SECOND LIFE FOR TEACHER EDUCATION: Why, What and How

The virtual world of Second Life (SL) is extending the boundaries of when, where and how learning can happen beyond the realm of the traditional classroom. The SL has helped to highlight the wider use of virtual worlds for supporting a range of human activities and interactions for social and educational purposes. One such potential implication is the use of SL for the real world of teacher education. This argument is based on fact that SL allows teachers to create new identities for themselves and have personalized learning experiences. Keeping in view that SL experiences help teachers to improve their teaching in real situations, present paper discusses about the concept and modalities of SL and its implications for the world of teacher education. The discussion mainly revolves around three points i) why second life is useful for teacher education, ii) what opportunities it offered for teacher education, and iii) how to use it for teacher education. As essence, paper suggests a number of globally applicable strategies to ensure and promote the use of SL for betterment of teacher education.