I have been introduced to Second Life two times in the last two years. In each experience I was asked to comment on what my reaction. My opinion has not been altogether positive in each try. Second Life is obviously popular, that was demonstrated in the zoom out we performed during class. For a free project it has found away to moneytise itself. It has been copied by by game makers (World of Warcraft) and others. The format appeals to some part of the population. I don't know anyone who is real into Second Life on a recreational basis. It seems to me to be a big time investment for someone to enjoy.
In both of my experiences, my intent was to look at Second Life in terms of education. I could see it being useful for some lectures, and I did see a recreated indian village and I think that would make for an interesting virtual field trip. However the learning curve for a user might be longer if the user is a student. This could also be an assumption on my part more kids may be used to moving in a virtual environment thanks to games. I wonder if students would consider Second Life just anther game and not get any useful information out of it. I found the environment hard to navigate at first. There isn't much of a tutorial for beginners. After figuring out how to move about where does a user go. I liken it to being left off in a strange city with only the classified section of the newspaper. Some people might find that exhilarating but I guess I value my time a bit more. Like any city there are some iffy elements and some nice ones. I thought that Amsterdam (SL) was very nicely built. But around the train station you are asked about doing some adult activities. I guess the argument could be made that this could happen anywhere in RL (Real Life). I may just be too uptight and should not take SL so seriously, it isn't real after all.
This is how is appeared and felt to me. It was similar to being back in high school. I did not know anyone, felt weird about my body and seriously did not want to look stupid. I laughed at people who didn't have it together. I didn't want to have the same shirt as another avatar. I wanted to fit in and be cool. If I am an adult and I am thinking about this and I have already lived through high school I can't imagine what a teenager will think. I liked the fact that we went as a group and had a space to go to. I thought the location we all went to at the end was useful. Only 2 of us went on a small tour of the area. Even still she gave me a magic carpet then told us we needed a sandbox in order to construct our items. Soon I was lost and feeling dumb.
Maybe if there was some sort of shepherding software that would not allow straggling or people flying off, or changing clothes during a lecture. I suppose older students might like this format but I would have great misgivings about bringing a class to Second Life.
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5 comments:
I basically agree. When I completed the afternoon in Second Life, my reaction was, "at least that is over." I too felt overwhelmed and awkward. I have never been, nor do I ever imagine myself to be, a "gamer." I just don't get it. In an environment with so little direction, so little support, and so little structure, I felt lost. Give me my first life any day.
I am actually able to respond to someone about SL! Yeah!
First: "I may just be too uptight and should not take SL so seriously, it isn't real after all." This statement does not do you justice.
Uptight= Kurt like hot=this summer
It is not an accurate statement.
I was able to find a few cool things within SL myself; however, I did not/could not (?) figure out how to use them. The first thing I thought was cool was a location that offered the SL user the ability to ‘experience’ a book. The description read something like: Don’t just read __________ (insert name of your book) go to this site to interact and virtually immerse yourself within the book. That sounded way cool to me but I could not figure out how to do it.
The other place I found by accident was a medieval site. When I went in, they offered me a change of clothes to appear in medieval costume, and various other opportunities. As inexperienced as I was, I simply stood there looking around, and then left. I just did not know what to do.
I agree with your assessment of the 31 minute tutorial. It was a waste of my time.
This proclamation says it all: “It was similar to being back in high school. I did not know anyone, felt weird about my body and seriously did not want to look stupid.” As Mr. Meatloaf said beck in 1978 or so: “You took the words right out of my mouth!”
See you in cyberspace
Kathryn/Hermione
Thank you for being so honest about what you thought about SL. I thought about doing a blog on SL but then decided against it due to that fact that everything I had to say about it was negative. Maybe we were in the wrong areas? I don't know but it seemed like a waste of time to me. I know that Craig really finds it fruitful but I was way too frustrated to even think about enjoying my time there. I somehow I ended up sitting down and I couldn't stand back up. That meant that where ever I ended up going I was sitting. Finally at the end when we came back as a group Craig asked me why I was sitting down and I said that I couldn't stand back up. He ended up doing something to help me but I don't know what it was and therefore would probably end up in the same situation again next time. I left NLU that night went home and ended up taking the program off of my computer. Thanks for the experience Craig but I don't think I will be going back.
I agree that it was hard to navigate and figure out how to play. Craig has mentioned that there is a Second Life workshop at NLU. I wonder if that would be an interesting workshop to take and if it would provide us, as teachers, with more insight as to how to use the program. I think the biggest problem was that we didn't have enough time. It may have been helpful if we used one day as a run through and the second day as our actualy Second Life class meeting. This may have allowed us to get a better feel for what we were supposed to be doing.
You provided some great feedback that really got me thinking! I completely agree when you brought up the fact that some may be to distracted by the way they may look. You are exactly right...it's just like being back in high school!
I also agree that I felt a lot better once I had a leader. I felt lost when I didn’t know anyone and I didn't want to look dumb when I did something. It is better with a group and to have someone go with you. It is also better once the set up is explained to you and you are in a safe environment.
Great comments, Kurt!
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