Guess I should've listened to Gibble. My "all-out" display last night on Second Life (SL) got myself into hot water as a received a warning e-mail from the webmaster. Apparently, one community member complained about my, ahem, wardrobe (actually, I dared him/her to do so and he/she called my bluff). Future offenses will result in the suspension of my account. Talk about not having a (second) life, these people!
Anyway, this is exactly what SL does to people, that is, it brings out the child in all of us. I was like a kid in a candy store, running wild and leaving all my inhibitions at the door (literally). SL capitalizes on basic human instincts like the need for socializing and discovering the unknown, satisfying its users by providing them infinite opportunities to mingle and explore. Also, netizens can forever remain anonymous in SL worlds, another must of any cyber-networking tool.
Actually, I find it reassuring that there are people "watching" us and keeping us in line. In a sense, SL emulates the laws of the real world, that its "citizens" cannot really do whatever they desire. If one wants to get down and dirty, they he or she can go to the "mature" sections. I'm glad that I was warned because I was on my way to contaminating the PG-nature of the domain I was in. Teachers, then, should not worry too much about students crossing the line. That being said, Christoph's right in saying that language teachers should have more structured tasks and projects in place for students in case they go around aimlessly. A good langauge practice would be for students to meet different people in different (English) worlds and record their profiles down. There are infinite opportunities for students to learn in SL and teachers must explore it thoroughly before using it with students.
44 lettera presentazione per lavoro
1 year ago
Well I reckon you deserve a beer for that performance !
ReplyDeleteVery interesting experience and yes it is reassuring that members of the SL community self-regulate in this way. Clearly one has to do some serious preparation before letting students loose in SL, so that they really understand the implications of their actions. As for further explorations, I think a good way to begin is to join communities of educators both in SL and outside (e.g. blogs and discussion lists). Searching SL for TESL, EFL, language education and related keywords brings up a lot of potentially intersting groups.
ReplyDeleteReally? I'd better do a search right away.
ReplyDeletewhat an adventurous person...great ....man
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