Another course, another term!

The Spring Term 2009 Business Talking course started on Kamimo Island yesterday afternoon, when 22 students from "Sweden" met up with their American buddies from the University of Central Missouri to be whisked off on a tour of Second Life by the Americans. I write "Sweden" because that's where the course is based administratively (at Högskolan i Kalmar in Sweden). The students themselves this term come from all over Sweden, Russia, the Netherlands and Italy. They include a Swedish student at Högskolan i Kalmar who's currently on an exchange to Astoria, New York and a teacher at the Swedish School in London.

The Business Talking course went under the name of Oral Production until this term, and has been offered twice already. This term, though, the student group is up to size (I think that around 20 is probably all you'd want to handle on an interactive - and active - course like this at one time), and it looks as if the course has become a regular part of Kalmar's range of courses.

The Course Launch went very well yesterday. Swedish students came on to Kamimo Island in groups of four at roughly 15-minute intervals, so that they could have an orientation with their teacher in peace and quiet, and then meet up with their American buddies. We start the course in earnest next week, when one of the activities will be for the Business Talking students to share what they've discovered in Second Life so far.

The run-up to the course is also now establishing a routine of its own. Here are some Dutch students using the wireless network outside my office to open Second Life accounts for themselves (and for me to check that their laptops could cope with SL).