Hit the Ground Running in Second Life

The Next Generation of Digital Learning Spaces Hit The Ground Running In Second Life

Questions:

How long have you been in Second Life?

Never, I didn’t create my account yet.

I’ve created an account but didn’t log in.

I’ve logged in but done nothing.

I’ve completed Orientation Island.

I’ve been exploring but I still consider myself a newbie.

I consider myself past the beginner stage so maybe I’m in the wrong workshop.

What do hope to leave with by the end of the workshop?

Presentation Outline:

What is Second Life?

Why use it in the classroom?

Can I run it on my computer?

How does one get started?

Challenges?

How can I find other educators using Second Life?

Do you have any resources for me?

What’s next?

Heidi Trotta and Nick Noakes Copyright Heidi Trotta, Nick Noakes, 2007. This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors, however, we would be flattered!

What is Second Life?

Online, 3-D interactive space

Downloadable client program

Enables “residents” to interact with each other through avatars

Provides social networking

Residents can explore, meet others, participate in individual and group activities, create, trade items and services from one another

Not a game – a space!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxj8RTW4ev4

Why are you interested in using Second Life in Education?

Engages students

Encourages active learning and collaboration

Brings real world experiences into the classroom via technology

Allows for role-play and the “trying on” of different real-world identities

This content is so dry and boring! So Cool!

Why use Second Life (con’t)?

Adds a sense of presence not available in other online environments

Gives students the ability to interact with others outside of the university community

Creates new landscapes for work, learning, teaching and collaborating

Encourages higher level cognitive skills – interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating and problem solving

Provides an environment for creativity and innovation

Introduction to Second Life – A Movie

Technical Considerations for Education

Account Setup - Challenging

High Learning Curve

Labor Intensive – Processing, Updates, Need Broadband

Online support and scaffolding needed

How do I get started?

Create an account

Login

Movement

Communication

Inventory

Changing your appearance and clothes

Searching

Notecards

How do I get started?

Click the orange Join Now button to create an account – free or $

Download the client and you are ready to go!

How do you move? Fly: Page Up, Page Down Hitch a Ride Walk: Arrow Keys Teleport

Communication - Chat

View > Chat History

Communication – Instant Message

View > Chat History

Changing Your Appearance and Clothes Handout

Your clothes are in your inventory. Find someplace to change that is private! 

Don’t forget to take your current clothes off first by right clicking on yourself, choose “Take Off”.

Find the piece of clothing you want to wear, right click and choose “Wear”.

Search for People, Places, Events Many different options Give items away by dropping on profile here

Search for Groups with Similar Interests – NMC Guests Join

Location Teleport Search for Places - World Map

Find “Notecards” in your inventory, right click and choose “New Note” Knowing how to create a notecard is an important skill in Second Life

Type directly into the notecard and remember to rename your card something that makes sense. Keep your card! Type your content in here!

Just a review …

We have:

Created an account

Logged in

Moved around

Communicated with people near and far

Found items in our inventory

Changed our appearance and clothes

Searched for people, places and events

Created a notecard

Need to improve your performance? Follow the instructions on the next couple of slides .

Windows XP – select

> Right click desktop

> Properties (display)

> Settings tab

> Advanced button

> Troubleshoot tab

> Acceleration = full

>Full hardware acceleration

Adjust to Full

If Second Life does not load, or if you have graphic problems, click on Preferences.

Lower the draw distance

Turn off bumpmapping; lower terrain detail

Turn off anisotropic filtering, reduce settings

http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/NMC2007_Hit_The_Ground_Running

Contacts:

Heidi Trotta (aka Heidi TeeCee) [email_address] Web: www.heiditrotta.com Nick Noakes (aka Corwin Carillon) [email_address] Many thanks to Lyr Lobo for her slides on improving system performance that are included in this presentation.

Questions?