Starting in Second Life

Walking around Second Life and virtual islands will take a little time to learn, but its not hard to do. Below is an actual course assignment (in my intro course) to get you to the Empire State College island and get started. You can use it to learn (you don't have to do the assignment unless you are in one of my classes). At the very bottom of the screen, there is a PowerPoint with other interesting locations you might want to visit.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS AND OBJECTIVES: This initial assignment will instruct you on using virtual tools and experiences we will need in the course.

PREPARATION: IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU HAVE POWERPOINT (PPT) ACCESSIBLE AT THE SAME TIME; START THE COMPUTER WITH YOUR HEADSET PLUGGED IN – you will be testing speaking and listening. Here is a slideshare link to a PowerPoint version that can help you understand the presentation you need to create. http://www.slideshare.net/eoconnor/basic-virtual-skills-the-course-hello

NOTE: the course is now using the ESC Science Center and NOT the private SER/VE island that you will see in some of the animated tutorials; adjustments have been made to the documents herein to explain the differences – some of the animations show the older island, however you should be able to adjust to any differences quite easily.

1. GET THE SECOND LIFE VIEWER AND PUBLIC AVATAR: Download Second Life (www.secondlife.com ) (see the background requirements for the speed and capacity of your computer) – join Second Life to get a “public” avatar which you will use later in the course. Create a name for yourself and complete the required sign-up materials – 1.5 minute animated tutorial on downloading and starting up Second Life.

2. FIND ESC’S SCIENCE CENTER VIRTUAL LOCATION: Once your avatar has locate the Empire State College islands, click here for a document that explains the two ways for finding the island once you have created an avatar & have the Second Life viewer on your computer.

3. MOVE: use the arrows on your keyboard to walk; you can click the Move toolbar on the bottom buttons to have the option to run or fly too; practice moving – 1.25-min. animated tutorial on moving. (Note: you have total control over your avatar’s look and even gender; you can change any of these characteristics by right-clicking on your avatar & playing – but you do not need to make any changes unless you want to.)

4. SIT ON CHAIR: Go into the ESC Science Center; the modern-looking building in the northeast of the ESC island (see the directions in step 2 above). Move to any chair in the middle of the building – right click the chair, slide to and click Sit Here -- .5 min. animated tutorial on sitting on objects.

5. ZOOM: Turn the computer view so you can zoom in on your avatar’s face, using Alt+click & mouse wheel/keyboard or using the View button on screen bottom – 1 min. animated tutorial on using Zoom.

6. TAKE A SNAPSHOT At the top of the screen, click World > Snapshot > Save to computer and save the closeup of your avatar sitting on the chair – 1-min. animated tutorial on taking a Snapshot.

7. TEST SPEAKING: This is vital to your success in meetings.

  • a. Click Speak at screen bottom – it has to be green if you want to speak. Talk and you should see green waves come out from your head, as in the picture above. Turn the Speak button on and off (known as “toggling”); observe how the waves are turned on and off based on the button’s position. Your speaking in called OUTPUT in Second Life. If you need to adjust your headset (maybe you don't see the green waves), at the top of the screen, click Me > Preferences > Sound & media > Input / output devices, as shown here – 2 min. animated tutorial on sound adjustment.
  • b. If another avatar is nearby, you can test the ability to talk by speaking to that avatar; zoom in to that avatar if necessary – you may be too far away to hear the sound.
  • c. If you cannot see the green waves when you try to speak, and you have made the adjustments in step 7a, then check your computer settings themselves through the computer’s Control Panel – 2 min. animated tutorial on making Control Panel adjustment . Return and retest the speaking and listening once more.
  • d. If you think you are having trouble with the speak/hear portions, then please come to the optional sound-testing on Monday Sept. 16 at 8pm in the ESC Science Center for a brief talk-through on using the headsets (if necessary). (NOTE: continue to work through the rest of the steps; you can make the sound adjustments later when we meet.)

. 8. FIND MORE LOCATIONS: using the World Map (as explained in the document in step 2 or from this 1-min. animated tutorial on using World Map) locate and save-picture-of at least three more locations on either of the ESC islands; you will need them in the next step – there are many interesting and fun location on the two ESC islands; see what you can find – and say hello to other avatars you might meet, they could be classmates.

9. NOW, MAKE A POWERPOINT (PPT) TO STORE YOUR SNAPSHOTS: Store your Snapshot in a PowerPoint presentation that you store at www.slideshare.net ; upload your PowerPoint into slideshare – get the link and put the link in posting area with this assignment in module 1. NOTE: Slideshare began charging for presentations larger than 10 MG, so if you have trouble uploading, either reduce some of the special effects you may have in your PPT or break the presentation into two parts and upload them separately

Checklist for the submitted final document (be sure to exercise moving around & chatting in SL; you can't be "tested" on this now, but it will make your experience with immersive learning much better): a PowerPoint posted at www.slideshare.net that shows:

  • A snapshot of your avatar with a zoom-in on the avatar face
  • Three Snapshots of different locations on the ESC island
  • Your slides uploaded onto Slideshare with the link being placed in the course (it is important that you can use presentation sharing sites).