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James T. Abraham, Ph.D.
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El Profesor has been living in virtual worlds since 2006. He has taught in Second Life as Calisto Encinal since 2007. In the spring of 2009, he completed a sabbatical in which he created an interactive, immersive Mexican village in Second Life. Recently, he has authored content for a language learning game for McGraw-Hill and served on their Technology Advisory Board. His current pedagogical interests include the use and creation of virtual worlds for education, serious gaming and innovation in the classroom. Escape is his latest and most ambitious project.
He holds a BA in Spanish and International Studies, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, MA in Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ph.D. in Hispanic Literatures, The University of Arizona. Dr. Abraham has been a residential faculty member at Glendale Community College, AZ since 1998. He teaches a variety of introductory and intermediate Spanish classes in several formats including face-to-face, online, hybrid and in the virtual world. He has received several grants and speaking/workshop invitations for his work in educational technology.
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El Profesor and Eugenia have been working diligently to bring their previous virtual world teaching experience to Escape. Their desire is to great the perfect learning environment for your Spanish-speaking success.
They are here to help you find your way around Escape. Please don´t hesitate to contact them with any comments, questions or concerns.
E-mail: escape@jtabraham.org |
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Eugenia Calderón - Directora Académica
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Hi, my name is Martha Eugenia Lino. I’m Mexican. I’m Spanish teacher for foreigners. I have been teaching this beautiful language since 2002 in Cuernavaca, México. Now I’m working in the virtual worlds Second Life and DigiWorldz. I started my virtual classes in 2008 with my project SPANISH WITH EUGENIA. My avatar´s name is Eugenia Calderon.
When a friend of mine told me about the possibility to give classes in Second Life, I couldn´t believe it. A virtual world? A virtual life? Is that possible? Well, it is, so now I am at the metaverse.
Teaching in virtual worlds is a wonderful experience. I really like it. These grids offer many possibilities for working with languages. They are themselves a wonderful tool to teach.
Now, why do I teach Spanish? Well, when I left my job in the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of México, in political research area, my idea was to take a break in my professional life and take care of my family. But, life don´t let me be lazy, well, be a housewife is not easy of course, it´s a really hard work. Anyway, I wanted to take some time to work at home and have time with my soon.
When I was organizing my new life, a friend of mine told me about the Spanish classes. She invited me to teach. I was not sure about that, I am not a professional teacher. When my friend explained the idea, I really liked it.
When I was studying the techniques to teach, something beautiful happened. I discovered my language, wow! It was wonderful! I mean, I speak Spanish of course, but I didn´t know how wonderful is it. And now, I really want my students feel the same. Make them discover the Spanish language, discover the beauty of this language.
I also want to show them the Latin-American culture and specially Mexican culture. I want to show them my country, my culture and my history. I teach using the immersion method in my project SPANISH WITH EUGENIA.
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