If you are a decision maker in the field of education, here you will find a few quick links that will direct you to the answers of your most urgent questions:

Q1: Why should I do it?

You will find a concise description of the possiblities and added value of using virtual worlds in education in the first 4 sections of the following Avalon report:

>> http://avalon.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/AVALON_Second_Life_Report.pdf

Further information is also provided in section 1 of our ‘Guidelines for Educators’:
>> http://avalonlearning.pbworks.com/w/page/33196685/Deliverable2_Guidelines_to_educators

Q2: Can I do it?

In order to find out if your technological infrastructure is able to handle virtual worlds like Second Life, please check out
>> http://avalonlearning.pbworks.com/w/page/7682863/Troubleshooting-in-institutional-contexts

If you are not sure if your teaching staff is capable and willing to support this idea, contact Dr. Gary Motteram from the University of Manchester for a teacher-training course that is tailored individually to the specific needs of your institutions.
gary.motteram@manchester.ac.uk

Q3: What’s the risk?

We have identified four areas of risk you may want to consider:

Technical risk:
Address the risk of weak technical infrastructure by testing your infrastructure on time. More information on this: http://avalonlearning.pbworks.com/w/page/7682863/Troubleshooting-in-institutional-contexts

Student computer interaction risk:
We suggest you reduce it by student’s proper technical initiation and appropriate support staff
(more info on that: http://avalonlearning.pbworks.com/w/page/7682825/Introductory-Multimedia-kit-for-learners)

Learner participation risk:
Make sure, the content is meaningful to your students and that you exploit emotional impact of teamwork (follow the link ‘resources for teachers and learners’ / ‘Models of language learning in virtual worlds’ for more info)

Virtual world risk:
Choose the right virtual world for your needs ( http://avalonlearning.pbworks.com/w/page/7682863/Troubleshooting-in-institutional-contexts
Section 4 through to 9)