Give Your Language

Class a SecondLife

Edo ForsytheNational Cryptologic School

edosan@gol.comAvatar: Iwakihiro Rozensztok

What’ll we do today?

Audience Pulse Check What is SecondLife? Ideas for Including SL in your Curricula Sharing of Your Ideas and Experiences Q&A

What do you know about SecondLife?◦ Who has been in-world before? Often? Once or

twice?◦ Who’s here to see what SL & virtual worlds are all

about?◦ Who uses SL in their language classes already?

Audience Pulse Check

Let’s tailor our session to YOUR needs!

Newcomers to SecondLifeGo to www.secondlife.com and

click on the link to join.

High-speed Internet connection◦Cable / DSL or Broadband

New-ish Computer◦Any computer 3-yrs old or less should have

no problems; for older systems, the processor & video card are key for enjoyable experience in-world

Works on both PC and Mac

Check out http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php

for specific details

What do you need?

Download the program (free!)

Create an Avatar and join the fun

You can change your appearance

later on!

Meet Iwakihiro Rozensztok

Plenty of Support is there for You

You know what it is, so how can you use

SecondLife in your language curricula?

Tips for in-world activities are included in your handout

Oddball Writing Activities

There are thousands of locations in SL and each one can be a learning experience. I found this unusual scene while exploring SL one day. My first thought was that I can have my students search out unusual things in SL and write about them in their target language.

Scavenger HuntsStudents can explore the whole world from in front of their computer: Moscow’s Red Square, a Day-of-the-Dead celebration, the White House, and much more. One easy activity is a scavenger hunt. In the Russian Archipelago, I found a sign inviting people to a wedding and touching it transports people (if they desire) to a Russian wedding office (the official place of legal weddings which also provide small parties for a price). The clue I gave for this location was “find a place where people’s lives are bound together and follow the link to join the party” (in Russian, of course).

SL Pre-lesson Activities

Before introducing a new idea or bit of culturally relevant information to the class, you can sometimes send them into SL to explore the virtual version of the topic. The wedding invitation mentioned above can also be used to get students thinking about how different weddings are in different countries.

Content-based SL TasksSome sites within SL have been created with the intent of providing an educational experience. After some exploration by teachers, students can be sent to these places for content-based learning.

Teen SecondLifeSeparate area for teens (made for teens 13 – 17 years old)

Safe and secure environment without adult content

Teachers can also gain access to Teen SL(must have own private island)

Check out http://teen.secondlife.com/

How have you given your classes a SecondLife?

Questions or Comments?

Join us for a SecondLife-

based Education

Conference in May!

Contact me with questions or for copies of this presentation: Edo

Forsythe (edosan@gol.com) or in-world as Iwakihiro Rozensztok