[Technology 1283] Re: Second Life for Survivor class

Hi:



My name is Jennifer Williams and I am fascinated in this tool for business application and training purposes.?Does any one have any experience with its capabilities in a corporate space or can refer me to any resources?.



Thanks

Jennifer Williams

GA State University






-----Original Message-----
From: Guckert-von Ehren, Denise A <dg21 at txstate.edu>
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov>
Sent: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:03 pm
Subject: [Technology 1255] Re: Second Life for Survivor class




I think the arrival of Second Life is a reality that we need to accept and understand, though I personally find it hard to embrace. I always check out new technologies, and did so with Second Life. I was incredibly frustrated and unsuccessful in achieving my goal, which was to explore the interface. It is fascinating to me that I have such poor skills (and patience) to use this software. 

?

Second Life is not just a technology; it's a social culture with many new rules to learn. You must interact with other people, who are represented (disguised...) as their avatars, and depend on them for help. While this is probably the aspect that makes Second Life so popular, and so different than other technologies, I have no patience for this kind of interaction and hate feeling dependent, either on people or on help files. Since I was exploring Second Life for work reasons only, not personal or entertainment value, I did not want to deal with a new social network and "reality" navigation. ??


That being said, the whole issue of Second Life as it compares to people entering new cultures, whether that be as an immigrant for study or work reasons to the United States (or going from a culture of poverty to middle class) is incredibly intriguing.

?




From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Cindy J Holden
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 3:59 PM
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Technology 1241] Re: Second Life for Survivor class


?

I would like to use Second Life as a meeting space for some techie teens I am working with in a drop-out recovery program. Having gone in and experimented with the environment, I found I liked the challenge to my spatial intelligence. What I did not like was the billing notice ( 9.95) I got from Second Life. I thought one could explore for free and purchase real estate, etc. later. I have emailed to ask them why I would have received a bill. So far, no response. I will not use this tool with my students if they are going to be billed without their consent. 





On 8/24/07, Marian Thacher <mthacher at otan.us> wrote:


My 2 cents - it would be really fun for students who are already online gamers or used to an avatar environment, and pretty hard for those who are new to it. But I haven't tried it with learners. Has anyone? 

Also, I guess you would have to hook up with an organization that has land so you would have a place to meet. Not hard, but takes some looking around. How would others handle this? You definitely don't want to build your own environment! 

Marian Thacher
OTAN
www.otan.us

The Technology and Literacy Discussion List < technology at nifl.gov> on Friday, August 24, 2007 at 6:24 AM -0800 wrote:
Our freshman seminar is structuring its class as "Survivor," with tribes, tribal councils, challenges, and the like. We're using a wiki for group collaboration. Would "Second Life" work for that kind of environment? 
Bonnie Odiorne, Ph.D. adjunct professor, director, writing center
Post University, Waterbury, CT

Marian Thacher <mthacher at otan.us> wrote:


??
Right, Barry, Second Life is like Real Life in that way - you have to figure out your own mission - no small task sometimes!




But if you were meeting your students in a particular area, and giving them an assignment, having a discussion, sending them on a quest or whatever, that would be their learning experience. You would be supplying the mission. 




Marian Thacher



OTAN




The Technology and Literacy Discussion List < technology at nifl.gov> on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 5:18 AM -0800 wrote: 



To Barry from another Barry, 




I think second life has merit to it, I think it is a lot like the game



World of Warcraft, AKA WOW. A major difference I have noticed in my



minimal time on the system is that there is no set purpose for an avatar



to continue, as an example, in WOW after you decide who you will be,



what you will wear, etc you are given a mission. ?As opposed to Second



Life where I built my avatar and then essentially walked around, lost.




If you were able to give your students directions to you virtually that



may work.




Do I have this wrong? ?Is a player given a sense of purpose and an idea



of what they need to do to continue playing?




Barry Burkett,



Frankfort, KY 




-----Original Message-----



From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov?[ mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov] 



On Behalf Of Bakin, Barry



Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 6:59 PM



To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List



Subject: [Technology 1211] Re: Prosessional Development Design



&Developmentfor the 21st Century




I don't know if it's been mentioned in this forum or not but there's an



interesting discussion taking place at Sylvia Martinez' blog on her



experiences with using SL as an educator. ?It's worth looking at for



some of the issues that she raises. You can read through her original



posting as the responses at



http://blog.genyes.com/index.php/2007/07/21/second-thoughts-on-second-li 
fe/ ?Again, as David notes, my position is not one of saying one should



use or not use Second Life but rather what would it take to get to the



point that educators would want to invest their time to make this



technology tool practical for the students they work with. ?Speaking as



one who is extremely pleased to get something as basic as an email



message from a student, it would take some doing to expect my students



to be creating avatars and visiting educational sites on SL on their



own. ?I'm not convinced yet that my time is well-spent on encouraging



that endeavor. ?




Barry Bakin



Pacoima Skills Center



Division of Adult and Career Education,



Los Angeles Unified School District




-----Original Message-----



From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov?[ mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov] 



On Behalf Of David J. Rosen



Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 11:31 AM



To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List



Subject: [Technology 1210] Re: Prosessional Development Design &



Developmentfor the 21st Century





Hello Mark, and others,




Thanks for your thoughts on the use of Second Life (SL) for adult



literacy education. I hope you will share some of your group's research



on "under what conditions and for what purposes 3DVR might be more



appropriate or effective than other tools/environments for learning" and



what you see as some of the opportunities and limitations of using



Second Life. I would like to learn more about what ?"we need to advocate



*for* educators *to* vendors like Linden Labs, so they build in more



education-appropriate features." What features on SL do you think are



worthwhile? What other features should we be advocating for?



----------------------------------------------------



National Institute for Literacy



Technology and Literacy mailing list



Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to



http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology 
Email delivered to barry.burkett at franklin.kyschools.us 





----------------------------------------------------



National Institute for Literacy



Technology and Literacy mailing list



Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology 



Email delivered to mthacher at otan.us




---------------------------------------------------- 



National Institute for Literacy



Technology and Literacy mailing list



Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology 



Email delivered to bonniesophia at sbcglobal.net




---------------------------------------------------- 
National Institute for Literacy
Technology and Literacy mailing list
Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology 
Email delivered to mthacher at otan.us



----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Technology and Literacy mailing list
Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology
Email delivered to gradplan1 at gmail.com





-- 
Cindy Holden
High School Liaison
Learning Works Windham
167 Main Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301

(802) 257-9449 extension 106
(802) 257-3762 fax
cholden at vtadultlearning.org 




----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Technology and Literacy mailing list
Technology at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology
Email delivered to jennfwms at aol.com


________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lincs.ed.gov/pipermail/technology/attachments/20070916/9b7acbdd/attachment.html