eClassics: What's New for Old Languages

Classics may appear to be the last discipline one would expect to integrate technology with pedagogy. In fact, it is keeping up with (and perhaps surpassing) its modern language peers in integrating the use of the Internet, specifically Web 2.0 resources like Facebook, Nings, blogs, and wikis, along with audio, video, and gaming apps for mobiles and iPods. Classics students and teachers are also leveraging virtual worlds like Second Life, World of Warcraft, and City of Heroes as real-time teaching spaces for distance learning, conversational Latin/Greek practice, and as a platform for creating class projects via machinima. In this presentation, Anna Foka of the University of Liverpool's School of Archaeology, Classics, and Egyptology (SACE) will discuss real-world usage of Web 2.0 sites and handheld devices for learning ancient languages. Joining the lecture from his office in Phoenix, Arizona, Andrew Reinhard, Director of eLearning for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, a Classics textbook publisher, will help demonstrate a live conversation in Second Life's Roma simulation, and will also discuss the merits of using virtual environments for teaching, citing UK institutions already deeply involved in managing these platforms for distance learning and for Classics.