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There are many reactions one can have to a computer going down.  For someone who’s an ed-techer, that reaction isn’t pretty.  I’ve been on a borrowed laptop for weeks now (my good desktop has had to go in for extensive “surgery”) and the lappy’s good for email, but not for virtual worlds.  So what’s a virtual worlds chick–ahem, educator–to do?  I could have thrown a fit and refused to use the one means of access I had available, or I could find a way to still be inworld and active, though a lot less active than I usually am.

Somewhere along the way, I rediscovered 7Seas.

7Seas virtual fishing is a curious phenomenon.  You buy a rod, and bait, then try to find fishing spots that others have set up.  There’s actually a 7Seas website (http://www.7seasfishing.com/) that explains it all.  Different fish are worth different points values and, as you collect fish, you add points and status in the system, moving up in ranks.  Plus, the little fishes can be used as virtual pets (though they don’t need food and all that other stuff like the breedables that have been making the news so much lately).  There are also salvage and blueprints that fishers can “catch”–once all the salvage pieces listed on a blueprint are caught, various vehicles and other larger prizes can be constructed from them.

So what does any of this have to do with education?

Well, for one thing, it’s a cool way to spend time in various spots around the grid and see how builders have been creative, coming up with designs for fishing spots (there are themes from pirate to intergalactic space and everything in between).  Also, fishes can be given out as rewards, something that I did with tours (before I started giving out the survival plaques).  Not much, but for those new to Second Life, having a pet they can name and that will swim around them anywhere they go, it’s a cute little perk.  Before the end of the semester, I had tourists trading fishes with one another.  I later took it one step further with a small group–after we’d get finished with a session, we’d go fishing.  It wasn’t a ton of money to buy them rods and bait and get them started, and the small group discussion that continued during the fishing session helped them reflect on the earlier sessions, before they had to write their blog entries.

I won’t say that I’m glad my computer is in intensive care, but I’m rather happy that it gave me the opportunity to go back to something I’d forgotten about–7Seas as a reward and a bit of downtime.

Now–anyone know how to make virtual fish sticks?

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