Welcome to DAA Digital Media Studies in Second Life!

Welcome to DAA Digital Media Studies in Second Life!

I’m looking forward to an exciting second semester as we work through the virtual homesteading process together. You will be working in a 3D, persistent, immersive virtual world that is created and owned by its residents. It allows for synchronous, collaborative work and play while merging aspects of the 2D WWW with a 3D environment. In other words, it will be a lot of fun dreaming up new ways to use this medium!

My avatar's name in Alpine Tendaze. Your other teachers' avatars are Myracles Zsigmond, Ryuu Dinzeo, Kiber Phlox and Zena Lasally. Right now, we are all on the main grid and will let you know when we get uploaded to the teen grid.

You will make an ‘avatar’ to operate in this 3D environment. The avatar is a graphical representation of your in-world presence. You have full-control over the appearance and dress. This includes, shape size, color, hairstyle and customization of nearly every body feature to make your avatar unique. You can also make your avatar into an animal, called a ‘furry’, a robot, space alien, a Kool-Aid pitcher or anything else you can imagine!

No story or narrative is superimposed in this world called Second Life (SL). This is a significant departure from other virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft, in which you may have gained some experience. This lack of narrative provides great freedom; anything is possible in Second Life. However, your in-world actions, choices, vocabulary, dress and general behavior are bound by the same expectations we have of you on our RL campus. In-world behavior is strictly monitored. We'll discuss ground rules in RL class.

Those of you who are under 17 will work on a ‘grid’ called Teen Second Life (TSL). This teen grid (TG) is a separate set of servers, effectively a different virtual world, from the main grid (MG) for those who are over 18. Those of you who are over 18 will be working with me on the main grid.

Steps to get started:

Speak to your parents about the project; share your in-world work and this blog with them. Your parents are most welcome to visit us at school for more information and perhaps a tour highlighting the educational potential of Second Life.

Have your parents help you create an account if you are between ages 13 and 17. You will need them to verify your age through the use of their credit card. This allows Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, to track down people who cause problems or who are not supposed to be on the teen grid. There is no charge and Linden lab is very well-established, respected, trustworthy and secure. It is one way they maintain security in-world. I also advise those of you who are over 18 to include your parents in the account creation process.

Be prepared to choose a name for your avatar. Linden Lab will have a long list of last names from which to choose. You can choose any first name you like so long as that combination of names is not already in use and it is appropriate for school. Note that you cannot change your avatar’s name later. Choose your name wisely and make it something you can live with. People have found that once they develop relationships and establish a reputation, they have difficulty changing their avatar’s name without having to rebuild their social network.

After choosing your avatar’s name and completing your account setup, you will be prompted to download the SL client program. This is about 30MB. You’ll need a broadband connection of 128 (if available) to 256 (most common in Dubai) or higher at home to use it.

Your avatar will begin on Orientation Island whether you are on the TG or MG. Visit each tutorial station to learn how to move, fly, move objects, edit your appearance, use your inventory and talk to others. Do not fly or teleport away until you are comfortable here. There are tutorials in other locations but you cannot return to Orientation Island once you have left.
Visit Help Island next for a more in-depth look at building skills, using textures and scripting. There are many freebie items ranging from clothing and hair to vehicles, houses and free scripts. Pick up as much as you can. Your inventory can store an enormous amount of stuff.

Word to the wise: keep your inventory organized! It can spiral out of control really quickly unless you keep your inventory folders organized. Spend as much time in-world as you can. You are required to spend two hours in-world outside of class time each week.

At least one person will post to this blog (http://daateensecondlife.blogspot.com/) after every class. Be sure to use avatar names, not real life names, when posting to maintain privacy. Make comments as well. This is a class requirement and a significant part of your assessment. I’ll be updating it regularly to review what we have accomplished and guide you with next steps for upcoming lessons. Once you are functional in the environment, you’ll be able to do a lot of the work at home.

See you in-world soon!

Alpine Tendaze