Not losing ourselves to a world beyond our own

I think that there is great wisdom in our tradition in placing most emphasis on the here and now and not focusing all that much of the hereafter. God placed us in this world so that we should watch over it and take care of it and serve God through it. I feel it a shame that we feel the need to send out students into virtual worlds in order to peak their interest or broaden their horizons. Why can't we have our students engage in the world that is all around them rather than sinking into an alternate world like Second Life. I stop and wonder as to whether SL is yet another human attempt at creating the Tower of Bavel. Tyring to become creators and controlers of our environment rather than having to live in the world that God has given us as it is where we are not in control. By losing ourselves to SL we can escape our own realities. Why do we need to visit virtual Rome? Why not either visit the real Rome or else spend more time focusing on actually paying a bit of attention to the towns and cities that are right around us. Instead of learning about poverty in Africa through SL, why not have our students volunteer at the local soup kitchen? Rather than learning how to interact with an Avatar, why don't we spend more time face to face with our students helping them learn how to interact with each other?