Second Life and ESL Instruction - Kotaku Comments

Second Life and ESL Instruction

uranutan — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:38:44 MDT

@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?

uranutan

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Captain Impulse — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:23:13 MDT

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

Captain Impulse

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Xenocide — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:12:58 MDT

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

Xenocide

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Antihippy — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:51:15 MDT

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

Antihippy

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Ashurahori — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:49:03 MDT

@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.

Ashurahori

Second Life and ESL Instruction

psycoking — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:16:41 MDT

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.

psycoking

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Captain Impulse — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:15:22 MDT

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

Captain Impulse

Second Life and ESL Instruction

DaveKap — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:46:29 MDT

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

DaveKap

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Komrade_Kayce — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:32:04 MDT

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

Komrade_Kayce

Second Life and ESL Instruction

TC — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:17:09 MDT

@jello44: Flipping burgers is a bitch huh? BAWWWWWWWWWW

Second Life and ESL Instruction

jello44 — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:29:39 MDT

@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

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Cruithne — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:00:20 MDT

Only if the language was Socialism...

Cruithne

Second Life and ESL Instruction

lasttimeyouaskedme — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:55:43 MDT

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.

lasttimeyouaskedme

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Cruithne — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:13:58 MDT

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.

Cruithne

Second Life and ESL Instruction

lwelyk — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:04:20 MDT

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!"

lwelyk

Second Life and ESL Instruction

ShaggE — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:57:01 MDT

"Billy! Stop launching flying penises in class!"

ShaggE

Second Life and ESL Instruction

orangewarp — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:43:48 MDT

@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.

orangewarp

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Strange Bedfellows — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:00:59 MDT

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.

Strange Bedfellows

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Codexx — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:45:46 MDT

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

Codexx

Second Life and ESL Instruction

FiendishMoogle — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:09:09 MDT

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!

FiendishMoogle

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Cogito — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:55:01 MDT

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

Cogito

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Cogito — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:54:04 MDT

@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.

Cogito

Second Life and ESL Instruction

myDingling — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:46:04 MDT

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

myDingling

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Jeff Paine — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:39:36 MDT

@Jeff Paine: oops typo >_>

Jeff Paine

Second Life and ESL Instruction

vincevl — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:39:03 MDT

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. :)

vincevl

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Jeff Paine — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:31:25 MDT

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

Jeff Paine

Second Life and ESL Instruction

bangbangblah — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:31:11 MDT

"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?

bangbangblah

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Kitsunexus — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:28:45 MDT

@uranutan:

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

Kitsunexus

Second Life and ESL Instruction

uranutan — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:24:30 MDT

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

uranutan

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Cruithne — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:22:16 MDT

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.

Cruithne

Second Life and ESL Instruction

gmorningdave — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:16:32 MDT

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

gmorningdave

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Blinkman — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:14:05 MDT

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.

Blinkman

Second Life and ESL Instruction

Vidunder — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:09:42 MDT

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

Vidunder