Second Life Skills 3

Building in SL is exciting and always a challenge. Being a perfectionist I want it to look right. Sometimes I give up. Lack of time or necessity to be precise. I stayed away from scripting as I did from programming in RL. That 's a job for another type of expert. 3Greeneggs however provides a very simple tool for making very simple scripts. A good start to begin to understand its syntax.

Second Life Skills 2

Very young children do not seem to worry about top or bottom of a page in a picturebook. They 'read' upside down if necessary. They start copying our way of doing when they start to recognise the meaning of text. Teens in Second Life can listen to somebody while floating in the air, focus on building and chat to peers. All at the same time. There seems to be no need to confine them to a room for learning SL skills.

Second Life Skills 1

Flying is fun, it has speed, you travel fast and you meet the birds. It is also very practical in navigation. Much easier than walking. But the ability to fly does not automatically brings the skill of recognizing buildings from its rooftops, as you would expect. We are used to store data on the fronts. Windows, doors, colour of wood or stone. Trees, porches, size of the bell, and so on. How long will it take me to master the skill to spot the right rooftop to land?

Mad Hatter?

I like wearing a hat. It is comfortable, has a certain style, is distinct and also shows a bit of extravaganza. In short: it is an expression of myself. I want this world to see my hat. So do I in RL. I only just really thought about it writing this little article and thinking about one of the most interesting outcomes of my interviews. SL as an expression of ourselves.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

My second Christmas in - world. This tree can be found in Second Russia and you can sit in it, anywhere you like. I met a lot of people in Second Life this past year during my survey and in my interviews. Great people, great projects, great expectations. My best wishes to all of you and I hope to meet you again in 2008.

(Second) Life Skills learned in SL

Sometimes work is a burden but accompanied by Zotarah it becomes a feast for the mind and the eye. Snowfire was there too, a fine horse and very quiet. We talked about her experiences with students and teens about life - skills. What is learned in Second Life can be transfered to real life as they are emotional - and cognitive experiences. We sometimes express ourselves in other, may be more open ways in SL than we would in RL. What do we learn by doing that, and how can it help us teaching about identity and self esteem?

Second Home: historic game on line

Being who I am I had to google: second home and look what I found! A German organisation facilitates the use of a web-enabled game called Second Home. It is a historic game, set in the 16th century about trade, church and kings in three languages: English, French and German. It's free and fun for all, allthough I doubt if the interface will satisfy game-wise kids in Europe or the rest of the world.

My cottage in SL

I have spot in RL where I relax by cutting wood and making a campfire whenever I am there. Since last week I 'own' a Second Home in SL, 100 footsteps from the Pacific on a beautiful island. It is a joy to meet people, make new friends and share thoughts with them and I strongly believe SL enables that. It was fun decorating it and shop for furniture and other stuff. Sl allows you to set one Home in the landmarks, so I have to make a decision which of the too will be home or office.

Missed an interview

Missed an appointment because the grid was down, longer than expected. Finding Avatars, outside SL is not always an easy task but the effort is almost always worth the try. Accidentily I stumbled upon this site. Islab, a search engine in RL that searches the in-world databases. Comes in handy when you do not want or can enter SL.

Quite Early One Morning

Meeting people is always fun. Fleet helped me to find people to complete the interviews in my research. Almost finished this part but I need some more K12 teachers to balance with all those from HE and University. Fleet enjoys an early morning rest and beautiful view on one of the many peaks in the SL landscape.