New to Second Life

Where do you start once you have left Orientation Island and entered the world of Second Life. It can be very confusing and strange. Here are a few tips and Sl places that you might want to take a look at.

For more newbie and How-To information, check out the Second Life wiki:
http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/?page=How-Tos


Second Life Beginner’s Checklist
http://sliki.info/wiki/Blueman%27s_Starter_Checklist


New to Second Life
http://sliki.info/wiki/Main_Page


New Citizens Plaza is one of the first places to visit as a newcomer to Second Life.Here is the SLURL for "New Citizens Plaza":
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuula%20/54/175/29/
New Citizen's is a place designed to help new users in SL. All services and classes here are offered for free. There is even a small collection of freebies, including avatar skins, clothing, hair, shoes, and gadgets. There are "notecards" available all over with information on everything from adjusting your appearance to getting money in SL. There are also “NCI Helpers” available if you had any questions or need some extra help.

The Shelter is another place (besides the official Help and Welcome areas) that you may want to visit.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isabel/38/231/80/
Here you will find freebies, a dance floor with residents dancing in-sync, a second floor where many events and games are held , and most importantly, newbie-friendly residents who love nothing better than to help you get started on your Second Life.

Free Dove is a place to go if one of your first priorities is getting your appearance in order. That means getting together items to wear, preferably for free. Click on the Search button at the bottom of your screen, select the "Places" tab, enter "free dove" in the "Find:" box, and click the "Teleport" button.
Here is the SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallii/113/53/33/
Free Dove has rows of tables covered with boxes from various SL vendors. To get the contents of most boxes, Right-click on the box, click "Buy...", and click the "Buy" button when it appears. Most of the items are free.

Touring With Macsmom

I attended the ISTE Social last night. Had not been at an ISTE social for a few weeks and thought that I should see who was there and what was going on. Macsmom was organizing a tour to take a group of SL educators to see some of the SL sites.

Our first stop was at the Science Center on Info Island. Here we saw an assortment of science displays and exhibits on the history of science. We could have stayed here much longer for there was so much to see, but Macsmom whistled for us to join her on to the next place on the tour.
Next stop was the Guided Tour Company on the island of Mocha. A place where you can take a tour in vehicles such as hot air balloons, boats, aircrafts, and more. Neat place.

Next was Commonwealth Island which borders Info Island. Commonwealth is a project of the EnviroLink Network and includes several meeting places and US Forest Service-like buildings used to host participating organizations.
The Welcome Notecard reads:
“Commonwealth Island is about building a community in Second Life focused around organizations working for social equity and environmental sustainability. Commonwealth will provide a starting place for organizations who wish to try out spreading their mission/message in Second Life without making a big financial and time commitment.”

We spent some time at this island visiting some of its many environments. The first place that we experienced was GeoGlobe. It was designed in the way of a virtual map or globe. This is the kind of place where you have to see it to be able to understand it. I really urge you to take a tour here. We were all astonished at this site.
Google Earth has launched GeoGlobe, a tool meant to bring Google Earth into SL. The GeoGlobe takes feeds (currently KML, GeoRSS and RSS) as input and displays them as properly geolocated prims onto the GeoGlobe. So “RL" data can be visualized in SL. Users can interact with feeds of data available on the web by bringing them into SL in the context of a Google Earth-like experience. Truly amazing.

The next place on the tour had a board displayed with pictures of various topics. Touching the pictures gives you a virtual creation of that place. We were able to “see” such places as Seattle, New York City and other virtual places. Again, strange and wonderful. Need to be there to understand it.
Finally we teleported to a meeting area in the island. Here we sat around on logs as Macmom explained the last adventure on the tour: hang gliding

The final stop on the tour teleported us to the top of a mountain pass. Here was the launching area for a hang gliding experience. Of course we all tried it.


Science Center
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/178/202/25/secondlife://Info Island II/97/206/24

Guided Tour Company
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mocha%20Island/238/72/32

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
GeoGlobe
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/193/83/314/?x=500&y=500&title=Google/SL

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Virtual Places
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/122/55/441

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Large Meeting Area
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/134/103/25

Commonwealth Island: Commonspace for Progressive Organizations
Hang Gliding
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/241/115/106

Collaboration

I have been very busy in SL these past few weeks. Much learning has taken place for me as I wander from place to place in this new and strange world. I don't think it would have been as rich and rewarding if it had not been for the constant support and help that I have had from people that I have encountered in SL.




Thanks to Beth , Kathy Dryburg, Victoria Gloucester, Fleet Goldenberg, KJ Hax, Dewey Jung and many, many others who gave me a helping hand along the way as I struggled with the many new experiences and features of SL.





And I have also discovered that one of the main benefits for educators to spend time in SL is the social networking with others of similar interest that takes place constantly. Places such as ISTE , Eduisland II, the ELVEN Institute, Info Island, Terra Incognita, Angel Island, SLolar, and the NMC Campus are only a few of the ones available where you can meet with others who are interested in the educational opportunites of SL. These sites offer seminars, discussions, exhibits, teaching tools, classes, and various social activites. All in the pursuit of teaching and learning in SL.

First Experiences

Pia Klaar was born in Second Life in April of 2007. I had heard of Second Life at school. Kathy Schrock had asked me if I had gone to Sl. That night I signed on and Pia was born. Since that first night, I have spent countless hours exploring the endless possibilities of SL as a tool for the teaching and learning community.

I teach middle school computer classes, as well as history classes to advanced and gifted students. My classroom is in a lab with every student having the use of a laptop.

I knew that I wanted to explore the use of SL as a tool for teaching and learning, but didn't quite know how to go about using it at that time. Also, as a newbie, I had a difficult time just getting around and being able to do the most simple of tasks.

One of the first places that I visited was ISTE. I attended the "Thursday Night SkyPark Social". There, I felt lost and out-of-place in the crowd. Those attending seemed experienced and highly academic . Few teachers of K-12.

Yet, I continued to explore the use of Sl as a teaching and learning tool for K-12 teachers. I felt that SL had a place in the world of education. Now, though, I realised that if it was difficult for me to find a place in this strange and new world, then it would be most likely feel the same for others.

Comfort

My first step was to find a home where I could feel comfortable in SL. I rented a building on Eduisland II. Here, other educators had begun to find roots. People such as Alan November, Hall Davidson, Annette Lamb, Kathy Schrock and many others.

I welcome you to Pia's Place. I hope to eventually have it used as a center for teachers to use. A place where they can begin to put down roots, to fell comforatbale in SL. A place where they can collaborate with others, and eventually create learning and teaching experiences.


Comfort, Collaboration, Content, Creation

These can from a meeting I attended at ELVEN on Professional Development. It is rather strange to note that in Sl a person can be involved in many different activities or events where people from all over the globe meet to discuss ideas and issues related to teaching and learning in SL and RL.