Second Life...What's out there. Check this out and you can see what I did when I explored Second Life. I learned that you can't just run around all the time.

1. Become a Producer:
What is out there
Erik Chocianowski

2. Unique Opportunities
Where can you ride a mechanical zebra, take a
tour of the Starship Enterprise and DJ in a record
store?

3. Second Life!
Second life offers so much! It’s
immersive environment gives users
unique audio, visual and video
experiences.
Everything is grounded in rules and
adherence to the rules enables
everyone to get along nicely.
I ran around in the Star Trek area and
got kicked out! I ended up in Korea?!
It didn’t say North or South but
because I got out I assume South?
(Don’t worry, I apologized to the
owner and am allowed back)
Inside Korea.
I constantly either run around
in Second Life or fly, clearly
against the rules in the Star
Trek island. I got scolded by
the owner via text. Since then,
me and Wabisabi Matahari
have reconciled. Sorry Wabbi!

4. Star Trek Museum
So, one of the values that I see in
Second Life is the ability to create an
environment that utilizes rule structures.
Students can learn the purposes in
creating rules to ensure that there is
order in a society.
I’m thinking very Hammurabi’s Code.
Break the rules and you will be
punished.
Do you want to visit this amazing 3d
environment?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/N
ew%20Eridani/245/214/512
There is the obvious benefit of seeing
modeling in an immersive environment
to tell a story but I’ll get to that more
later. Hope I don’t “ruin” anything!
This shuttle tour in the Star
Trek world was gorgeous. A
lot of stuff for Trekkies. Just
be sure not to run.

5. Curator Anyone?
Second Life has some amazing
art spaces where art is gathered
and presented in a museum! All
from the comfort of your home…
or classroom.
I visited the Degas Museum and
marveled at the work.
Students can exercise cognitive
skills found within Bloom’s
Taxonomy. Collecting, analyzing
and ordering are all things that
he stressed.
Wanna visit?
http://maps.secondlife.com/seco
ndlife/Linked%20Hearts/49/155/2
1/
Authentic museum environment,
down to the exterior
architecture. Did I mention that
its always open?

6. Getting Down to Business
Students can even learn about
business. I immediately thought of this
when I saw all of the billboards and
advertisements that were up in
Bittr.End. What an experience in
learning how to run a store!
This was echoed in the article about
the Georgia school district that used
virtual environments to teach about all
sorts of things. Business, volcanoes,
the Cold War. They are using this
resource for different purposes.
Wanna visit Bittr.End?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/
Phoenix%20Fantastic/219/107/21
The Bitter End? I don’t think so.
Something reminded me of
Times Square here. Maybe not.

7. Where’s Socrates?
I visited ruins and immediately
thought of a great artistic application.
This can totally be used to teach set
design. Students can see
themselves in the ruins, notice subtle
details and envision how they can
make environments like this in
theater or any other set design.
They can even use this as a design
area and see how things fit together!
Making something authentic would
make you expect to see Socrates or
Plato!
Visiting ruins? Follow the link:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MI
C/200/188/38
Sorry about the bad “ruin” joke
in the Star Trek slide. I’m
trying.

8. Authentic Learning
On a serious note, I visited the Holocaust
Museum. There is some powerful stuff there.
Again, Second Life is great for an immersive
environment.
This was the best designed environment. Going
beyond a textbook in the classroom, this
environment was modeled to look like Jewish
areas in the 1930’s that were subject to Nazi
persecution.
To add another wrinkle to this, there is audio in
areas that are cued to your arrival that explain
from first hand witnesses what was happening.

9. Holocaust Museum
This is a street that shows the exterior of a synagogue that
caught on fire. When you step into the burning building, you can
see the destruction inside. Very moving. If you visit anywhere for
a beautiful exhibit, visit this:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/US%20Holocaust%20Mus
eum1/97/100/27

10. Conclusion
Second life can be home to some amazing
experiences, some of which can be silly or
solemn.
One thing is sure, the environment that this
virtual reality can create is excellent for
supplementing education.
As evidenced in the article about Forsythe
Schools, it is the very useful and capable of
entralling students. With this you can craft a new
generation into thoughtful producers from
passive consumers.