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ISTE Island

Jeff Hiles — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:17:23 +0000

On ISTE Island in Second Life, the International Society for Technology in Education hosts a Tuesday evening speaker series and Thursday evening Educator Socials. They have also provided a venue for a number of other activities, such as the online portion of the educators tracks for the Second Life Community Convention and for the National Educational Computing Conference.

ISTE also has a Second Life group you can join and an email list for announcements concerning educators in Second Life.

NMC Campus

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:20:24 +0000

Soon after the New Media Consortium (NMC) Campus opened in 2006, it became a hub of activity for educators in Second Life, hosting numerous seminars, discussions and exhibits.

The NMC rapidly added more islands to the archipelago, including several on which they rent spots to educators who want G-rated space amidst other educators. The New Media Consortium includes nearly 200 colleges, universities, museums, corporations, and other learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies.

You may want to avoid Second Life’s usually hectic orientation areas and enter Second Life directly at NMC Orientation island, a good place for educators and students to get started. To do that, create your Second Life account at the NMC’s Web site instead of at the Second Life site.

NMC Campus Observer (blog for news and events)
NMC Campus Wiki
Seriously Engaging, a video about the NMC Campus. (12.4MB QuickTime file)
Location: NMC Campus (128,225,42) Important: You must join the “NMC Guests” group before you can visit the NMC Campus. Just click your Search button and, on the Groups tab, search on NMC. Select the group “NMC Guests” and click Join.

International Spaceflight Museum

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:29:11 +0000

Ride a Titan II rocket into low earth orbit. Stroll among towering replicates of the world’s major rockets. Watch live video from NASA. See how the planets were aligned the day you were born. The International Spaceflight Museum hosts exhibits and events about real-world spacecraft, rockets, and space travel. The museum is located on the island sim Spaceport Alpha, which has become the center of a growing archipelago of science-related islands, or “SciLands.”

Svarga

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:09:53 +0000

Svarga’s lush landscape includes interdependent species of artificial life, complete with genes that sometimes mutate and produce new variations. Former Lionhead game developer and SL avatar Laukosargas Svarog programmed the weather, flora and fauna to influence each other as in a real-life ecosystem. At the entrance port, you can take a tour of the island aboard an automated flying tour pod or don a tour HUD that displays on a portion of your screen.

God Game, article on Svarga by James Wagner Au
Location: Svarga (199,127,21)

Virtual Morocco

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 07:25:12 +0000

The Casablanca region captures the essence of Morocco with an outdoor market, mosque, gardens, music and other details. Students from Johnson & Wales University traveled to the real-life Morocco, then entered Second Life to build a representation of what they had seen abroad. You may don a red “Info Fez” that triggers chat messages explaining what you see as you explore the island.

Immersion in Virtual Morocco, story from the NMC Campus Observer
Location: Casablanca (134, 86, 26)

Tutorials on Second Life Skills

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 07:18:52 +0000

There are many places in Second Life to take classes on building, scripting, and other in-world skills. The best way to find these classes is to click your Search button and on the Events tab, choose to search on the Education category. In addition, here are several places with self-paced tutorials:

College of Scripting, Music and Science: Horsa (45,213,85)
The Design Center, Location: Idea City (70,193,40)
The Ivory Tower Library of Prims, Location: Natoma (207, 170, 25)
Linden Script Tutorial Exhibition, Location: Daydream SE Islands (219,43,23)
NMC Orientation: NMC Orientation (69,107,32)
The Particle Laboratory, Location: Teal (200, 60, 21)
Texture Tutorials, Location: Benten (25, 115, 28)

In addition to those locations in Second Life, there are many resources on the Web you may find useful, such as these:

Second Life Wiki, a wealth of how-to articles.
Video Tutorials, gems by prolific Torley and others. Many also on iTunes.
Getting Started in Second Life, from the New Media Consortium.
Unofficial Complete Fool’s Guide to Second Life.
Jokay’s SL Orientation, a comic book-style guide to getting through Second Life’s Orientation Island.
Second Life Quickstart Guide
Xiamara Ugajin’s tutorials.
The “Script Me!” Web site will create custom scripts for a number of common Second Life tasks.

Campus: Second Life

Jeff Hiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:06:18 +0000

Educators who would like to try Second Life for a class without investing in virtual land may apply for an acre to use for free for one semester through the Campus:Second Life program. In addition to being a good place to browse student projects in progress, the Campus region includes several areas suitable for meetings and a sandbox where people can practice their building skills.