Purpose of the Second Life activity

To enable TESOL professionals to make a considered judgment about the use of the virtual world, Second Life, as an environment for language learning and teaching.

Activity schedule

1. Preparation (2 weeks)
- Discussion forum - sharing useful information/ resources/ links about Second Life
- Sharing information on our experiences in Second Life (if any)
- At the end of this stage you can decide whether you want to proceed or not.

2. Getting started in Second Life (1 week)
- Get a free Second Life account. (We will provide instructions and support.)
- Create your avatar and practise basic movement and communication skills in SL. (We will provide instructions; you can also ask questions and discuss issues in the discussion forum.)
- Schedule your individual or group visits to various language learning/ teaching sites in Second Life to observe an EFL class. (We will provide some links here.)

3. Second Life visit(s) (2 weeks)
- Visit(s) to various SL language learning environments and class observations as per schedule.

4. Discussion/ reflection (1 week)
- Share your thoughts and feelings on the use of Second Life as an environment for EFL teaching in discussion forum
- Discussion: what follow-up would you like to do as a group?
- Participate in interviews with DUCKLING researcher

Gabi Witthaus