Second Life Through the Eyes of lolli Sapphire

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This eMagazine was created to provide educators a quick understanding of Second Life.

Look for this hat within the pages of this publication do linked information.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………4Getting Started in Second Life (video)………………………………………………6Avatars and Animation………………………………………………………………………..8It's all part of the performance (video)……………………………………………….9Environments and places…………(video)……………………………………………..10In-world groups………………………………………………………………………………………12Moving information……………………………………………………………………………….13Knock...knock...Who's there?..................................................................14What are they doing?................................................................................15Traversing Reality……………………………………………………………………………………16Bidirectional communication………………………………………………………………..17Tips to joining the fun ……………………………………………………………………………18Bring your passion and knowledge………………………………………………………19Now, what is Second Life ……………………………………………………………………… 20References …………………………………………………………………………………………………21Author Biography ……………………………………………………………………………………22

Hello Hercules, I know, I am a little late, today. I went shopping, dancing, on a self guided museum tour. Yes, I saw the group notice for a beginner sculpting class, but I promised I would bring you dinner.

It’s always a busy in Second Life? What’s Second Life ? It’s a massively multi-user virtual environment . In simple words its a computer-based virtual world. Are you listening?

Introduction

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No Hercules, I know it’s not real it’s a virtual reality. I am just one of the tens of thousands that log in regularly. There are over 20 million user accounts.

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Hercules why do you want to know that? Ok, I just went to the Second Life website www.secondlife.com . Downloaded the viewer and logged in.

Getting Started in Second Life

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What happened next? I landed here. Orientation Island. It provides a place to practice basic skills. Things like changing clothes, chatting, and flying.

Quick look at orientation Island

Orientation Island Public

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Avatars and Animation Avatar creation is a continuous process. Most of us look like humans, but that does not mean the others do not want to be seen as real.

“the embodied experience of avatar creation / performance enables the meaningful apprehension of ourselves…”(Liao,2010). 8

Learn to sit. Learn to dance

Learn to communicate

It’s all part of the performance

Yes Hercules, even sitting is a part of the performance of the avatar.

performance

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What do you mean I never take you anywhere? Where do you want to go?

Environments and Places

Artist installations are great places for filming and photography

Hazardous

“ Weisman(1992, p 7)…space is like language in that it is constantly communicating values.” (cited by Allnutt,2009).

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Environments and the places

Terracotta Warrior Army in SL

Recreated real life-derived historical places in Second Life provide perspective.

St. Paul’s Cathedral inSL

It all begins with a smile

There are places to meet people and exchange knowledge, and ideas .

The Virtual Artist Alliance Photohunt Gallery

…and of course imagined real places

!! Garden of GreenBurg!!

Environments

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In-world groups

BE A GROUPIE.. Join in-world groups that fit with your interests, and you will always be up-to-date on the happenings in Second Life.

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Moving information

Bora Bora

Residents’ profiles convey information on the resident and places in Second Life.

Instant Messaging and voice calling through general chat, private chat or group conference is the fast method to get information moved.

Don’t forget to surf the web, Second Life residents share information through social media, wikis, blogs and websites.

Warbug Headquarters

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Knock…knock…Who’s there?

It does not seem to matter, who you are, individual knowledge is equally valued in Second Life.

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Where are you from? Brazil

England

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• Play with identity and perspective • Create environments (real and imaged)• Blur the lines of reality through new media.

Art can shift reality…

Second Life residents

Traversing Reality

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Bidirectional communication

What a great Idea! A virtual book providing relevant information on the subject of teaching math to the k-12 student using virtual reality. The book has a built -in dropdown menu, which provides an SL landmark, website as well as the ability to adjust the size of this book.

Wow Hercules, I had a lot of fun, but real life is calling. I am going to need to log off . I can Skype with you later, or while I am grocery shopping I’ll log onto SL with my smartphone,then we can still chat.

I bought this little toy cow at LindiMoo’s Concert. LindiMoosells these cows at the cost of about $1.00. The cow has a link to a downloadable mp3 of the artist’s music. I have three of these little guys. 17

Tips to joining the funAs you go seeking the creative and educational possibilities for yourself remember McLuhan’s warning …

Technology can “rob us of our wits” (Friesen, 2010), so it is important to keep your ideology intact.

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Bring your passion and knowledge

Second Life is much more than what you think it is .

Bring what you love in-world and share it with

others.

Residents want to create and your shared knowledge provides opportunities for others.

Role-play with real world applications for younger students is a good way to explore avatar creation, but educators should make it clear, avatars are real people in a virtual world.

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Now, what is Second Life?

It is just the nature of being in Second Life that creates this learning through play environment.

Second Life is not a game. It is what the creative inhabitant makes of it and defines themselves to be within it, this viewI share with White’s understanding of thevirtual world(as cited by Taylor,Ballengee-Morris, and Carpenter,2010).

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references

Allnutt, S. (2009). Knowing my place: Learning through memory and photography(Doctorial dissertation). Retrieved from Library and Archives Canada. digitool.library.mcgill.ca/thesisfile32547.pdf

Liao, C. L. (2010) Avatar as pedagogy: Critical strategies for visual culture in the virtual environment. In R. W. Sweeny (Ed.), Inter/actions/inter/sections: Art education in a digital visual culture (pp.182-188). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Taylor, P. G., Ballengee-Morris C., Carpenter, B. S. (2010). Digital visual culture, social networking, and virtual worlds: Second Life and art education. In R.W. Sweeny (Ed.), Inter/actions/inter/sections: Art education in a digital visual culture (pp.210-218). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Friesen, N. (2010). Vision and "the training of perception.“McLuhan's medienpadagogik. Sensory Studies, 1-12. Retrieved from http://learningspaces.org/n/papers/McLuhan_Vision_Pedagogy.pdf

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Author Biography

I am an augmented new media artist/educator. My research area is digital technology,new media and virtual reality, mainly Second Life. I explore avatar creation and performance as narrative while exploring my shifting realities (real and virtual) as part of the creative process.

In 2000, I received my Bachelors in Studio Art from The University of West Florida. Since then, I have put my talents to use working with out -of -school programs, both during the school year and summers. I have held positions with the Girl Scouts of America, Department of Defense’s Moral, Welfare and Recreation Department, as well as private programs and local government recreation programs.

Currently, my family is in the process of moving from Virginia to Hawaii. We are excited to have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Hawaiian cultureover the next three years. I am curious to see how this change will influence my art.

To learn more about lolli’s life, log on to Second Life and say hello. If you are a little shy, you can also check out her profile at https://my.secondlife.com/lolli.sapphire , as she updates it often, with images of the places and people along her journey.

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