Dear Readers,
This post is about 3D Virtual worlds, it’s history, usage in education, and one of its kind named ‘Second Life’.
Due to some studies that I have done related to the 3D virtual worlds, the origination of this three-dimensional environment goes back to 1962 when 
‘Sensorama’ machine was created. This machine created a virtual reality experience with the use of stereo sounding, three-dimensional vision, vibration and etc. Later on the innovation of the internet provided us a new way to be connected to the 3D virtual worlds. 3D virtual environment stands for a virtual world where you can create a virtual character named ‘avatar’, choose clothing for him/her, visit different places and cities, afford houses and vehicles for your avatar and finally communicate with other people’s avatars with the use of chatbox or speech.
Second Life (SL) is an example of this virtual world, which has general function and for public use; that means there is no task to be accomplished by the users and it’s
open to the public. According to the Wikipedia, SL has been used in education in over one hundred various fields. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has been one of the fields to be studied in SL so far. According to three researchers, language improvement by the use of SL can be achieved by utilizing role-plays, task-based approach and vocabulary focused activities. For example Wang et al. (2012) and Peterson (2010) asked their students to accomplish a mission e.g. build a conversation in a bank, travel agency, museum, etc. with the native speakers. Thus, the collaborative and authentic setting for learning the target language were built among their students. Other researchers Milton et al. (2012) and Wang & Shao (2012) emphasized on the vocabulary enhancement after utilizing vocabulary focused activities in SL by giving specific phrases to the students be used in their conversations.
However, there are some drawbacks that teachers should consider when conducting SL courses. Almost all researchers, Wang et al. (2012) and Peterson (2010), have mentioned about the choice of setting and location in SL. Some places and settings, e.g. discos, bars are not appropriate for the young learners. Another challenge is about the lack of non-verbal cues, which will build inefficient conversations. Wang & Shao (2012) also mentioned about the technical obstacles such as providing computers for all learners, inevitable technical problems happening during the course, need for a technical assistance, too much workload for instructors, and entering in SL may be frustrating for novice students.
Overall, using SL for learning language have been succeeded by involving the learners in an authentic environment where they can meet and communicate with native speakers, promote a rich cultural experience, and develop motivation and collaboration in learning. Unfortunately, there has been no evidence and study to be done in the field of education with the use of 3D virtual world in Armenia so far. Thus, Armenian teachers and educators will try to implement this technology in an EFL context to foster students’ motivation and engagement in the learning process in Armenian schools and language centers.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope it was helpful. Follow me on my weekly reflections about new technologies in TEFL.
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