Preparing Course Content Suitable for SL.Familiarising yourself with the Environment.Molka-Danielsen & Deutschmann (2009) had outlined five steps in preparation for teaching in Second Life The teachers have to be very comfortable in the environment first before they can teach. If you are familiar with MMORPG type of game, adjusting to walk around in an avatar is easy, however if this is the first time you walk around in a virtual world, it takes time to adjust to the avatar, and even the idea of going around as an avatar. As educators, I found it take can be intimidating for some people. Teaching in second life is not without challenge. Tasks that encourage exploration of existing artefacts.Task that use SL as a space for cross-linguistic and inter-cultural contact.Tasks that use SL as a space for navigation and movement.Tasks that use SL as a source of information.Tasks that encourage artistic expression or representation.Tasks that explore cultural norms and values.Tasks that are embedded in socail interaction.Tasks that enable learners to share and build on their knowledge.The social/communicative/cognitive dimension.Molka-Danielsen & Deutschmann (2009) had suggested that beyond replicate traditional classroom language teaching, there are additional suitable tasks specifically for language learner and educator for teaching in Second Life: You can take your students to any popular tourist spots around the world. But this can be easily done in Second life. For example, if you are teaching a tour guide English training course, it is impossible to take the students to visit all different locations in real life. Furthermore, virtual world can provide even better experience in teaching and learning. Teachers can constructed the lessons exactly the same as face-to-face traditional classroom if that is desired. I found Second Life is very effective in language teaching. It is managed by a community of educators, focusing on using virtual world in teaching and learning of languages. If you have not had the chance to visit EduNation Islands in Second Life, this is a great place to meet fellow educators.
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