In front of the Jelling Stone. Still from the learning game. (From http://dk-sim.dk/da/ .)
Do you remember Dansksimulatoren, the award-winning Danish-course where you are a virtual person in a virtual Denmark? I had a chat with Thomas K. Hansen from Vejle-based Vifin (Videnscenter for Integration = Knowledge Centre for Integration).
Congratulations for having won the European Language Award 2012! How does it feel?
It’s quite nice. I think most people enjoy getting recognition for the work they do, especially when you’re happy with that work!
Please give us a short description of Dansksimulatoren…
Dansksimulatoren (the Danish Simulator) is an online platform for linguistic and cultural learning, aimed at adult immigrants who want to learn Danish. It’s a computer game with an integrated ”interactive book” containing all those things you need to learn about Danish language and culture. You walk around in a 3D world and solve specific tasks, like finding the Jelling Stone (an archaic runic stone with the first mention of the name ”Denmark”). The brand new thing is that we combine a 3D environment with speech recognition technology… You really have to talk in order to solve the tasks.
What’s the story behind this project?
The idea was born out of a scientific project at Syddansk Universitet (the Southern Danish University, based in Odense) in 2002, combined with an encounter with US army technology at a conference in Venice in 2005. Four years later we managed to pair the American and the Danish technologies. It’s been a huge endeavor, involving Danish-teachers, graphical artists, animators, programmers…
Who’ll be able to use Dansksimulatoren?
Its target audience is young immigrants (age 16 and above) with a basic understanding of English, as that’s the primary language of instruction. The program can be used here in Denmark or abroad. We’re working towards making it accessible to a broader group of people, including children.
Aren’t you afraid that it’ll all become too perfect and virtual?
Not really. I mean it’s a tool. 🙂 Similar kinds of learning tools are used by pilots and surgeons. What we do is that we try to implement some of the motivational parameters known from computer games. In that way the learning will be more interesting, and it can take place anywhere and at any time you like.
Are you planning an online version or an app that the readers here at Transparent Language may download?
Well, we’ve already got an online version, though it does require a username and a password. Keeping a server, a support team and a development team isn’t exactly free. But registration is certainly open to everybody! We’re planning to make a small part of the platform available as a demo.
We also have a lot of ambitions about extending the scope of Dansksimulatoren, for example by making versions for phones and tablets. We need to ensure, however, that our learning system works equally well on phones and tablets. There is a tendency to force educational technologies into classrooms even when no learning effect can be documented. The methods must make sense.
