Second Life

I joined Second Life last night and spent quite a bit of time tweaking my avatar (Paul Story) and trying to get my bearings. Lots of wandering (and teleporting) around aimlessly.... er... I mean exploring! Some chatting with other newbies. It runs a bit on the slow side on my home computer (which is far from top of the line)... but a lot better than I expected. I seem to be able to move around and talk, listen to music, play games, watch movies, etc... all in real time. Sometimes the textures on objects take a little time to draw, but eventually I can see everything.

Today, I figured out how to get to the NMC Campus and took a brief look around. I plan to explore more soon. Here's a snapshot of me standing at the entry point to the campus:


Second Life really is an amazing environment and deserves a close look. It is not your typical hack and slash online game, but rather an open-ended virtual world that allows you to be creative and social. It reminds me a little of the MOO environment that the NITLE sponsored German Liberal Arts Collaborative used in the Fall 2005 semester, but much more sophisticated. I can imagine students creating complex class presentations here and/or meeting and having classes with students from other institutions from around the world. I can imagine virtual conferences here, virtual galleries... maybe even some virtual campus tours?? Lots of possibilities here.