Yeah, teaching a language with absolutely no control of whatever the kids are learning... sounds like fun yarr matey!

I'm currently getting a C- in my English class I need for graduation because I made fun of Second Life for not being a real game and made fun of Furries because some groups go outside the bounds for reasonable tolerance.

I guess he took offense.

Lets see them take it to the next level: for 250xp Timmy, please spell 'pwnage' then use it in a sentence.

As someone who teaches English as a second language, for a living, I have to say that I think the next ten years will see my occupation pretty much obsolete, as technology and AI advances.

Now they have to worry about their students being raped by virtual furries.

@uranutan:

Go to hell. I'm a furry, and I'm proud.

"I once dressed up as a pirate, had a ship and everything. I was kind of rough on the students," he admits. "I put some of them in cages, and had them confront language in a shock-and-awe kind of way. They seemed to like it, and they learned all sorts of new words, like 'loot' and 'booty.'"

You know, if you hadn't told me that was about teaching language, I totally would've misinterpreted that quote. Do I have a sick mind or is that quote swimming with sexual innuendo?

@Kitsunexus: I couldn't tell by the "Kistune" in your name

High-Tech Heretic by Clifford Stoll is an excellent book critical of the whole 'computers in school' push. I won't go into details but he has very valid points.

He recently did a TED talk which is on the 'tube called "Clifford Stoll: 18 minutes with an agile mind" well worth your time if you're interested. :)

@Jeff Paine: oops typo >_>

Currently writing an undergraduate sociology thesis on Second Life and use of language. Maggie, what are you doing in my head?!

@Cruithne: Buck up, friend! You'll be fine. Honestly.

People have tried time and again to get technology into the classroom in some form or another...some of it rightly succeeds, and some of it rightly fails. Fortunately, the teacher him or herself will never be replaced...or should I say, SHOULD never be replaced. The reason for this is that when children are at school they learn a whole lot more than just what's being taught to them. They learn comradarie, friendship, and other valuable social skills applicable to real life. They learn how to pay attention to a speaker, and how to show respect for an elder and/or for someone more skilled than they. In short, they learn social dynamics. Although these skills are primarily taught through parents, the influence of a school should not be underestimated. It is for this reason that teachers, classrooms, or the (ahem, bad pun ahead) old school methods should not be replaced. Virtual classrooms and computerized professors may be a step in the wrong direction.

Now, don't get me wrong...I'll for the computer as a teaching aid, and e-mailing papers is a lot easier than handing them to someone...but as long as the technology is relegated to the role of tool, and doesn't become the environment's definition, we'll be fine.

*I'm ALL FOR the computer....gah typos...

What a great place to learn a new language! I can learn new English words while immersed in a world of e-prostitutes and penis vendors. What a wonderful utopia of of pornography Second Life is. The perfect place to learn and grow as an individual!
Way to go Boahn!

Why does Second Life get all the media attention when There has been running some places for awhile?

When I went back to school taking night classes last year one of my classes was in second life. Worst experience ever. I hate second life. I am unsure how I'd feel about it otherwise, because I'd never used it until then, but the experience definitely left a negative impression on me.

@Cruithne: As a former EFL instructor and graduate student studying Instructional Technology and Media, I think the role of the teacher will change with new usage of technology, but you will not become obsolete. Not yet at least. :-)

I think the emerging practices of using virtual worlds for teaching language specifically are interesting but we certainly have to have a sharp eye in how we are designing these worlds and (if in a game context) what it is about the game mechanics that are leading to learning. Why and how.

Enagement is good and all but it isn't the only thing that leads to meaningful learning. That said I'd have to take a closer look at what they are doing with Second Life and instruction to come up with a more specific answer.

"Billy! Stop launching flying penises in class!"

He needs to teach in schools, soon children will come home knowing how to say "Arrr, I want be pillagin' that buxom lasses' poopdeck. Let's get some grog and find some bootey!"

I would love to agree with you guys, but I'm sorry, the future is written, and it's AI driven.
It's all about the economics, English teachers are just too damn expensive. It costs a company here in France roughly 70 euros per hour for an English lesson, that's about 100 dollars per hour if we covert it at current exchange rates.

I believe the market will drive the push for a technological alternative.

Or, we could all speak the same language and become incredibly wealthy due to the efficiency, end poverty, end the aids crisis in Africa, etc.

If all of humanity could communicate with a unified language, it would be the end of starvation.

Only if the language was Socialism...

;p

@Kitsunexus:

awww, is someone butthurt? I see you type but all I see is BAWWWWWWWWWWW

@Cruithne:

100 bucks an hour? Man, I picked the wrong line of work. :P (Or maybe not based on what you are saying)

@jello44: Flipping burgers is a bitch huh? BAWWWWWWWWWW

@TC: I think hes a prostitute, and knows all about the butthurt himself. BAWWWWWWWWWWWW

@jello44: Awww is someone commenting? Cuz all I see is BANHAMMER.

@Kitsunexus: Careful. I think Kotaku bans furries just 'cause... ;)

Dear God. Hopefully this doesn't catch on. I don't want to see a future where every person learning English ends up speaking in some odd dialect of LolCat.

@lasttimeyouaskedme: Oh, yeah. A single language would be GREAT. Destroy half of the world's culture while you're at it. Oh, and by the way, people should be efficient in learning other languages. Just because english is the main language nowadays, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way for long. This kind of thing has been going on for centuries, languages change, and people change. But unless you want Newspeak, which would destroy us as individuals, hold onto that spanish and french dictionaries and try to learn something, dammit.

@psycoking: I can has good grades naow? alrite kthnx.

Second life must be good for something, cus' it's surely not good for having fun.

@Xenocide: Yiffing. I think that's it.

@Kitsunexus: You are why I hate furries. Unlike any other groups with odd fetishes, furries can't handle that their interests are considered strange and disgusting my most non-furries. You don't see people with necrophilia fetishes complaining about people finding that gross, do you?