Second Life: Real Life Experiences in a Virtual World

One of the greatest challenges to traditional language teaching methods such as drills and repetition is the expectation that students have regarding the teacher's digital media literacy.  By meeting those challenges directly, teachers can increase their own credibility while providing useful, engaging tools for their students.  Language learning through active movement and experience, even in a virtual world, can lead to longer knowledge retention when compared to traditional methods.  Students who are tasked with specific projects can collaborate and be so immersed that the artificiality of the virtual world is forgotten.  A core strength of Second Life is many engaging "worlds" have already been constructed and teachers can take advantage of their existence right away without having to spend long hours creating custom environments.

An environment such as Spaceport Alpha, the International Space Museum is well suited for students to explore, experience and prepare reports about their experiences.  Because the exhibits are fact based, interested students can use the virtual museum as a base from which to expand their knowledge.  A convenient map of the exhibits allows visitors to orient themselves easily.

Individual exhibits are well labeled and because of Second Life's built in capabilities, a visitor can use camera controls to "see" objects from virtually any perspective.  From a language learning perspective a student can be assigned to describe unfamiliar objects using words and expressions they already know.  For example, a student could describe the Viking Lander and a short, squat object with spindly legs that extend from its body at a 45ª angle.  Such a description can convey an accurate image without having any direct familiarity with the object being described.

As with many Second Life venues, Spaceport Alpha has a meeting place where both teachers and students can present projects.  The central location of the meeting place makes it easy for newcomers to find.