Second Life

I visited several social networking softwares before choosing Second Life as the software to review for my distance education class. I chose Second Life because it looked like it was fun and indeed it is fun as well as some times frustrating. Second Life basic membership is free and easy to sign up. You simply supply them with very basic information, download the software, pick an avatar (your presence in the virtual world), choose a name for your avatar (mine is surreal Beck) and hop into Second Life. You begin in the Orientation portion of the universe where you learn basic navigation skills and rules. There is a map that you can use to navigate throughout the universe. You can even fly! I met several other new residents in the orientation area, bumped into several walls, and made a hard landing from flight! As a newbie to a three dimensional virtual world it was fun. My sons are very used to 3 dimensional virtual worlds, being game players but this was a new trick for an old lady. So I had some difficulty figuring out what to do and how to do it and I suspect most of my graduate students might as well.

Second Life is very versatile. You can create anything that your imagination can conjure using tools with the software and the rights to your creation becomes yours. There is a market economy where you can buy, sell, and trade. Second Life uses an internal event driven C/Java style language which allows the user to control object and avatar behavior. Again I think younger users might be more adept at learning and using this language. I haven't tried it yet but plan to do so.

Second Life has premium memberships for $9.95/month U.S. This membership allows you to buy or rent land for your personal use for an additional surcharge. You can then limit access to this land if you choose.

There are a number of universities, businesses, and non profits that currently use Second Life. I was surprised at the number. I think the possibilities are limitless. If I was going to use this sofware I'd want to collaborate with others to use the power of group imagination and skills. I don't think I'd be up to it on my own. I have a number of ideas in terms of educational uses but not a clue as to how to implement them at this point. Understand though that my exposure to this world is very limited. Perhaps with more time and exploration I'd feel more confident in my skills.

I also am aware that because I work in a university I have access to sophisticated computer hardware and a large bandwidth. I know that not all of my students have the same access, at least at home (they do on campus). So it may not be user friendly or even accessible to all students in their home environment.

I like this software and think it is worth exploring more. I, as surreal Beck, will continue to do so. I'm going to begin by exploring the sites of those universities that are already using it and by hopefully talking to the folks who have had experience with it.

If you want to learn more about Second Life please visit my narrated Powerpoint (13.5 minutes) or my podcast (to follow shortly).