Re: General Chit Chat « Result #1 on Jan 15, 2009, 1:24pm »
It is January 15, 2009 and this place is like a tomb or perhaps a very quiet sim. I'm often a late adopter, but it feels like the hordes didn't come ...
Re: Second Life Experiences « Result #2 on Sept 9, 2008, 5:07am »
I just met in my first real class that uses SL as a medium. There are 14 students in the class. At first, I thought the lab was going to be brought to its knees. Instead the performance was quite good with 15 of us logged on.
The students are game programmers. Basically, they are software engineers. They will have to work with Game Designers and artists in their careers. The class is called Game Architecture. SL, without having to buy expensive tools for the class, is the perfect environment to show all the components necessary for putting together an exciting virtual environment. They fumbled around a bit, but the first assignment was to understand all of the components and performance issues surrounding the avatar. We will see how it goes.
Re: Second Life Experiences « Result #3 on Sept 8, 2008, 6:12pm »
In my last class I demoed Second Life and asked the students to write about their first impressions, the similarities and differences between Real Life and Second Life, and their impression of Second Life as a platform to enhance teaching and learning. Here are their first impressions:
Have you ever entered Second Life? YES - 5 NO - 10
==> First impressions:
1-2 word impressions: …interesting …overall curious …awesome …”unreal”
Other impressions: …very different than expected-more realistic …I would like to learn more about it …I like building objects in the sky …different, but similar, to real life …advanced graphics …I could identify as a person in Second Life …chat is nice, so is flying and teleporting …very advanced; interesting if time permitted …still impressed and like it, even with some experience …at first I thought, “what so you do?” then learned to go places that exist both in Real Life and SL …at first I thought, “it is just a game” but it is more than a game
Possible uses: …3D social network …social tool …a game with some actual life applications …so many capabilities …could open many doors in education and training …do not know yet what value it serves …a wide variety of applications …a different way to explore the world
Concerns: …security for confidential information and business transactions?
==> How is Second Life SIMILAR to Real Life?
General impressions: …fairly detached from Real Life …very similar to Real Life
Infrastructure: ...structures are similar to what we use in Real Life – homes, buildings, cars… …locations can be rendered realistically
Capabilities: …you can build objects …you have money and a home …you have the freedom to control what you want to do …you can go anywhere you like
Social structure: …you can have friends and interactions are similar …you are a person that can interact with other people in this world …people have first and last names …there are also rules to follow there …there are consequences to one’s actions …similar to how we communicate in real time
==> How is Second Life DIFFERENT from Real Life?
Infrastructure: …it is virtual …it is missing the physical aspects of Real Life …you see text like names above people
Capabilities: …you can teleport from one location to another …you can look around a whole area while staying in one place …ability to fly and teleport …you can live anywhere …you can have a unique home
Ethical concerns: …Real Life consequences are not there …you cannot die and you cannot get hurt …you could change gender if you want
==> Impressions of Second Life as a platform for teaching and learning:
General impressions: ...a great visual tool ….a great idea …lots of potential …a good learning tool …could learn easier …I can see Second Life as that kind of platform, maybe with more capabilities
Specific advantages/disadvantages: …seems to open up doors to communicate with different people and more than one at a time …useful for remote situations/education (many variables might affect this) …useful for people with disabilities or who cannot attend locations of traditional teaching and learning …great for hands-on learning
Specifics with regards to academic fields of study: …gives a leading edge to some science courses …you can visit different parts of the world …a good tool to show how to draw for graphic artists …a good tool to learn how to program for computer programmers
Questions: …interested in seeing PowerPoint or an educational presentation in Second Life
Re: Second Life Experiences « Result #4 on Sept 8, 2008, 6:07pm »
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." [Elizabeth Barrett Browning]
I celebrated my 1 year anniversary in SL last month, but first experienced virtual environments over 10 years (Active Worlds).
This semester I am co-teaching my second international course that involves SL. See the section on "Education in SL" for details...
I have constantly been astounded at the opportunities that SL has provided me to network in ways that would otherwise, in Real Life, be too expensive, take too much time, or might even be prohibited due to cultural barriers. Let me share a few of my more diverse experiences in that regard:
(1) During the first week of my Second Life I chose an island at random and landed there to look around. It was a living area with nice-looking rented houses and landscapes. I saw a female avatar in her garden and said "hi" and she showed me her garden and house (which felt a bit weird and invasive at the time - I would not have done this with a stranger in Real Life). I discovered that she had a Real Life husband who was in Iraq and that they used Second Life as a way to meet in a more "face-to-face" format than e-mail could provide them...
(2) During my first month in SL I met a little dragon on one of the campuses (I had decided to Search for and visit campuses, though they were mostly deserted - unless you have a plan, "build it and they will come" does not usually translate well in the virtual world; ask the businesses who learned this after spending multi thousands on builds in SL's accelerated version of the dot.com boom and bust last year). It turned out that this dragon was the owner and builder of the sim I was on - to make a long story short, he and I co-taught the international course last Spring on his sim.
(3) Last fall I was visiting a reproduction of the Temple on the Mount (from Herod's day) and was standing at the entrance to the Holy of Holies (you cannot go into the central part of the Temple and there are dress code guidelines) when I met a student of Jewish Studies whose avatar was dressed in Conservative Jewish fashion who was planning to take a trip to Jerusalem this last Spring (I later contacted him about the trip and he had a wonderful time). He asked me if I wanted to see the Ark of the Covenant and led me for an hour and half(!) through the underground catacombs of the build to a room where it was housed (the path has since been simplified).
(4) A couple of months ago I answered a general plea for assistance on the CC International IM. I do not usually do this because it is my experience that there is way too much spamming on these sites and I have more than once almost deleted this Group from my rather limited list that has been maxed for some time. But something told me I should answer this one, so I IM'd the individual. I found out it was a female student at the Arab Open University in Saudi Arabia who was asking for assistance on how to find information to answer some questions for her homework. When I found out her identity I identified myself and asked her if she thought it was okay for her to be talking with me, even if it was only IMing (I have yet to meet her in SL, only text chatted) - she said yes (I have a record of our conversations, by the way - I frequently do this with others as well so I can remember the details of the interactions). In any case, this has led to her offering to show my students this semester around Islamic sims in SL and to possibly collaborating with some computer programming students at my university on a Microsoft contest to develop add-ins for Office 2007.
(5) Through contacts in Mexico I met a professor in France (all within Second Life - I have never met him in Real Life except through real e-mail) who also co-taught the class last Spring. He was so taken this SL that he is planning to have all of his new Freshman get SL accounts and work on projects with international students (some of this students were in the Spring class and he and his students will meet students this semester as well). He also introduced me to some of his colleagues and we are planning another course next semester where he will take the lead and I will schedule my class around his... [Oh... one of his experiences is playing for an international hockey team in SL since he does the same in Real Life!]
SL Performance & Technical Issues « Result #5 on Sept 7, 2008, 12:20pm »
Some times we all experience technical issues in one way, shape, or form. Many tend to blame the issues on Linden labs. Yes, they have their share of the blame, but it is not always the fault of Linden Labs. Post your issue, and hopefully someone will get back to you. BUT, if you found something ahead of time, please share it with our members.
SL - Does Anyone Have? « Result #6 on Sept 7, 2008, 12:17pm »
Hey, we all have an inventory full of assets. We have all done something in SL here and there that can be shared with others. If you need something, check here to see if anyone has it. If you have something, mention it here. Maybe someone can use it.
Second Life Experiences « Result #9 on Sept 7, 2008, 12:13pm »
Use this area to post your experiences with SL. Sl claims that 14 plus million residents have signed on since inception. Reviewing the statistics, one can clearly see that at least (give or take) 13 million are dead and gone for good. What are the issues? What are the good points? What can be changed to make it better?
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