Reviewed by Elizabeth Clark
Introduction
Second Life (SL) is a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE), a virtual world not a game, that was created and is developed by Linden Labs. In SL, people, or their avatars actually, can buy and sell land and goods just as they can in real life (RL). SL even has its own currency, the Linden dollar (L$); one U.S. dollar is equal to about L$276.
A basic membership in SL is free, and it is possible to participate fully without spending any money; however, only someone with a premium membership can buy land directly from Linden Labs. Entry to SL is possible only by downloading and using the SL software; it is not possible to access SL directly from the web.
Upon joining SL, the new member chooses an avatar from about a half dozen available options. Once "in world," a member can modify his or her appearance as much as he or she wants and can afford. Upon first logging in to SL, the new member must complete activities on Orientation Island and then may move on to other areas. Newbies are now offered different options for continuing their orientation; those interested in education may go to the NMC campus in SL. Unless the new member is familiar with similar environments, it can take a while to learn to get around.
There are currently three books available to help the newbie:
I would strongly recommend reading one of these books, especially the first or third, before actually logging into SL if you are not comfortable in virtual environments.
My Experience
I first read about SL in the book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. What convinced me to join was reading about the Second Life Best Practices in Education conference in David Warlick's blog 2 Cents Worth. I joined and attended some interesting sessions of the conference. Since then I've joined a group (SLolars) of "educators who are committed to exploring the possibilities of SL." I also joined the SLED (Second Life Educators) listserv, which has been a big help in getting acclimated. I've rented a house on Renaissance Island and gotten involved in a couple of educational projects in SL, all of which I've related in my blog.
Educational Potential
As many people are realizing, SL has a lot of potential for educational uses. (Dozens of colleges, universities, libraries, and professional organizations are currently using SL.) Some of the ways SL can be used have been documented on the SLEducation (Second Life in Education) wiki. For me the greatest potential of SL is for networking and my own professional development.
Cautions
The lack of web access is a definite disadvantage for students who do not own computers and depend on a school's computer labs, even if the institution is fully supporting the educational use of SL and permits the software to be downloaded to all computers on campus. The software is also frequently updated, which would make maintenance on campus more time consuming.
The main grid of SL is limited to adults 18 and over. There is a teen grid for youth ages 13 to 18, but there is nothing available in SL for younger children.
As I mentioned, SL has a lot of potential, but we need to be careful not to try to do things in SL that can be done better with other tools or in other venues.
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