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Learning English is one of the favourite Spanish resolutions that we leave unfulfilled. Who can afford a couple of months to go to Ireland, United Kingdom or United States? Who has the money to afford such an investment? Now, we can make an immersive way … without leaving home!

Second Life (with sites like Avatar English) will allow us to make language courses from our computer. There are obviously ways to learn English at a distance, but not with the advantages that gives us a virtual world such as Second Life.

We wouldn’t hold that travelling abroad to learn a language is an outdated and obsolete experience. Far from it. We only open the door to language training to many people who couldn’t afford such an immersive experience in real world

There are also people who have had a negative experience: one course in London which was a total failure that cost dearly: a whole month there attending endless boring classes.

Second Life will allow us to:

-Experience a feeling of immersion and real presence. Our avatar can practice with native teachers of English being anywhere in the world. We will have the feeling of being personally with them. Just like a real class.

-Voice. We can talk in real time with the attendees. We can talk, discuss, and transmit information.

-We may use whiteboards, videos, Power Point documents … all attendess work on them in real time.

Flexibility and tailored teaching.

If you want to travel and soak in a different culture, do it, but it’s nice to know that to learn a language in an immersive way it is no longer necessary to travel.

Compártelo

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The first time is important. As in other spheres of life, an initial negative experience in Second Life is likely to scare the new user for good. Therefore, for the first time, we must prepare everything with special attention.

If we fail here, it’s easy that the user will end up thinking that SL is immature or that the technological barrier is too high…

Experience is a degree and our team is accumulating experiences that allow us to sketch a brief guide to ensure the success of the first time in Second Life:

1. Create the avatar of the client before the first meeting. This is a valuable time-saver, because we may begin directly our meeting.

2. We will ensure that the rooky meets the requirements: USB-headset, ,inimum requirements of the computer.
3. Check the computer of the new user personally, if possible.
4. Trying to to be successful in a training course on SL inside SL for a group of beginners is a lottery. It will work if we do it with one person.
5. Cut and clear lessons: use the cameraa – sit down and chat-speak
6. Once in Second Life go immediately to our virtual premises, sit down and begin to talk. Don’t allow them to fly around with no control.
7. When we session ends, invite them to revisit the sim and to keep practicing.

Compártelo

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Second Life is popularly known as the virtual space where everyone can be someone else and enjoy a virtual parallel life. Thanks to the Creator (Linden Labs) Second Life allows us to save time, save money and improve communication

I have to confess that this social dimension of Second Life does not interest me at all. I find it Insubstantial and boring. Watch out, I am speaking now from my personal perspective as a user, not as director of DOT: if you want to hire us to to develop in the social arena in Second Life, I am loving it.

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The social dimension of Second Life seems to me insubstantial and boringt. Thanks to the Creator (Linden Labs), Second Life is also an infrastructure for building 3D virtual meeting spaces.

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And I do not like wasting time. My interest in fantasy virtual Second Life did not survive the second day. In the second session had exhausted my initial enthusiasm for virtual cities, digital stores, the Bailongo the charlita light and even virtual sex.

Fortunately, the infrastructure of Second Life 3D allows us to save the distance collaboration within virtual spaces and we also have some interesting training opportunities distancia.Si no, not here.

Compártelo

According to the International Congress and Convention, companies in the world spend spend 107 billions of dollars a year just in sending employees to conventions and conferences. 1,243,600 events of this kind are held in the world last year. These data reflect only a small part of the overall costs of business travel.

Second Life will allow us to save much of our travel costs without sacrificing the frequency and quality of our meetings.

Thanks to the 3D technology of Second Life we can hold public or private spaces for communication, collaboration and learning. This allows us to briefly hold meetings at a distance and therefore helps us save time and money on travel, accommodation and the like.

The experience of meeting in Second Life is an acceptable substitute for the meeting in the real world. It is equivalent in many ways to video-conferencing, which is is much more expensive and complex.

• 1243600 conventions and conferences annually

• 107 billion dollars spent annually

Within a virtual classroom or a virtual meeting room, we meet other people who come to the reunion. Or rather, we meet with avatars (our alter egos in Second Life). We listen and talk, we sit and get up, gesturing a little, we see a video or use a whiteboard or PowerPoint documents.

Once you have a suitable space for meetings (that’s our job), participants need only an Internet connection and headphones with microphone (from approx 12 euros). Renting a space in Second Life ranges from 50 € to 200 €.

Compártelo

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Imagine you get to reduce your CO2 emissions by half because you can prepare your meetings in SL. In addition to saving time and money, one can be proud of collaborating in keeping the environment.

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Of course, we are not talking about the recreational use of SL, but about virtual meetings and training.

How many car and plane miles you do per month during your meetings outside the office? Those who drive are arguablye the most “dangerous” for the environment: they travel alone. But, watch out, do not trust the plane because, although shared, it contributes to the emission of CO2 (between 7 and 10 liters of fuel per 100 km. Per passenger). Imagine, so, that you might cut by half the CO2 emissions because you can prepare those meetings in SL.

Indeed, this may not be the most compelling reason to encourage someone to use SL in their work, but obviously the virtual meetings of Second Life are contributing too.

Compártelo