Predictions, Ahem Wish List 2011 for Second Life

I can’t really make predictions on virtual worlds or Second Life for 2011, I am not expert.  Sure I spend some time in there, have tried selling stuff, done some education related activities and gone to some events and held a few.  Second Life seems to provide a perfect virtual environment for those sorts of things.
So while I am not going to make some predictions I am going to say that I hope a few things happen that will allow us, end users, to capitalize on the potential of Second Life.  One would be that I hope that Linden Labs recognizes the potential of the SL platform for Social Networking.  The opportunity here is huge.  Showing users how to build community, use groups, and improving on the text and voice chat will be huge improvements for Second Life.   The first time or two that you, as a resident of Second Life meets someone from Russia or China you maybe hooked..that is the power of networking in Second Life!
Second Life has a tremendous resource in their users who offer classes on all of the above and more.  I have suggested before and I will suggest again that if I could immediately build my network based upon my profile, that I complete before going in to Second Life, and immediately start networking after joining would greatly improve the user experience from the start.  So if, for example my profile indicates that I am an educator with an interest in writing and Steampunk I am immediately connected with those groups and communities would hold great potential for improvement.
In my opinion Second Life is events driven.  It is probably events that first draw users into Second Life.  If you are an educator it was probably a conference, a class, or exploring the potential of Second Life for education.  Right now it is, in my opinion very difficult to search events for something that relates to your interest, or as one person complains you go to an event and there is no one there.
On any given day you will find events such as discussions on various topics from religion, to politics, to relationships, science or education.  You will also find live music with performers in pop, country, folk, and new age.  Many of these performers are seasoned real life artists who are wanting off the real life road but still want to perform and with Second Life they can right from the comfort of their home.
Would it make sense for Second Life to enhance how they assist residents in promoting and putting on events, in my opinion it would.  The future of Second Life depends upon people in world activity doing things, not just showing up and hanging out..heck we can just as easily do that in front of our televisions and with a lot less lag.
Second Life provides a great platform for role play.  I mention that and have in the past as being a key benefit for Second Life in education, creative writing, and experience history.  I visited some role play sims one of which is described as: “Friendly medieval fantasy roleplay community open to all levels of roleplay experience. Focus on story development
Medieval Role play Medieval RPG Fantasy roleplay Medieval Market Medieval Fantasy Market Shops for Rent Cottage Rentals Cottages for rent.”  http://world.secondlife.com/place/fd941958-bad8-8bc8-8875-9c9f5808e8b0
One of the cool things I came across when I visited Dubhan is the Herb Hunt noted below (what a great way to learn about herbs..): \
Herb Hunt
------------
Throughout the lands of Dubhan grow wild herbs that can be used in a variety of different ways.   Be forewarned that you may have to venture in dangerous parts of Dubhan if you wish to find all of them.
The role play on Dubhan is as follows:

The realm of Dubhan dates back to before man knew of time and space.  The large island sits far off the coast of Ireland and has been protected by an ancient elven spell which hides it from sight.  Only those with knowledge of it's exact location are able to find it's shores. 

For years Dubhan remained untouched by outsiders and only it's native races (Elves, Fae, and Satyrs) could claim it as home, but war broke out among the races, causing the magic barrier to weaken and reveal the island to a group of human knights who were sailing in search of a place to hide away an ancient relic.  These knights hid their relic deep within the land, hoping that the natural magic would keep it hidden from those who would seek to use it for evil. 

After 20 years, The Elven Wars finally ended.  The Light Elves were able to defeat their darker cousins, with the help of the other native races, but the lands had been ravaged and all had surmounted great losses.  Most of the them receeded back into their woods and mountains, remaining in hiding.   ….There is more check out the Dubhan sim in Second Life to learn more.  A few pictures below:

The Alexandria Egyptian Empire Role Play Sim:


Neo Victoria
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeoVictoria/16/118/700
The Machinima tutorial area which I thought was great!



Wulin, a Chinese Martial Arts Role Play sim:



Renaissance Island Role Play Sim:


Linden Labs cut many employees in 2010, but what about adding employees who can help build up the potential of Second Life in social networking, developing events, role play, and education? The potential is there I believe and if I were to do my 2011 predictions for Second Life it would be more a wish list and it would look like that!

Second Life Hunts

There are a lot of fun Second Life hunts going on right now that provide the participant with the opportunity to get to know Second Life and get some fabulous merchandise for free.  Rumor is that as of September 1st there were over 100 hunts going on ..why so many?  Well this popular activity is one way of marketing your store and a way for Second Life residents to get free merchandise from their favorite merchants and  get acquainted with new ones.
It’s also a way to meet up with new friends and get reacquainted with with old ones.  Because most hunts are themed this is a good way to connect with others who have similar interests.  So how do you get started on the hunt? Well one way is to find a blog, website or information on the Second Life website to get started.
One of the most popular hunts right now is the Steam Hunt which bills itself as: STEAM:  Steampunk Travelers' Event, Adventure & Megahunt.   This is the third time for this popular hunt which takes place September 1-30th, 2010.  The trick is with this hunt as with any is to find all 135 of the Steampunk-themed gifts which are hidden in the participating vendors parcel or store.   The participants generally start the hunt at one point receiving the landmark for the next site when they find the prize.  Steam the Hunt maintains a blog with updates and hunt information to keep the participant informed and updated.  Steampunk Adventures store is participating in the STEAM hunt as well as the Mushroom hunt. Since starting in this hunt we have seen our traffic increase 3 to 4 times as many visitors prior to the hunts.   We hope that hunters are taking this opportunity to landmark our store for a return visit as well as making a note of our participating vendors in order to visit them.
Here are some pictures of me at the launch point in Mieville for the STEAM hunt.
Me with another hunter at the launch site for the Steam hunt
The hunt board at the second site for the Steam hunt:

Information on hunts and other events at  Avatar Bizarre a stop on the STEAM hunt:

The MadPea Mushroom Hunt started September 1st and bills itself as: 100 locations, 100 mushrooms, 100 prizes and 100L$ for everyone to complete the hunt - starting on September 1st at the MadPea Circus.  There is a website for the MadPea Mushroom Hunt with information on participants, prices, locations and other information.
The MadPea Mushroom Hunt provides much more than just a simple hunt according to the website participants can:
1. STORY
- Write an original story about your adventures as a mushroom hunter. English only, please.
Your style can be anything you wish. Let your mind go wild and your imagination bloom.
There is NO limitation on the length of your piece.
2. COMIC STRIP:
- Create a short story with the aid of photos.
Use the images to tell us your favourite/most horrible encounters during your hunt.
Maximum of 20 image per one comic.
3. VIDEO:
- Create a video about the best parts of your hunt. Show locations. Show people.
Show us the emotions and the feeling of being a mushroom hunter.
Make it fun, make it crazy, challenge your imagination.
NO limitation on the length of the piece.
I have participated in a few hunts.  I have visited at least 15 stores on the current Steam Hunt, completed The Thrifty Gother hunt, Pot of Gold Hunt, and last spring’s Steam Hunt.  On a regular hunt though the question may be asked regarding what you expect to get as prizes.l.this could be anything from furniture, clothing, airships, buildings, to shoes.  Here are some examples of things I have gotten:
Fashions from LnL Design in last spring’s Steam Hunt:

A beautiful Victorian gown from Papillon:

A hot tub in the Pot of Gold Hunt:

Another example of the gifts I received on the hunts I have been on.  A biplane from the Shiny Shop! and another outfit from The Traveler:

Another fashion shot:

I have received a lot of great things so far on this fall’s STEAM Hunt, photos below:
Tophat: Destiny Designs:
Steampunk Wings from Avatar Bizarre:

Fabulous Steampunk Skybox from Gianfor Peaks (interior):

Exterior of the Steampunk Skybox from Gianfor Peaks:

A fabulous fashion selection from Steam Bound:
Is your interest piqued?  Are hunts worthwhile? Well I think so!  As I mentioned previously there are over 100 hunts going on right now in Second Life. What are these hunts and what are the themes?
The Back to School Hunt:  Which started September 1st-30th.  The theme of this hunt is , students , anything and everything about going back to school.  There are only 30 stores participating in this hunt.
The Birthday Blitz Hunt, no real theme noted runs from September 1-30th and is sponsored by Sour Pickles Group.  
Hunt for (role players)  RP! Runs from September 1-30th, information can be found on the Hunt for RP blog.   The theme or intent of the hunt is as follows:  With the growing number of RP's on Second Life, we have attempted to combine RP needs, shopping, and advertisement into one package.
The details of the  Zombie Raid Hunt are noted on a blog.  This hunt started August 20th and lasts to October 1st.   
Websites with information on Second Life hunts:
The most popular via google search SLHUNTS
‘Second Life 24H
From the events listings at the Second Life Website I found the following:
Twisted Hunt:  The Twisted Hunt returns with new prizes and new challenges. The theme for this round is "spooky," so you'll seek and find dark, creepy and scary items across Second Life. Event held through Sept. 30.  
For fun, fabulous prizes, and if you are new to Second Life hunts provide the participant with an opportunity to get high quality merchandise, fashion, and to make connections with others.  Take advantage of all of these hunts today!  (Now that I am done with this article guess what I am going to do!!)

Music in Second Life

Second Life does provide plenty of opporutnities for musicians to gain a following, allbeit somewhat small..but then you get to get this audience sitting in front of your computer, in the comfort of your own home or studio if you wish.

I decided to venture out today, and wander around and listen to various musicians, take some pictures and review the music scene in education from an educators perspective. Is there a chance that college level music programs can use Second Life as a learning opportunity for students?

It's 8 am (SLT) and I am sitting in the comfort of my living room when I log in to go on this venture. I find that musician Russell Eponym is playing at the Drunken Dow in Second Life. Russell plays regularly at the Drunken Dow at this time every Saturday morning. He has a soothing voice and focuses on folk songs. Based upon a review of his calendar you can see that this talented singer is actively involved in bringing his music to an audience in Second Life.

According to his real life bio he is:

Russell Taylor Ashby

Quintessentially British living in North Wales
- musician/singer/songwriter
- artist
- writer
- teacher
For free downloads go to: http://www.thesixtyone.com/ukcowboysinger
For photos go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25411664@N02/

While these events are held virtually it is important to remember that these events are experiential can be experienced as if they are real, and quite enjoyable.

It is hard to judge how much these artists make in Second Life. If 10 people are there and they each tip around 100L the artist gets 1000L for that performance which lasts an hour. 1000L is a little less than $4.00 (USD), if they also charge a fee to the venue to perform they may get anywhere from 3000L - ..well I suppose up to what the venue is willing to pay.


I could listen to the amazing russell Eponym all day, his music, his story, and his voice are amazing.

Musicians in Second Life are more than happy to promote and sing for fundraisers. Today I attended a fund raiser for Virtual Helping Hands Helen Keller Day celebration in Second Life at Club Accessible. This morning Jordan Reyne was playing..and I found her to be amazing artist.


As a visitor to Second Life you should be impressed by the level of fundraising that occurs across the grid, the willingness of talented musicians to give of their time to support these efforts, as well as the level of talent involved.

By 9:46 am I was wandering over to Avillon Mist to listen to Shannon Oherlihy, in my opinion, one of the best singers in Second Life. Her voice evokes memories of Joan Baez or Judy Collins.

I then wandered over to Guthries in Second Life to listen to davecorbett Darwin. He has this wonderfully gravelly voice that really resonates with the blues lover.

Second Life Musicians have a variety of ways to promote themselves. The venue owner who books an artist who has a good following really has a gem as these people come with the artist to visit your sim and perhaps even tip your venue. If you have shops on your sim perhaps they will shop for some virtual goods.

Below is a picture of Guthries which shows how signs, group joiners and other boards are used to get tips and have people join your group so they return to your venue:

I next found Remy Farman at Club Falling Water's Back Up Club. I found his web tab and reviewed his schedule of events. As you can see his event run through the morning, 10 am SLT and 12 PM SLT. Remy like Russell is also from Wales according to his bio.

One of my favorites is the superb singer, Tone Uriza in Second Life. He is pure blues singer and is simply amazing. His Second Life information is also on this website. I see that Tone only has a couple of shows lined up in Second Life, I hope this doesn't mean he is backing off on his events in SL.

This is what I am finding, that at this time of the day most of the artists are from the UK or other countries. This is a wonderful thing, Second Life is truly a 24 / 7 venue for events, to see and hear artists from all over the world, and to be entertained at all times of the day or night.


Second Life provides a means of communication via instant messaging, groups, notecards, and the guides associated with Second Life. In addition to this many artists make use of websites, Livestreaming and Ustreaming.

What can students gain from this? A way of gaining an audience, getting feedback on their singing, and a motivation to practice. They can also link up with other artists all over the world. In addition they can also learn a little about entrepreneurship through promoting themselves and/or their own venues.

Of course I can't close this out without mentioning one of my favorite venues in Caledon..that of the Empress of the Aethers on Thistle Hill. I have watched this from the start and there are exciting things going on there as Mr. Plutonian slow grows the following of this fine venue for musicians. These musicians include Mrmulti Writer, Shannon Oherlihy, Geos Copperfield, Strum Diesel, and DJ Lucien Brentano. If you are looking for a venue drop Andy Riverstone, manager, a note or one to Onyx Plutonian, owner, to get the details on scheduling your event there.

The interior of the beautiful Empress of the Aethers:

Another shot of the stage:

I include Empress of the Aethers here not only because it is owned by a friend but because it is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing venues I have visited, musicians and the audience all seem to love it. This is a key point if your venue is hard to find, if you don't promote your event using the events feature of Second Life, subscribo matics, groups,etc you just aren't going to have a good draw to your events..and a good audience means good tips.

Have a successful venue for music in Second Life just takes persistence. I have heard a rule of thumb that establishing a small business in real life may take a year or longer, it may take at least that long in Second Life if not longer.

Why I write and other stuff

oday I was contemplating the question.."Why do you write?" I am not a published author, I don't think dissertations count..haha. I really don't think I am a very good writer..I salute anyone who reads through my blogs and doesn't escape from that experience without being confused and bewildered. This blog "mixed bag" is a silly name but it is somewhat fitting--I am never entirely sure what I will be posting here. My intent today,for example was to write a blog focused on Second Life, but this blog has wandered off on some sort of a different focus. Given that I am compelled to incorporate something regarding Second Life into this blog, which I will do towards the end.

I was inspired to write this post after reading Cecelia Ward Jones' article in the Jan/February 2010 issue of Poets and Writers magazine. In this article she chronicles her writing career and traces that she decided to be a writer at the age of nine having spent the day reading Little Women..which was thrust upon her by her grandmother after she complained of having nothing to do. At that same age I was reading alot too. Nancy Drew Mysteries, Five Little Peppers books, Bobbsey Twins, Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, Dr. Seuss books, Scholastic Books, my mom's Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and a variety of other books. By the age of 17 had devoured Wind in the Willows, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Watership Down, Atlas Shrugged, JRR Tolkein, Animal Farm, tons of science fiction and fantasy, I loved books and I loved to read.

Having established a life long love of reading..why do I write? in college my first composition class teacher assigned us poetry writing..I had never written poetry before but hammered out some lines.. and she loved them..she engaged in a long class discussion regarding them..I was exhilarated..I had never received such recognition for anything I had written before. I no longer have those poems but I am sure they were fueled by teen age angst and some lingering effects of a romance novel I had read. I have continued to have that sort of acknowledgment for my writing from my peers and others throughout my academic career. I have taken college classes, Writers Digest workshops, and attend various writer groups to better refine my writing skills. Therefore it must be that love of reading that is behind why I write, that recognition for what I write that drives me to continue to write today. Writing though is a fundamental tool for me to use in figuring out my world.

Writers have different processes of writing. Some can go straight to writing others carefully map out what they are going to write via an outline. I actually write most of my stuff out in long hand, then type it up or word process it into Google Docs. From there I transfer it via cut and paste to my blog. At least in this way what I write goes through to drafts..but I still know I am slack in the finer points of using just the right word. This is why I have recently been seeking out writers groups in Second Life to engage in dialogue and critique of my writing. I have listed some of these resources below:

Athena Isle Writers is for writers of all kinds to network, share contacts and information and meet writers, editors, and publishers. (Formerly Writers Wednesday.) We meet on Athena Isle EVERY Wed at 12pm SLT. Led by Alas Zerbino. Authors & expert guests booked by Cybergrrl Oh.

For writers who want to meet other writers to get inspired & rev up their writing business. Great writing job opportunities discussed. http://athenaislewriters.blogspot.com & http://slwritersclub.ning.com.


Virtual worlds writers group

Formerly The Guild of UK Writers. Group meetings held at Milk Wood. a featured Second Life Showcase site.

Incorporating all virtual writers' and literary group information. Helping keep your finger on the literary pulse.

milkwoodwriters.ning.com

The Learning Experience

Groups and workshops for writers of all kinds. Website here; http://www.tleinsl.com/index_files/CW.htm , in world The Learning Experience. According to their information: WHAT EXACTLY IS THE TLE WRITERS SYMPOSIUM?

These 2-hour sessions are a combination of open mic and writers' support/feedback group: Writers read their work aloud, and if desired, get feedback afterward.


Other events;

WhereSECOND LIFE (map)

DescriptionTeacher: Alianaluz Rivera Classrunner: ashraf Aulder - ARA This class: TEXT. Story Writing. During this class students will write a short story. Join us. Come have fun and get your creative juices flowing! The first class is free. If it's the first time contact the Class Runner 30 minutes before class. Cost: 750L (1.9 euro; 2.9 US$; 300YEN) More classes: http://www.drive-through-esl.in





Daily writing topics for authors. We will post news about competitions we find noteworthy. We will also offer suggestions for daily field trips you can undertake in the real world. Finally, we’ll publish inspirational thoughts to keep you moving forward. Feel free to use the photographs on this site for your own purposes.

http://www.mammothgardens.com/wordpress/

Book Island in Second Life: Publishing Village for books, magazines and other resources for writers in Second Life. Here is a link to a recent article on Book Island.

And the Storm Mountain Writers Center in Second Life A place for writers! Serious fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction classes taught by professionals; critique & support groups; writers' hangout & coffeeshop (Hemingway Cafe); information source for entire SL writing scene, bookstore, Athen


So get inworld and check these places out... and remember ..don't stop writing.....

David Denton, Cetus, Second Life/Virtual Worlds Architect Designer

Note; the links I provide in the presentation are Second Life slurls. The slurls will take your avatar directly to the site in Second Life. You can get an account and avatar for Second Life by visiting their website here: http://secondlife.com/?lang=en-US


In many ways Second Life is the virtual "warehouse" of art and art work by illustrators, designers, musicians, writers, and digital artists. It provides for the delivery of a variety of artistic expressions of images, music, and interactive experiences never before imagined. One of my favorite is that of Cetus. Cetus is the creative expression of digital art in Second Life created by David Denton.

According to David's website, he is an architect and Virtual Worlds Architect, as illustrated below his work is fantastic. The photos present Cetus, the Cairo Project, an exhibit hall at Stanford and University of New Mexico. What makes his work most remarkable is his use of light, color and transparent textures, this ultimately makes his use of prims much less than you would anticipate.



Cetus:

Cetus is an example of what builds and sites in virtual worlds should be...a stretch of the creative potential of virtual worlds and designs to do something different, to create an interactive immersive experience.

Cetus:

While I was visiting Cetus, for about the fourth or fifth in fact I ran into David or that is his avatar, DB Bailey. I complimented him on his work at Cetus and he asked me if I had seen the Cairo Project. Because I had not he took me on a tour. According to David/DB the Cairo project is collaboration between the University of Southern California and Cairo University. This incredible project will allow students from these two different cultures to learn about each other, their countries and to collaborate together. In fact this project itself is symbolic of the success that can occur when teams can work together to create a build in Second Life that can be replicated in real life. The build in Second Life can allow the architects to design and experience how the site will actually "work," in the real world and to easily make changes as necessary before the site is actually built. This is an efficient way of designing and building.



The photo below is the actual screen that will be used to stream videos in world at the Cairo Project. Note the reflections in the floor a well.

Pictures of the real world application of a collaborative project between David Denton and architects in Cairo:

David also demonstrated how an artist from Egypt uses Second Life to display his artwork. This particular artist designs clay tiles in Egypt, they were used here as decorative elements for building:

Here is another example of this artist's work:

David has also done design work for universities throughout the world and he offered to show me some of the work he has done. This includes the Stanford Library exhibit hall in Second Life:

The build at Stanford seems to be floating, if you visit and look up this is what you will see. It is an amazing feeling of airiness and floating...yet you do feel that you are in a structure.

Finally David's design at the University of New Mexico is an artistic representation of cultures native to this state. However it is much more than that ..a digital representation of live in the State of New Mexico. There is a hot air balloon tour which allows you to get a good view of the site.

It is remarkable. The colors are rich, the graphical representation of the desert mountains surrounding the are realistic. This site is a feast for the eyes, set you environmental settings to sunset to fully enjoy this experience.

This site provides students and faculty with unique meeting spots to enjoy discussions or classroom activities:

More photos from the beautiful University of New Mexico site:

These sites and the work of David Denton illustrate the truly remarkable potential of virtual worlds in providing rich artistic, collaboration, and learning experiences in the 3D/virtual world environments. Not only that it provides us with the means to tap into the potential of collaboration and communication. It was an exciting opportunity for me to meet and discuss with David Denton his work in Second Life!

Free Education in Second LIfe

On any given day or time of the week you will find a slew of opportunities to enrich your mind, engage in discussions, learn a new skill or improve an old, for free in Second Life. Second Life! why we all thought it was dead or dieing didn't we? Well it appears to not be so .. Tonight I find the following:

Classes in scripting, building, searching, managing inventory, navigating the grid, Second Life basics, communicating, discussion groups on writing, philosophy, religion, languages, politics, etc., etc and the price is right these educational opportunities are free.



One of my favorite finds in Second Life is the Happy Hippo Building Club. for a one time fee of 100L of joining their group you can access most of their resources for building. These include gadgets, scultpties, textures, particles, animations as well as their broad range of tutorials. The also have a website that provides a more in-depth information on the services that they provide. Not everything here is free with membership, but it's nice to have everything that you need to build and create in Second Life under one roof! I will be returning here time and again in order to learn about being creative in Second Life.

Or a class on making clothing..from New Citizens Incorporated which is a link to their calendar of events. They offer a variety of classes, and as defined in their group charter they:

Designed primarily for new residents, but open to all, NCI offers in-person advice from our team of NCI Helpers and NCI Land Officers classes, contests and social events, interactive tutorials, freebies, help notecards and landmarks, sandboxes for building, a new residents mall, Ginny Gremlin park, games, and newsstands with free in-world publications.

The classes at NCI are free, however they do have various donation/tip jars located on their sim area, throw a few Lindens in them to ensure that this free service continues. Be sure and check out their wiki for more information on what New Citizen Incorporated has to offer residents of Second Life.



Another opportunity for learning is at Rockcliffe University. The website for Rockcliffe provides a great deal of information on education, research and virtual environments. According to their website they offer a variety of courses in several areas a few of these are:

• Sloodle
• Moodle Course Management
• Power Point Tips & Tricks
• Welcome To Your Second Life
• Open Office
• GIMP
• Inkscape
  
• Photo Shop
• Paint Shop Pro
• Dreamweaver
• Podcasting & Garage Band
  
• Blogging
• Vlogging
• Video Production & Editing With iMovie
• Video Editing & Production With Windows Movie Maker
  
• Twitter & Twitter Tools
• Social Networking

I suggest checking them out they offer a variety of educational programs, orientation, and traditional educational programs to meet everyone's needs. There are a lot of things going on at Rockcliffe this is definitely one to watch!

Another great place to go to learn the basics, engage in a community, and perhaps take advantage of being able to "experience history," through role play, such as that provided by Caledon Oxbridge. The University of Caledon Oxbridge is also one of my favorite places to take new residents of Second Life, it has one of the better orientation sites I have seen.

I have visited University of Caledon Oxbridge off and on for over a year now and I am impressed with their growth and the changes they have made. They have free avatars for new residents, less than 30 days old and offer free residential spaces for new residents as well. University of Caledon Oxbridge is definitely worth checking out, as is Caledon.

Here is a calendar of their classes:

More information on Caledon can be found on their wiki, this exemplary site is definitely worth the visit and the opportunity to learn more.


Another site in Second Life that offers learning opportunities, that are free, is The Learning Experience. The website provides a great deal of information on the educational programs and services provided by The Learning Experience. The Learning Experience is another education entity in Second Life to watch! Kitviel Silberberg has some great plans ahead for TLE and we should see some things coming forward from those.

As you can see the classes offered by TLE go beyond learning Second LIfe basic to literacture, Spanish, and history. Taking advantage of what TLE has to offer will provide you with some great opportunities to learn new things!

There are several places which provide language learning classes, not the least of which is the Goethe Institute in Second Life. Information on the Goethe Institute can be found here at their website. Information on their Second Life presence can be found on their website.

Not only is the Goethe Institute an educational build, it is, in my opinion one of the most artistic sites I have seen in Second Life, what a great place to learn!

Another resource for free education is the Institute for Cooperative Education which, according to their website, offers classes on three different levels in Second Life skills from beginner to advanced. These skills include building and scripting, in addition to this, you can attend classes on business management and entrepreneurship. ICE classrooms take advantage of the creativity of the Second Life environment, the surroundings are innovative and cheerful.

Another site which offers tutorials, resources and freebies to help out new residents and those who want to learn more about Second Life is International Schools Island. Information on ISI can be found at this site regarding the educational and informational services available at ISI in Second Life. However in order to truly grasp everything that ISI has to offer it is best to travel to the island in Second Life (search for ISI) and see for yourself.

In my estimation though the "granddaddy" of them all is the College of Scripting, Music and Science. The programs and courses offered by the CSMS are profiled in this Second LIfe wiki, which states that "the college was created for the purpose of helping Second Life and it's residents, so that the average user can come and learn to script in LSL."

Some of these enterprises offer tutorials which you can participate in on your own or groups classes, some of these are one night and some of them are a series. In addition to this you may participate in a group discussion or explore things on your own..it's up to you! Second Life offers many way to learn and enrich your knowledge about a variety of subjects.


While many of these courses are free some of the sites and instructors ask for tips, if you participate in the classes support these initiatives by throwing some lindens in the tip jars. We need to keep these initiatives in Second Life going by showing our support.