[Web4lib] Second Life 101 starting Friday

[Lori Bell]

Starting Friday - Second Life 101, an introduction to the basics. Please join us.
What is Second Life? Second Life (SL) is a 3D virtual world built and owned by its residents or users. Residents include librarians, educators, businesses, entertainers, etc.
Why should I be interested in Second Life or other virtual worlds?
Among other things, Second Life serves as a platform for immersive learning where you can visit the past (Renaissance Island) or explore futuristic realms and is a place where librarians have the opportunity to visualize and deliver library services in different ways. LIS educators and librarians are already teaching and working in SL.
How do I get started in SL? Go to www.secondlife.com and set up a basic account. You will create an avatar, alternate persona, and be taken to Orientation Island, which will give you an opportunity to learn to navigate in SL and get the feel of a virtual world.
What is Second Life 101? SL 101 is a four week course offered designed to teach you the basics of Second Life beyond what is provided in the orientation. Your instructor, Puglet Dancer, will help you with learning how to better navigate and design your avatar, to use the various screens and tool bars, and for fun she will take you to visit a few interesting virtual places. The course is offered by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois and the Illinois Alliance Library System.
When is it being offered?
Fridays, June 5, 12, 19, 26 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time
What are the technology requirements?
Participants will need a reliable Internet connection via DSL or cable in addition to the hardware and software system requirements listed at this link http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php  IMPORTANT: Please ensure you can meet these requirements before registering for a course. Check your system against the requirements carefully especially your graphics/video card.
For additional information on SL101 and to register, visit
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/VW/SL101.html

Lori Bell
Director of Innovation
Alliance Library System
600 High Point Lane
East Peoria, IL 61611
(309)694-9200 ext. 2128
lbell at alliancelibrarysystem.com

--- On Mon, 6/1/09, Rolig Loon <rolig.loon at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Rolig Loon <rolig.loon at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [SLED] Sour Grapes - Associate Degree vs Bachelor Degree
To: "SL Educators (The SLED List)" <educators at lists.secondlife.com>
Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 2:09 PM


Some things don't seem to change with time. My first undergraduate
class, at 9:00 on a Monday morning in 1963, had well over 500 students
in it.  I don't believe I ever saw the professor up close. He was a
distant figure at an overhead projector for the whole semester. When I
graduated four years later, we didn't walk across a stage either.  The
graduating class was much too large for that. Later, in 1970,
undergraduate commencement exercises were cancelled after a tumultuous
Spring of antiwar protests. My M.A. ceremony WAS held, but we entered
through a phalanx of armed guards, and the audience came in through
metal detectors. Those were interesting times and my memories of them
are strong. I don't recall being upset by any of it, however, but
instead seeing it as an unfolding experience that I was part of. My
doctoral commencement -- much more "ordinary" by comparison -- was
magnificent but I remember less detail about it.

Since those days, I have attended well over a hundred commencement
exercises on various campuses. Some of the speeches were riveting -- I
have borrowed from them myself -- and many were ho-hum. I have sat
among the faculty and on stage among the administration, and have had
the pleasure of leading ceremonies many times and the great pleasure
of watching family members and the children of friends go through
commencement.

Not all find it as joyous an occasion as I always have. Having spoken
with many, many students and parents over the years, though, I am
convinced that commencement is a treasured experience for the
majority. The campuses can take credit for some of that. As I said in
an earlier post, we get enough practice doing commencements that we
generally know how to do it right. Much of the credit for the
celebrative spirit of the day, however, belongs to the students and
families. They come with a sense of elation at having reached a
milestone and a feeling of pride that is electric. Unless
administration makes a royal mess of things, the crowd's spirit
carries them past ho-hum speeches and colliseum echos. I have spoken
to many more adults who regret having missed their commencements than
those who regret having been there.

Diplomas are an interesting element of the experience. On almost all
campuses, a student walking across the stage gets an empty diploma
case or one with a placeholder certificate. Degrees are generally
posted a week or two later, and diplomas are mailed out after that.
There are therefore three parts to the process. Commencement is the
public ceremony, but some students who participate will not actually
have a degree posted if the record shows that they have not completed
all academic requirements by the posting date -- having failed a
required course, for example.

A small number of students who make it through step two, degree
posting, still may not get through the third step. Some, but not all
campuses will delay mailing a diploma if a student has outstanding
financial obligations -- unpaid fees, library fines, parking tickets.
I have mixed feelings about that practice.  I know it can cause bad
feelings, especially if the obligations are minor. On the other hand,
there are always students who deliberately walk out on major
obligations. Once they are gone, the campus has little leverage to
recover the debt. More than once, I have covered a student's debt out
of my own pocket and have rarely been repaid, despite their profuse
thanks and promises to pay me back later. On balance, I feel that
withholding a diploma is more trouble than it's worth. Once a student
realizes that his/her degree has been posted anyway, withholding the
physical diploma is a very weak lever indeed.

As with most parts of our lives, I think our reactions to commencement
and the awarding of diplomas vary considerably. Our prior experiences
and expectations shape our attitudes, which in turn affect the way we
feel about graduation. There's a tendency for some on the inside of
academia to forget that it's all about the students, and to get too
wrapped up in the regalia and self-congratulation. There's also a
tendency for some students and families to see commencement as one
final hurdle to be endured. Either attitude can take the edge off of
even the best-planned day. Fortunately, that's not the way things
usually turn out for most of us.

Rolig
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