Virtual Worlds Resources

"Virtual World Language Education: Information, publications, presentations, videos, audios, links and much more - all in a wiki."

A virtual world is an immersive online environment whose "residents" are avatars representing individuals who participate through

the Internet. Many institutions are experimenting with virtual worlds for educational purposes. They may foster constructivist learning

by placing students in a context that challenges them to learn without explicit learning objectives and assessment.

Second Life is a virtual world with tens of millions of square meters of virtual lands, more than 13 million “residents,” and a thriving

economy. Large numbers of colleges and universities—or, in some cases, individual departments or faculty—are active in Second Life,

not only for academic purposes but also for campus visits, recruiting activities for prospective students, and fundraising. Second Life

lets educators easily build and modify learning spaces to test how different strategies for a physical space affect learning, and a

similar approach can be taken toward educational activities in those spaces.

Articles

Unreal World: Second Life Adds New Dimensions to Second Language Study. The Language Educator, ACTFL, February 2008.