Tours, as usual, are on Thursday evenings from 6 to 7 pm central (4-5pm slt) and set off from the Bay Boat Welcome Center at Jaguarland (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jaguarland%20USA%20Education/62/19/27).

As I get more information about our tour destinations for this semester, I’ll post them here.  I’ll also post more on the SITE and VWBPE events as it gets closer to time for them.

See you inworld!

http://site.aace.org/conf/vp/

My understanding is that the theme is going to be a bit steampunkish western (because the real world conference is in Austin, TX and, hey, this is Second Life where we can do all kinds of stuff that’s not possible in the real world!).  The presentation space is to be held in and around EdTech Island with machinima, tours, games, and parties held inworld to give people a taste of what’s possible in the virtual environment.

Don’t let the whole “omigosh I don’t know how to build in SL!” thing keep you from submitting something!  There will be volunteers available on the island to help if you get stuck.

It’s a great opportunity to get your name and project out there without disrupting your work/family time, so submit a proposal already!

Holiday trees abound in various parts of the island (including palm trees in lights up Dauphin Island way), there’s a big hungry snowman near the Fountain of Knowledge, free holiday plants in Jag Village, and for those of you who are itching for a snowball fight, check out the snowfort area just beside the village!   (Just click the blue box to get snowball throwers, put it on, go into mouselook and fire!  Get frozen by your opponent?  Run stand in the brandy box to be “warmed up”–there’s a score box nearby too.

I’ll be adding more as I find it in my inventory.

For those who live in Jag Village who want to decorate, pop me an IM inworld to get added to the Jag Guardians group as a builder.  (We had squatters, so I had to lock the build perms down to group only.)

Happy holidays!

For the next semester, I’m considering taking some tours outside of Second Life and exploring some of the areas of interest that the OpenGrid and grids such as Moses and Inworldz contain.    I don’t know that I’m quite as courageous as the HyperGrid Adventurers Club, but I think some SL alternative tours might be a fun addition.

Part of the new interest in alternative grids because of my own exploration–I try to visit at least one new grid/world per week.  I’ve also taken on an internship with the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference in which I’ll be designing orientation tutorials and tours for various virtual worlds.  I’d like for some of the lessons gleaned from that to be able to benefit local educators (and anyone else for that matter!).

Once I get a schedule or list of potential locations worked out, I’ll post them here.  But if anyone has any suggestions for grids/worlds/sites of interest to visit, please post them in the comments section here!

On to other news…

As of October 31, the University of South Alabama has been in Second Life for 3 years.  Not a lot of fanfare (I was in California when it rolled around), but there will be anniversary plaques passed out in the Jag Islanders group soon (I promise!).

Also, for those who frequent Jaguarland, winter will be coming in the next week.  We don’t often experience snow in our real world campus, but we can in Second Life!  I’m aiming for having Jaguarland turned into a winter wonderland sometime during the last week of classes–look for the skating areas and snowball fight forts!

Well, that’s all for now from the peanut gallery.

See you inworld!

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?

If you haven’t visited the Library yet, it sits atop the hill, just across the bridge to the north from the main entry point at Jaguarland (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jaguarland%20USA%20Education/61/176/40).  We mainly have focused on educational full text books, but there are also some Second Life books with links that take readers to the book’s WorldCat page, where they can find out more and order the books through interlibrary loan into their local library.  There’s also plenty of seating for small discussion groups and book/reading clubs.  Know of any full text books out there that would be a great addition?  Let me know!  Sent the title and web address to aevalle.galicia@gmail.com and I’ll try to get it in the stacks.

Interested in seeing how libraries work in Second Life?  Our 27 Mile Bluff is certainly not the only one around!  The Caledon Library system has more than a dozen libraries on various themes.  The “Book Mo’Blimp” will take you on a guided tour of them all from the Main Branch’s front lawn (http://slurl.com/secondlife//30/160/2).

A few other libraries in SL include:

UUtopia’s Library of World Religions

NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Library and Archives

The Chilbo Public Library

There are also a gaggle of groups for those interested in the written word, whether it be writing, reading, or curating.  Check ‘em out!

Tours will take place on Thursdays, from 6-7 pm central (4-5 pm slt), leaving from the Jaguarland Bay Boat Welcome Center (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jaguarland%20USA%20Education/62/19/27).

Tour destinations are tentative. Selections are made in advance so if a sim is down or the area has changed/is no longer in use, substitutions may be made.

Never been in Second Life?  Go to the website at www.secondlife.com and follow the directions to create an avatar and begin learning to get around.  The Quick Start Guide can be found at http://secondlife.com/support/quickstart/basic/Interface_overview .  We recommend the Caledon Oxbridge gateway for getting started (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/97/211/27).

Interested in our local SL groups?  Check out the SAESL (South Alabama Educators in Second Life) blog at http://saeslgroup.wordpress.com/ or join the Jag Islanders group inworld.

Troubleshooting:  If you’re attempting to access Second Life and your screen does not look right (grey blobs and textures not rezzing properly), this may be caused by the school’s firewall.  On some areas of the campus, the firewall does not allow Linden Lab’s official viewer full access, causing things to glitch severely.  In this case, try the Phoenix family of viewers which can be found at http://www.phoenixviewer.com/index.php.

See you inworld!

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For those of you who are interested in medical education in the virtual world, check out these additional sites (unfortunately, we just don’t have the time on tours to visit them all!)–

Biomedical Research Labs

University of Cincinnati’s Point-of-Care Center for Emerging Neurotechnology

The Boomer Esiason Foundation’s Cystic Fibrosis University

The Mayo Clinic

MS Island Nederland

University of South Florida Health

American Cancer Society

HealthInfo Island

To get your own Sim on a Stick, go to the Sim on a Stick website, download the files to your flash drive and follow the directions given (everything’s available right there on the front through the big buttons).  And ta-da, you have four sims (OpenSim) that you can take with you on your flash drive.  It’s contained so there’s no griefers.  You can have privacy as you learn to build.  And students don’t have to worry about being interrupted as they create.  The downside?  Apparently you can’t invite people in to “share” in the experience.

As I said, I’ve decided to take the plunge and scope out the whole process.  I’ll post more about what I learn.  Tried it yourself?  Let us know about your experience!

This week’s tour is of areas in Second Life that teach about ancient history through role play or museum-type displays.  We’ll go on a chariot ride through ROMA, visit the Athens Academy to learn about ancient technologies and toys, and finally check in on the Catalhoyuk build that UC Berkeley is putting together.  We’ll leave from the Bay Boat Welcome Center at Jaguarland (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jaguarland%20USA%20Education/62/19/27) at 6pm central time (4 pm slt) on Thursday.

We also now have a small 9/11 memorial at Jaguarland, just in front of the Dean’s Discourse House (between the DDH and the Bay Boat).  There are candles available for purchase for $0L.  You can edit the name and description to add a memorial message.

9/11 Memorial at Jaguarland