I spent a couple of hours in SL though most of the time I was playing with changing the image of my avatar. Actually, I am not quite satisfied with what I have got.
But this activity has an educational potential for a teacher of English as it covers a range of topics from clothes to appearance. A word or a word combination is accompanied by a picture illustrating the notion. For example, parts of body are given with descriptive words. So while creating an avatar a student will naturally memorise thematic vocabulary.
I went to Germany, and as far as I am learning German I found this environment very useful as there were a lot of texts around studying which I practiced reading comprehension. Munich is a city interesting as a country study object and this virtual visit improved my knowledge of the peculiarities of the city. Similary, if a student from an English language class will go to SL London he/she will learn a lot as it will be an interactive 3D picture. Setting tasks will make such a visit meaningful. From a point of view of a language teacher SL is a valuable teaching tool.
However, I felt a bit lonely. When I entered SL people were busy, and when I left for Munich I found myself absolutely alone there.
So my aim is to find a more crowded place to have some interactions and to observe what others are doing in SL.
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I will have to visit SL London and have a look. I agree there's lots you can do with it for learning language, but I found all the appearance stuff a waste of time because it's not fun for me, but I guess young adults and teenagers would enjoy it
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