NMC Campus Observer

Preparing to teach ethnography of communication to undergraduates in SL, Part Two

Professor Beliveau (aka Ed Lamoureux) : Jul 30, 2006 09:01pm

This is part two of my posts, providing some more of my experiences in the process of making arrangements for teaching an undergraduate course in SL. Part one described my motivations and outlined background for organizing the class. This post will detail my efforts at coming up to speed in SL in preparation.

I used the NMC “Getting Started” guide for logging on to SL.

Many suffer some degree of frustration over there not being a “SL for dummies” available; the environment is multi-dimensional and diffuse . . . can be very confusing. Closest thing I’ve found: the Second Life Knowledge Base. One can also take some classes in SL . . .when in world, edit/search/events/education/by date . . . gets one lists of in (SL) world classes that can help beginners.

In that vein, I looked for and at other class sites in SL. I logged onto the Second life and Education, SL community education, and Education Wiki
Each of these pages links to a number of additional resources for teachers and students.

On the local front in real life (RL), I contacted my local folks to see if they’d support the course offering and began looking for books and resources about teaching, learning, and research in virtual environments.

I spent a good deal of time exploring and navigating SL. There’s a pretty steep learning curve, just to get around, learn to communicate with others, etc. At this point, advanced authoring tools and the like are “out” for me . . . but I’m sure my students will be interested. Huge difference between how fast gamers, 3D animators, and young people “pick up” the knack of life in SL compared to middle-aged converts like me.

Biggest mistake: I hate giving out my credit card information . . . always resist doing so, esp. front end. When one first joins SL, even with a “free membership,” one gets an offer of $250 LD (linden dollars) IF you give them your info. I declined. That offer only happens once. As you can imagine, going through (2nd) life broke isn’t as much fun as having some loot!

Ran into Lyr Lobo (aka Cynthia Calongne from Colorado Tech) on the campus and had a long talk. She’s very advanced . . . showed me stuff with appliances and “res” work that opened a whole range of learning considerations for me. Also spent some time with (Rain Noonan/Lorelei Junot– alternative names/avatars–”alts”– in SL ) aka Lori Bell of the Library Alliance and Info Island. Both Cynthia and Lori have provided loads of helpful info. I’ve had many question & answer sessions with NMC’s staff Larry, Rachel, and Alan. Always very helpful.

One quick tip: live online help is available while in land. Sometimes the help is provided by folks who work for the company (Lindens); other times the help is provided by volunteers. Feel free to use the help if you need it. Early in your lives, tap into the help desk and ask for a copy of the “stop all animations” box/script. They’ll offer it to you . . . accept it so that it gets placed in your inventory. You’ll want it if ever your avatar gets “animated” with a script that you can’t figure out how to shut off (usually dancing).

As I get closer to the class, I’ll offer “Part Three” of this set. Until then, see you in SL.

Story filed under: Teaching and Learning

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