more:Michael's research summary:how students react to learining in SL

The reactions of students to learning in SL is as varied as the type of student, and perhaps has more to do with the instructor variable than their prior experience in VWs, their technical expertise, the technical limitations, or their inclination to use play in learning. Some love it. Some hate it, while some don’t know why it’s part of the teaching. The general opinion seems to be that we are preparing for the next generation of students, those that have been living in VWs for a few years, and those to whom it makes perfect sense. It seems that one concern among a portion of current student users is that it takes work to learn in a virtual world. The teacher is asking them to learn new skills, be engaged, move about the world and work with each other. As Kevin says: some students just want to be taught to. They suit up, they show up, they paid for the class, don’t ask them to do stuff. buridan would point out that if SL was being used as a distance classroom, then that is what it will be. If the instruction is aimed at learning objectives that are unique to the virtual environment, those that are present to learn will enjoy all that it entails, while others will take the opportunity to catch up on emails, watch television, and text with their friends, because that is what they would do in a physical classroom anyway.