First Trip Into Second Life

I was dropped into Second Life, 2L, as if dropped from a spaceship onto a new planet. Things looked a little familiar, but unique in its own way. After my avatar, Fletch Felisimo, got to his feet, he was bumped by another newbie falling from the sky. I soon realized I would be better off getting out of the way. Walking was the next challenge. Although it seemed easy enough to use the arrow keys to navigate around, I was awkward at best. After walking into many walls, and into and out of a river, it eventually got better. I didn't feel too bad though, because I could see other avatars walking into things. See, where they drop you is on Orientation Island, where you learn how to use 2L, so you can imagine a group of new users bumping into eachother and asking eachother for advice. I eventually got to chat with an experienced 2L user and she took me around a little and showed me some sights. It was nice to quickly see beyond the walls of Orientation Island. I was a great motivator to work out the wrinkles of the basic functions.

With my initial trips into 2L, I quickly began thinking about ways to use this in the classroom. At very least, it is good tobe familiar with this tool that many of the students work with as well. Although, I have since learned that there is a teen 2L. That is probably a good thing, as I ran into a few chats that I would not want my classroom to be a part of. I looked forward to having my class meeting in 2L. It should be an interesting experience.