Second Life

I started using Second Life for a class assignment and wanted to share some of my thoughts and observations. I am using it to explore how other educational institutions and organizations are using it. It’s fascinating. I explored 3 worlds: ISTE Island, Tisch Library and Write Center for Climate Change, and Seminole County Public Schools. Here are some of my thoughts and observations.

· There is a learning curve. Second life takes some time to understand how to navigate different worlds, interact with various features, move your avatar, and use the Second Life browser. It’s worth taking the time to visit Orientation Island that takes you through the basics of walking, jumping, teleporting, and interacting with the many second life features.

· Navigating Second life is an amazing experience. You are able to ‘teleport’ between worlds and the range of experiences seems never ending. I was able to visit places I never imaged, and get a fairly good introduction to them. You can chat with other users and from different parts of the country, or world. I visited Greece, for example and was able to explore the Acropolis and learn a little bit of history.

· I was impressed by all of the interactive features these worlds have. Some of the features are basic, like hyperlinks. Others are rich like videos and multimedia. The most impressive one I saw was a photo booth in the ITSE world. Participants could take pictures, in advance of a conference, for their ID badges.

· There are many practical uses for Second Life, especially in education. If you search Second Life for “Education” you will see many learning opportunities. This is an excellent tool to engage students, parents, or the public. The world you create is accessible by anyone and I saw many areas for public school districts, individual schools, or even universities. The material ranged from specific course information to general information about the organization.

· Second Life is complex and large. There is a vast network or people and places. You will need time to explore and find quality content.

· In the short time I used the Second Life Viewer, the web browser, which is what you use to access Second Life, was glitchy. It uses a lot of computer resources, and some worlds were only partially accessible because of ‘server glitches’.

Overall, Second Life presents, in some ways, the future of interaction on the web. I see the potential for gaming, learning, teaching, social networking, etc. I think Second Life has a learning Barrier, and I’m not sure how expensive or difficult it is to develop within the environment. The potential is grand and I’m interested to see how far it goes.