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This paper will report on a pilot Virtual Reality (VR) project which repurposes an existing scenario-based VR asset for health sciences. The original scenario aims to prepare health care students for home visits by allowing them to experience a semi-linear conversation with a virtual Non-Player Character (NPC). This provides a safe, non-threatening environment for students to hone the necessary skills they will need once they begin their professional careers. The NPC's simulated emotional state and reactions are changed based on the student's choice of responses. The original scenario was written in English but the opportunity to convert it into an Italian language learning resource by changing the audio files was identified and implemented. The scenario involves learners to be recurrently selecting from a number of possible responses in order to help the virtual character with his grievances regarding his father's care package. [For the complete volume, "New Educational Landscapes: Innovative Perspectives in Language Learning and Technology," see ED596359.]

Coventry University Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) offers beginners language learning modules to approximately 3,000 students. Each module is taught over 11 weeks for a total of one hour and 40 minutes and two of the weeks are used for in class tests, so tutors generally agree that students need to practise their skills outside the classroom in order to pass the module. One way of doing this was to use the language learning app, Duolingo, which helps students to gradually broaden their linguistic, professional competence, and digital fluency through increased learner autonomy. How effective this approach is, however, has never been measured. The project ran from January to April 2018 and explored whether a correlation exists between regular use of the app by IWLP learners at Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level A1 of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and achieving a high formal coursework assessment mark. The views of both learners and tutors of their experiences of using the software, and the tutor tools provided by Duolingo Schools, will also be canvassed. A virtual classroom was set up within Duolingo Schools for each participating cohort of students and they were encouraged to use the app on a regular basis. The tutor tools allowed the monitoring of how many days learners were active, how many lessons they completed, how many courses they completed, and how many points they were awarded while using Duolingo. These statistics were compared with the overall formal assessment grades on modules and further data was collected at the end of the project from a representative sample of learners (182) and tutors (ten) to establish whether the software influenced module marks. [For the complete volume, "Professional Competencies in Language Learning and Teaching," see ED595297.]

This paper reports on a study that explored five student-teachers' beliefs regarding the usability of three digital flashcard websites that can be used in a blended learning approach in English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms. These student-teachers, who had previous teaching experience, were students on a year-long Master of Arts (MA) programme at Coventry University. Adopting a mixed-method research design, this study incorporated aspects of both surveys and case studies to explore different variables that could have an effect on the use of digital flashcards in blended learning classrooms. The websites' design features appeared to create two extreme reactions in student-teachers, suggesting it might be a significant factor in shaping their beliefs. [For the complete volume, "Flipping the Blend through MOOCs, MALL and OIL--New Directions in CALL," see ED585277.]

Recent developments in mobile technologies have increased the ways in which languages can be learnt, both within and beyond the classroom. Whereas the use of mobile technologies seems to challenge traditional knowledge and skills acquisition, research shows that foreign language study can be enriched through easy access to resources selected to suit individual interests or needs (KukulskaHulme, 2013). This chapter reports on an Italian language learning game, "ImparApp," developed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) "TaleBlazer" location-based game-authoring tool. Players interact with virtual characters, objects, and data as they move around their real physical location whilst attempting to solve a time travel mystery. This chapter presents data collected through a case study of how learning a language can take place beyond the traditional classroom in new and challenging ways. The chapter summarises the way learning activities were integrated into the app and discusses how the learning challenges were designed across the scenes, episodes and settings. It also presents data collected from the 'play-test' sessions and discusses initial findings of the pilot project. [For the complete volume, "Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at University: Integrating Informal Learning into Formal Language Education," see ED585162.]

As the employment of graduates appears among the performance indicators of institutions in higher education, universities are focussing more and more upon the development of employability related skills to enhance students' prospects in the job market. All UK universities are measured on the first jobs that their students acquire after graduation. In response to this, Coventry University implemented numerous new strategies to emphasise and stress the importance of education for employability. This chapter reports on the Institution-Wide Language Provision (IWLP) and its explicit link to the higher education employability agenda. IWLPs typically cater for students who want to study a language alongside their degree subject in addition to, or as part of, their main degree course. Uniquely, Coventry University offers language modules to undergraduate students as part of a scheme called Add+vantage. These modules are designed to embed employability into undergraduate courses, allowing students to demonstrate language skills and formal learning when entering the graduate job market. The Add+vantage modules are taught over an eleven-week semester, with the eleventh week solely dedicated to employability. A short list of references and links is included. [For the complete volume, "Employability for Languages: A Handbook," see ED566902.]

The speed of technological advance in the mobile phone, netbook and tablet markets has meant that learners increasingly have access to digital devices capable of enhancing their learning experience. This case study reports on how language learners, taking Italian as an option on the Institution Wide Languages Programme (IWLP) at Coventry University, use their digital devices to support their language learning. Foreign language educators in higher education need to be aware of the degree to which learners utilise their digital devices and what they use them for. This knowledge will allow tutors to be able to offer help and support. Learners were observed using their devices in the classroom and were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire. More detailed data was then collected from a focus group of students reflecting on the numerous ways in which they used their phones to support their language learning. The case study found that the use of digital devices to support language learning was widespread and often took place outside the classroom. It also revealed that tutors were unable to recommend appropriate apps and that learners tended to use their devices autonomously and unintegrated with their modules. Learners expressed a desire for the integration of mobile language learning resources with their existing course books and on-line learning materials. [For the complete book, "10 Years of the LLAS eLearning Symposium: Case Studies in Good Practice," see ED577046.]