Second Life as a Forum for foreign language studies

The virtual platform Second Life (SL) is often used for educational purposes. One example is from my own process to study Italian. I participated in an Italian course in Firenze in March. The group continued to work in SL, and we meet virtually every week. SL can be made into a very effective learning space, where students can study with help of pictures, synchronous text and voice chat. They can also visit virtual places, such as Rome, Firenze, Itland etc., meet other people from different countries and use other languages with native speakers. The SL platform is free of charge and the technical requirements are a broadband connection and a headset with a microphone.


Here I am visiting Itland, a site where you can learn how to use Second Life, all in Italian!

Minna Scheinin