Virtual Environments: Is one life enough?

CLASS SUMMARY:

We asked all participants to complete the profile for their Second Life avatar and their webcourses profile. Once you have done this your avatar will receive L$300 to spend at your discretion. This will give you a sense of how the SL economy works and you can try to earn additional funds if you wish. Don’t blow it all at once – you will need at least $50 for project work later in the module.

Join the Facebook group for the module also. If you haven’t already been invited then add Accuppa Tae and Locks Aichi as friends and we will send you an invitation. Facebook will be used to alert you to any changes to classes and so on. If you have any questions you can post them to the group which has been limited to module participants.

You will need to spend some time exploring Second Life outside of class time. Get to know some of the residents and find interesting places to visit. We meet in Virtual Dublin so this week we had a walk through the city after class and visited the Blarney Stone pub to meet some of the locals.

Most classes will be discursive and we expect you all to participate. A reading will be set in advance to inform the discussion so it is important to familiarise yourself with it and prepare in advance.

ACTIVITIES FOR NEXT WEEK’S CLASS:

1. Set up your personal blog for this module. Use blogger, wordpress or any other popular blogging tool. You will be posting to this every week during the module and will be assessed on it throughout the semester. Post a link to your blog on the Facebook group wall.

2. Create your first blog post by writing about your expectations for this module outlining what you hope to get from it and how you think you can contribute. (You will be asked to reflect on this post towards the end of the module so give it some thought now.)

3. As a group go out and explore Second Life. Find at least 5 locations that are interesting for one reason or another.

4. Make a second post to your blog describing your experiences and review the 5 locations.

5. Visit your colleagues’ blogs and make some constructive comments.

6. READING: Article on personal branding from The Irish Times Innovation Magazine, August 2011.