Update

Having done some reading I am beginning to formulate a plan about my project.

A:

The Online Learning Idea Book (2007) Shank.P (eds) suggests that a mini-quest activity should involve:

1. Scenario - which will establish the context of the quest

2. Task - which should be scaffolded by the tutor and which will signpost learners to the content

3. Product

I feel this can be adapted for a quest in SL. The scenario can be established on the Facebook page and will lead students to the location in SL. The task will be in SL which will hopefully lead to collaborative learning and will allow for discovery. As suggested by Calongne (2008) "successful virtual world class experience requires a blend of technology, tools, content, student ownership..feedback" which will become the core of the task. Production could be displayed 'in world' in SL but  some of the students will be completely new to SL so this may require skills above their level. Therefore, production could be part SL and part facebook and this creates a platform for feedback in facebook too.

B:

The only other avenue for research at the moment is in 'situated learning'. I have been looking at the possibility of having 'business English' tasks in SL (eg an interview room) or similar. In terms of general EFL, there are so many scenarios that could be created, bank, shop etc that for the amount of use the students would get from them, I don't think it would be worthwhile. However, I feel I need to explore this avenue a little more before I settle on an idea.