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It's Time for a Second Life

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It's Time for a Second Life internet resources Beth Kattelman It’s time for a Second Life Resources dedicated to the virtual world here’s no doubt we are living in a digi- SL runs on an open source platform cre- Ttal world. Almost everyone’s got a cell ated by Linden Lab. Soon after its public de- phone pasted to their ear; words such as but in 2003, many educational organizations “texting,” “Facebook,” and “Google” have began to discover the learning and network- become common parlance; iPods are ubiq- ing opportunities SL could provide, and it uitous; and laptops have become de rigueur is now used by organizations all across the in many classrooms. In order to connect with world to hold conferences, conduct research, students who are more comfortable “hitting and advertise products. the mouse” than “hitting the books,” many Educational institutions are using the educators and organizations have begun platform to conduct in-world classes, to keep to explore the possibilities of using virtual in touch with distance-learners and alumni, worlds as teaching tools. Currently, the most and to help new students orient themselves popular virtual world being used in this way to campus life. The building capabilities in SL is Second Life (SL). allow for myriad modeling and design proj- SL is a virtual world, created entirely by ects, and there are numerous areas that have its residents, that now boasts more than 15 been created to replicate real-life campuses, million users from around the globe. Each cities, cathedrals, and theaters. participant creates a customizable avatar to For example, avatars can now visit the represent himself or herself in the SL world, Glidden Campus of Northern Illinois Uni- and avatars can travel throughout SL and versity, attend an in-world Shakespearean interact with others in real-time via voice production at The Globe Theatre, fl y through or texting. Stonehenge, or wander the streets of Krakow. In SL you can also own land, build envi- Linden Lab has also created a Teen Grid that ronments, explore areas built by others, run is solely for users ages 13 to 17. The Teen Grid your own store, walk, run, dance, shop—al- works just like the regular Second Life Grid, most anything you can do in your fi rst life but is actively monitored to keep out material . and more, because in SL you can also fl y, that is inappropriate for teenagers. teleport and instantaneously change shape, Educators are discovering that SL opens gender, etc. SL also has its own unit of trade, up learning potential for those who might the Linden Dollar, which can be used to buy be considered differently-abled. People with and sell goods and services. limited mobility, for example, are fi nding new A basic account in SL is free, but in order freedom in their ability to walk and fly in SL to own land you must sign up for a premium and, in fact, some applications are now being account. For those interested in investing a developed to allow those who are paralyzed larger amount of money, individual islands can be purchased. Many organizations and Beth Kattelman is associate curator at the Jerome universities now own islands in SL including: Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, ALA and the San Jose State University School e-mail: [email protected] of Library and Information Science. © 2008 Beth Kattelman C&RL News November 2008 614 to control a SL avatar by using only their request, a message is sent within 24 hours brain waves.1 SL has also been found to be a to the e-mail associated with the account’s place where autistic youngsters can interact credit card holder. The e-mail lists the hours with others more comfortably than in the spent in-world in the last 30 days, the Linden real world.2 And SL has shown promise as a dollar balance, the amount of land owned, language-teaching tool with numerous edu- and the disciplinary status on the account. cators offering English as a second language Access: http://teen.secondlife.com. (ESL) classes.3 The following list presents some of the most useful Web sites devoted to Getting started/connecting with peers SL. While no means comprehensive, this list • Alliance Virtual Library. This site, cre- will hopefully provide a starting point from ated by the Second Life Library Project, is a which you can launch your own learning collaboration of OPAL (Online Programming experiences in and around SL. for All Libraries) and the Alliance Library System. The purpose of the project is “to Signing up extend the programs currently offered online • The Official Web Site of Second Life. to librarians and library users to the Second This site, run by SL creator Linden Lab, pro- Life virtual environment” and is therefore of vides the most comprehensive and up-to-date particular value to those who are specifi cally information on SL. This is the site where par- interested in what type of library presence can ticipants can sign up for be found in SL. The site lists numerous librar- and manage their SL ac- ies and educational organizations that are counts and check for the represented in SL, and it contains a calendar latest news on the SL grid. of in-world library events, such as book dis- Residents can also get the cussions, workshops, meetings, and exhibits. latest currency exchange Access: http://www.infoisland.org. rate for Linden dollars. • Second Life Insider. This is a great The site contains a showcase highlighting site for tutorials and in-depth discussion the best in-world events and creations, and on a wide variety of topics. It has articles also provides a knowledge base fi lled with specifically geared toward those who are useful articles on all aspects of SL. Users can new to SL, covering such topics as cloth- access video tutorials, technical support, an ing, moving around, chatting, and market- official blog and the latest press releases ing. There are also many articles of interest from Linden Lab. For those interested in SL for those more experienced users who are statistics, the site also provides sections on ready to experiment with some of the pro- service quality metrics economic statistics. gramming capabilities of SL. Unfortunately, Access: http://secondlife.com. the site is no longer updated. It suspended • Teen Second Life. This site is designed publication on November 2, 2007 when the specifically for 13-to-17-year-olds who are creators premiered a new site devoted to using the Second Life Teen Grid and their news about all massively multiplayer online parents. It has much of the same information games (MMOs) [www.massively.com/]. Even as SL’s Official Web Site, and most of the links though the Second Life Insider is no longer contained here click through to the informa- being updated, the site contains viable and tion contained on secondlife.com. In addition, valuable information. Access: http://www. however, this site contains a special section secondlifeinsider.com/. for parents on how to share their teen’s SL ex- • Second Life Mailing Lists. Here one perience and on how they can help their teen can find mailing lists that users can join to stay safe when using the platform. Parents learn more about SL. The site provides a can also submit an Account Activity Request brief description, subscription information, through this site. Once a parent makes the and application forms for each list. Several November 2008 615 C&RL News extremely useful mailing lists can be accessed groups, classroom management, lesson plans, through this site, including one for SL educa- teaching resources, and educational locations. tors. Access: https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi One of the most valuable sections of this wiki -bin/mailman/listinfo. is the list of institutions and organizations using SL. Although it is not a comprehensive Enhancing education list, it is a good starting-point for fi nding • New Media Consortium (NMC). NMC peers who are already using the SL platform is an international organization with nearly in their teaching or programming. Access: 300 members dedicated to the use of new http://www.simteach.com. media and technologies to spark learning and • Second Life in Education Wiki. Cre- creativity. Its membership consists of edu- ated and maintained by SL experts Jo Kay (SL cational and arts organizations from around name: jokay Wollongong) and Sean FitzGer- the world, although the largest percentage of ald (SL name: Sean McDunnough), the site members by far come from the United States. provides general information on using SL NMC sponsors an Emerging Technology Ini- in education and links to useful resources tiative, which has as its centerpiece The Ho- for educators. This is an extremely useful rizon Project. Since its launch in March 2002, site for those who are just beginning with each year The Horizon Project has culminated SL and want to know how it can enhance in an annual Horizon Report, which details the classroom and long-distance learning. The latest discussions surrounding applications site offers a comprehensive list of the ways in of the newest technologies to learning and which SL is currently being used in teaching creativity. A full-text version of every issue and contains links to numerous educational is available on the Web site. While the NMC projects. The site also contains useful pages site is not solely devoted to the use of SL, it on getting started with SL and on establishing has much pertinent information for educators an educational presence. Both pages provide who are interested in using SL to enhance clear, step-by-step instructions.
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