In-world
Orientation Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orientation%20Island%20Public/97/155
Orientation Island is designed to familiarize new users to basic
skills in Second Life. Users move along a guided path at their own
pace, and are given challenges and hints to accomplish certain tasks.
Help Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Help%20Island%20Public/130/133/27
Help Island is the suggested destination after Orientation Island,
where users will be able to get free stuff, meet other avatars,
and continue to practice. Good tutorial and practice space for building
basic objects.
New Citizens Plaza
http://slurl.com/secondlife/kuula/54/175/29/
New Citizens Plaza is another good spot for newbies. It offers freebies,
practice space, and free classes and events.
Angel Learning Isle
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ANGEL
Learning Isle/128/128/0
Angel Learning Isle is a site dedicated to helping educators by
providing tools, practice areas, and trial classroom and meeting
spaces.
Ivory Tower of Primitives
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Natoma/204/70/25/
This location provides more advanced tutorials on building objects
and prims in Second Life.
Blogs and Wikis
Second Life Education Research
http://www.secondlife.intellagirl.com/
http://www.ubernoggin.com/
Sarah Robbins’, aka “Intellagirl”, blogs on Second
Life, technology, education, and web 2.0 technologies. Robbins is
a Ph.D. candidate at Ball State University and a leading researcher
on Second Life.
SLTutorials
http://www.sltutorials.net/magazine/
This site provides tutorials on a range of topics that are generated
and shared by the user community. You can register for free, access
tutorials, or even upload one of your own in text or video formats.
Second Life Wiki
https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page
The Second Life Wiki is a wealth of information and includes sections
on marketing, scripting, news, quality assurance, and creating in
SL. Any resident can edit and share content.
Second Life Education Wiki
http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
Linden Lab’s official wiki resource for educators. It is especially
useful to learn how other universities and organizations are using
Second Life, and to find groups of educators to join in SL.
Mermaid Diaries
http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/
Natalia Zelmanov’s blog on all things Second Life, especially
fashion and how to make clothing. Check out her “Getting Started”
posts.
Second Life in Education
http://sleducation.wikispaces.com
A wiki that explores the educational possibilities in virtual spaces,
especially Second Life. Provides an overview of how to get started
and ways that Second Life can be used for education.
Articles and Papers
Lamb, Gregory M. “Real Learning in a Virtual World.”
Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1005/p13s02-legn.html
An introduction to how Second Life is changing education and business
for early adopters. Gives examples from Harvard University and Ball
State University.
Olsen, Stefanie. “Universities Register for Virtual Future.”
CNet News.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6157088.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Discusses the future of incorporating high tech in education and
highlights several technologies. The article mentions Sloodle, the
skin that combines Second Life and Moodle to enhance the classroom
experience in the virtual environment.
Conklin, Megan. “101 Uses for Second Life in the College Classroom.”
http://facstaff.elon.edu/mconklin/pubs/glshandout.pdf
A useful PDF on how to use Second Life in the classroom with a number
of good ideas on lessons and classroom objectives.
Frost, Foolish. “The Unofficial Complete Fool’s Guide
to Second Life.”
http://www.sldrama.com/index.php?page=2
A PDF download that is a good “getting started” guide.
The guide is organized by basic skills, and the lessons are reinforced
by graphics, tip boxes, and a narrative that follows a new avatar
along his first adventure in Second Life.
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