Second Life (Task 22)

There has been much written and said about the value of Second Life as an educational tool in recent months. I first learned about Second Life earlier this year when I watched a documentary featuring the program and interviews with its creator. The reporter demonstrated the creation of an Avatar and how it is moved around the Second Life world. While it didn't look easy at first, with practice the reporter was able to successfully navigate her way around. She was also able to update her avatar's look by paying for more sophisticated hair, skin, teeth etc.

I've been doing some general reading about the use of Second Life by librarians and in particular, the way in which librarians are using Second Life to meet and discuss industry issues virtually. Now, San Jose State University's, School of Library and Information Science is planning to deliver their off-campus courses via their own site on Second Life. The video they put together about the program is below.



I have to say, I'd love to hear more about the progress of this program and am planning to check for updates. I believe the program is currently underway.

The ABC has some information about Second Life on their website which features their own island. Some of this information isn't necessarily all good, however. See this link for further information http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/05/22/1930123.htm

It seems Second Life is becoming popular with more and more people and not surprisingly, behaviour there is much as it is here. The idea that safety is guaranteed is starting to lose popularity as incidents like the one above become more frequent.

I'm not sure what to think about Second Life so far. I've heard both good and bad and I just don't have enough information to make a decision. I can say however, that as a Piscean, I already have an active "2nd Life' going on in my head, so to a certain extent, Second Life is redundant for me! ;) However, the one difference between Second Life and my head is that the conversations are with other people and not just with myself and this offers a degree of unpredictability that the mental world just can't offer. Thinking about it further, I can see that Second Life offers another forum for human interaction and perhaps caters better for those who are physically located far apart. Perhaps the real strength of Second Life is its adaptability, that is, it can be used for real life and for play.