Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
tant that instructors dress profession-
ally in SL so that the students would
feel comfortable around you. It is
equally important that students dress
appropriately to avoid unnecessary
distractions.
based on UK culture are available for all Second
Life residents registered as Teens” (http://www.
britishcouncil.org/hongkong-english-secondlife.
htm). At the unofficial level, some organizations
have been established to vigorously promote teach-
ing and learning English in Second Life, such as
Second Life English Community (http://slenglish.
ning.com/) and Second Life English Blog (http://
slenglish.ning.com/), aiming to build connection
among English teachers and learners, and to “en-
courage communication and cultural awareness/
understanding”. The potential of SL in English
teaching has also caught attention from English
training business. For example, Avatar English
(http://www.avatarlanguages.com/home.php), an
online company, is using innovative online tools
including virtual worlds, such as Second Life to
help learners learn English. Although the purposes
of those organizations vary, they all use SL a social
environment for language learning, and students
can use their English in very real situations with
real people, similar to as if they were actually
present in an English-speaking country.
As Spanish and Chinese are gaining popular-
ity, there is increasing presence of Spanish and
Chinese teaching and research activities. The
Virtual University Design and technology has built
a Confucius College, their efforts are to “immerse
beginning Chinese language learners into Second
Life Chinese Island (SLCI) for an accredited col-
lege course” (http://vudat.msu.edu/1500/).Their
primary research interests include how location
and dwell time could be designed to be associated
with learner intentional sets for instructors to de-
sign artifacts and material. As it can be predicated
that like English Islands, more and more Chinese
and Spanish Islands, or even some other languages,
such as French and German, will appear in SL and
will taken advantage by more and more foreign
language teachers and learners.
◦
Provide SL orientation training for
new students. A prerequisite for suc-
cessful learning in SL is that students
are familiar with and comfortable in
SL. Therefore, it is important to pro-
vide SL training for new students be-
fore asking them to participate in SL
instructional activities.
◦
Be aware of Copyright issues. Since
there are a great number of resources
available in SL, the educators need
to pay close attention to the copy-
right issues. Besides making research
on copyright issues and “Fair Use”
policy, educators should consult the
copyright experts and make sure not
to violate the copyright law since SL
is a quite new digital medium. Some
related copyright issues will be men-
tioned in the later part of this chapter.
SeCOND LIFe FOR FOReIgN
LANgUAge LeARNINg
english and Other Languages in SL
As English is a popular language in the world,
there is great enthusiasm in the ESL field for Eng-
lish teaching. Three levels of organizations have
been established for and been involved in English
learning: official, unofficial, and business. At the
official level, The British Council has created a
learning zone for both group and independent
learners in the Second Life virtual environment.
Interactive English learning activities and quests
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