Abstract
ToonTalk is a child-oriented programming language whose environment is an animated virtual world, with objects that children can pick up and use as in a game, such as birds, trucks, and robots, providing direct child-oriented metaphors for programming constructs. Actions performed by a programmer's avatar with these objects are both code and coding. ToonTalk is a powerful system, not just a "toy" system: it is based upon concurrent constraint programming languages, and programs written in languages such as Flat Guarded Horn Clauses and Flat Concurrent Prolog can be straightforwardly constructed in ToonTalk. However, there is not a specification of ToonTalk, for ready implementation in other environments. We propose that the ToonTalk language lies not in the animations displayed by the current environment, but on the actions performed by the programmer with virtual world objects; we present a description and analysis of the methods the ToonTalk language provides to programmers for expressing programs.

Abstract
The requirements of an increasing globalized and competitive economy lead managers to search for training solutions which can rapidly bridge the gap of their lacking skills, knowledge or competences. To assert with adequate training programs, in particular for SMEs managers, a study was conducted in six European countries with the objective of identifying the most relevant competences they need to fulfill. A literature review and several interviews with business associations' executives resulted in a list of 34 competences which were organized in four categories: personal, team management, business and technical. These competencies were put at trial through a survey conducted among 154 SMEs managers who had to evaluate each proposed competence with the attribution of a relevance degree. Although we show that SME managers should be well prepared in a rich set of complementary areas to perform their job, it is clear that some of the competences are crucial for them to tackle today's challenges. This paper presents a ranking of the competences by importance as perceived by managers. These findings can help training institutions wishing to design new training programs which more in line with managers' needs.

Abstract

Abstract
While much information is available on pedagogic uses of virtual worlds, with Second Life being the most common virtual world platform in current educational literature, an organization must consider its presence in this environment as more than the mere sum of individual educational efforts. Resources need to be shared between educational stakeholders, visual navigation needs to make sense, and the sense of being within an actual organization should be conveyed (not just the sense of being within a collection of personal spaces). But there is little information on how a virtual campus for an educational organization should be structured. Virtual campi in Second Life for adult education institutions don't typically reproduce their physical counterparts. While spaces such as lecture halls, amphitheatres, meeting places, and libraries are commonly found, the specific features of the medium imply an organization of spaces and usage that differ from physical campi. For instance, navigational affordances are different (ability to fly and gravity-immune objects, for instance), as are communicational features (specific limits on the reach of voice and text communication), and user involvement (how students and teachers use the spaces). We conducted a survey of several existing Second Life campi of adult education institutions (mostly universities), to establish what spaces are present in each and how they are used and organized. In this paper, we present the overall process, and the structure and instructions for data collection by all people involved. Then we detail the various kinds of spaces (by function, not by aesthetic) found in the campi and their prevalence. We also present data on user-oriented features of the campi, and cross-analyse this with their occurrence per space and campi. This survey was part of the process for specification and development of the virtual Second Life campus for project VITA, a EC-funded project to create and experiment learning actions directed to SME' managers for development of entrepreneurship competences. Thus, we conclude with an example of how the survey results can be used to support the development of campi, by briefly presenting the campus that was developed specifically for this project.

Abstract
Four research projects used Second Life", a 3D virtual-world platform, to investigate aspects of technology-enhanced STEM education. These European and USA studies, which differ in their pedagogical-philosophy commitments, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and target content, critically examine a range of cognitive, affective, technical, and social factors pertaining to the prospects of students' and teachers' successful engagement with immersive microworlds. Specifically, each project describes students' successes and challenges in creating complex virtual artifacts and collaborating in real time with peers and the broader community. The design-based research studies of mathematical and computational literacy present sample student artifacts and discuss the learning they evidence. Collectively, we posit that overcoming the following obstacles could make virtual worlds both effective and exciting learning environments: professional development (technical skill, affective disposition), collaboration with school systems (logistics of access, allocation of resources), alignment with targeted content (harnessing students' creative divergence), and initial learning curves (issues of teacher-to-student ratio).

Abstract
A common problem in computer programming use for education in general, not simply as a technical skill, is that children and teachers find themselves constrained by what is possible through limited expertise in computer programming techniques. This is particularly noticeable at the preliterate level, where constructs tend to be limited to extremely simple elements. Having worked for 4 years with over 150 children, aged 3 to 5, we present age-appropriate computer programming activities involving different computer programming techniques, from the basic (computer language syntax) to the advanced (client-server). These may contribute to expand the panorama on viable computer programming techniques available to children and educators, thus broadening the variety of educational activities and projects that can be approached in educational settings using computer programming.