Finally figured out how to get to Paris and did see people hanging out. Did meet up with a classmate and then got teleported to the classes meeting place.
Good to learn some of the basics of SL at the class meeting. Will help if and when I return to SL.
I can see some use of SL with regards to education, but I can see that I will not be able to use it in my situation. The hardware required will limit the number of students that can participate in it's use. Some still have only dial-up connections, some only with older units and some with no computer at all.
I had never heard of SL, but the overall exposure to SL was interesting to say the least. I will probably visit a little more in the future, but I don't think the SL thing is for me.
Rick, How long did it take you to figure things out? For me one of the scariest things about using SL in distance learning is the varying levels of technological skill among students. That and bandwidth, graphics card capabilities, and asking busy students to meet synchronously. All of these issues have made me think twice about asking history students to use SL. Your thoughts as a first-time SecondLifer and distance learning student?
ReplyDeleteI am not even sure I have figured out much with regards to the SL thing. I spent about an hour before the class meeting time to learn to move, dress, lose a shoe, etc.... These processes were not any sort of challenge, but the overall concept of SL, how lands, areas and buildings are created/purchased, and the money thing in the SL world are still a little fuzzy to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI think it's use for distance learning students may have better use than the student base that I am working with. Distance learners seem that they will have adequate hardware to access the application. Teleporting to a meeting place can easily be done if everyone is on some sort of friend list and are invited at teleport to a meeting site. It did make things a lot easier for me to figure out were I was to go.