Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writings since 1993, when she founded Helsinki Un... more Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writings since 1993, when she founded Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) Email Writing Project. The project started as an Email exchange with 80 students at Helsinki University of Technology, each Finnish student writing to students in two other classes in The USA, Canada and Japan. It involved 240 students and 9 teachers. From 1994 onwards, the project included not only Email, but also many other activities on the Internet. Very soon, students at twelve universities in four continents, both in the East and in the West, were working together. In this article we describe some of these Internet activities, the benefits to the students, as well as the difficulties encountered. We will also tell how these projects have led to various interactive and interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT.
Communication Skills Workshop 20th Anniversary Symposium, 2004
Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writing projects since 1993, when she organised a... more Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writing projects since 1993, when she organised an email writing project involving 240 students globally. From 1994 onwards, the project included not only email, but also many other activities on the Internet. The technology was developed in order to handle the mail. The email project, now known as the International Writing Exchange (IWE), is still running. In addition, new task-based activities, such as the International Robot and Environment Activities have been tried with international teams. In this presentation, she will tell how these early projects have led to various interactive and interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT. She will demonstrate Xercise Engine, an authoring tool produced in Java by students for creating interactive language learning materials or adventure games on the Web. She will also show Websort, the Java program being developed for handling the mail generated by the IWE. In conclusion, the writer will tell about the current status of the Kings' Road Project, a multidisciplinary, multilingual, international project (both live and virtual) for Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian students of all ages, along the historical road from St.Petersburg to Bergen. The live project requires local research, with oral presentations on the findings, as well as creating stories and acting; everything is done in the students' mother tongue or in a foreign language. Local sports and relay events will also be arranged, from one end of the road to the other, as well as art and photography exhibitions, music and dance festivals and fancy dress balls, where students can prepare, serve and eat local delicacies; all the events will be recorded in virtual reality and products will be made, using the Internet and software developed by local students.
Four chapters in the book Virtual Connections:
Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activ... more Four chapters in the book Virtual Connections: Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activity for Advanced Technical English Vilmi, R.M. International Environment Activity Vilmi, R.M. & Burns, W. The Individual Writing Exchange. Vilmi, R.M. World Wide Web Culture pages.
Educational Technology Research and Development, Volume 44, Number 3,, 1996
Learning English by creating, writing and playing WWW adventure games. Abstract The project descr... more Learning English by creating, writing and playing WWW adventure games. Abstract The project described in this paper harnesses the immense motivation of adventure games for the purpose of improving foreign language skills. It implements an authoring environment for adventure games, in which language exercises are used as obstacles. The students can improve their language abilities either by playing a game written by someone else, or by writing new games. The implementation is based entirely on the WWW; this unique feature enables both playing and authoring the games to be an international activity.
English Oral Skills Workshop, Helsinki, Finland, 1991
The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present ... more The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present shortage of resources has forced the Language Centre to devise and set up new ways and possibilities for language acquisition. We are developing a good learning environment with inspiring tools, equipment, programs and other learning materials to support autonomous learning and self-access projects.-Electronic mail gives students and their teachers a convenient channel of communication. It also gives them the chance to contact people in other universities throughout the world. Some international penpal contacts have been started in our English classes. A local English language discussion group, started at HUT in January 1992 is very active, and a national discussion group has just been established for all university language teachers in Finland. Why Self-Access and CALL ? The increasing importance of language skills for engineers and architects as well as the present shortage of resources has forced the Language Centre to devise and set up new ways for language acquisition. We are developing a good learning environment with inspiring tools, equipment, programs and other learning materials. Language teachers have to take into account all the situations where students actually use their language skills. Many of the course books at HUT written in a foreign language. Students attend lectures given by visiting foreign professors. About 150 HUT students spent a year studying abroad in 1991 and in Otaniemi there are 440 foreign students this year.
Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writings since 1993, when she founded Helsinki Un... more Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writings since 1993, when she founded Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) Email Writing Project. The project started as an Email exchange with 80 students at Helsinki University of Technology, each Finnish student writing to students in two other classes in The USA, Canada and Japan. It involved 240 students and 9 teachers. From 1994 onwards, the project included not only Email, but also many other activities on the Internet. Very soon, students at twelve universities in four continents, both in the East and in the West, were working together. In this article we describe some of these Internet activities, the benefits to the students, as well as the difficulties encountered. We will also tell how these projects have led to various interactive and interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT.
Communication Skills Workshop 20th Anniversary Symposium, 2004
Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writing projects since 1993, when she organised a... more Ruth Vilmi has been interested in collaborative writing projects since 1993, when she organised an email writing project involving 240 students globally. From 1994 onwards, the project included not only email, but also many other activities on the Internet. The technology was developed in order to handle the mail. The email project, now known as the International Writing Exchange (IWE), is still running. In addition, new task-based activities, such as the International Robot and Environment Activities have been tried with international teams. In this presentation, she will tell how these early projects have led to various interactive and interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT. She will demonstrate Xercise Engine, an authoring tool produced in Java by students for creating interactive language learning materials or adventure games on the Web. She will also show Websort, the Java program being developed for handling the mail generated by the IWE. In conclusion, the writer will tell about the current status of the Kings' Road Project, a multidisciplinary, multilingual, international project (both live and virtual) for Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian students of all ages, along the historical road from St.Petersburg to Bergen. The live project requires local research, with oral presentations on the findings, as well as creating stories and acting; everything is done in the students' mother tongue or in a foreign language. Local sports and relay events will also be arranged, from one end of the road to the other, as well as art and photography exhibitions, music and dance festivals and fancy dress balls, where students can prepare, serve and eat local delicacies; all the events will be recorded in virtual reality and products will be made, using the Internet and software developed by local students.
Four chapters in the book Virtual Connections:
Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activ... more Four chapters in the book Virtual Connections: Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activity for Advanced Technical English Vilmi, R.M. International Environment Activity Vilmi, R.M. & Burns, W. The Individual Writing Exchange. Vilmi, R.M. World Wide Web Culture pages.
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Papers by Ruth Vilmi
We will also tell how these projects have led to various interactive and
interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT.
Books by Ruth Vilmi
Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activity for Advanced Technical English
Vilmi, R.M. International Environment Activity
Vilmi, R.M. & Burns, W. The Individual Writing Exchange. Vilmi, R.M. World Wide Web Culture pages.
We will also tell how these projects have led to various interactive and
interdisciplinary activities such as designing and testing language teaching software with students and researchers at HUT.
Thalman, L.& Vilmi, R.M. International Robot Activity for Advanced Technical English
Vilmi, R.M. International Environment Activity
Vilmi, R.M. & Burns, W. The Individual Writing Exchange. Vilmi, R.M. World Wide Web Culture pages.