"Second Life" Life in the virtual classroom

"Second Life" Life in the “virtual classroom”

Today I would like to share my feelings about a virtual game called "Second Life". In order to understand its benefit and harm in case of using in an EFL classroom I decided to play it myself first.  During playing the game I experienced both some beneficial and also disturbing procedures. There are many opportunities given in this virtual field that can be used for collaborative work. The audio and written chat settings let the students connect with each other, and why not, also people from different countries that allow them communicate and practice the language freely in addition to that getting acquainted with other cultures. While I was playing the game I managed to talk to people from Russia, Spain and Australia and ask some questions connected with the game and they suggested the links to places they liked. Moving from one place to another and discovering new places will be interesting to teenage and adult students which also I think can improve their creative thinking and problem solving skills. They may also share their feelings with their classmates, as well as with the teacher getting some advice and feedback from her. So, as we can see if not the whole but the part of the classroom procedure can be spent in the “virtual classroom” with unusual conditions (E.g. students can be at the seaside or on a dance floor). All these things sound perfect and joyful learning atmosphere but there may also be some negative influence of teaching through virtual games.

The first and important problem I faced during the game which I think my students will probably face in the future too was the pace and the quality of the game. I think it can depend on both my computer and the internet connection. I had to wait for a long time for my avatar to move or change the clothes or car or to type a message to a person because he/she answered immediately and I was hardly typing for five minutes because of the pace. I think the latter can be a serious reason for some teachers that will not use this type of teaching tool in their classroom in Armenia because this problem is common here and also having lack of computers in many schools of Armenia this is hardly going to become commonly used technology tool here. But anyway I hope that someday I can use this type of games in my teaching without having fears that my students will face problems with it.