Ferdinand Cruz out on the town

I searched around and found a robot body for my avatar, Ferdinand Cruz. Next, I had to track down somewhere groovy to go and try out my new look. I settled on Platinum Escort Club, so feeling a little nervous I teleported right to the door.

I figured I had better hide my group title (UQ Religionist) and while I was doing that one of the pole dancers IMed me. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I am a heterosexual female after all! So I mumbled something and looked around. I might try somewhere else.

Next, I was trying The Rock – sounds safer. Ok, I’m there. I’m the only robot in the place. Oh, everyone is dancing and I don’t have any in my inventory. I need to log one of my other avis on and get a dance! I’ve done that, gone home and tried a few out. I’m going back to try again. I know no one knows who I am but I’m so embarrassed.

I’m back. Ok, so I’m dancing and everyone is just ignoring me. It’s kinda fun I must admit. I’m gonna try a different dance; something more embarrassing … I am the only non-human here. Hey, someone just called me ‘a dancing machine’! Well, everyone is tolerant here and no one has said anything very much.

Next destination, Sweeyheart’s Jazz Danceclub. Ok, this might be more of a problem. Everyone is dressed in ball gowns and so on. Still everyone is ignoring me so I’ve posed a general question. And another. And another. No good – no one responds. I’ll go to one more place before I give up.

My next destination is The Vortex. Ok, that didn’t work – only three people here. I’m off to the Double Deuce Country Music Club. No one there. Ok, now I’m at Toby’s Juke Joint Blues Club. Everyone is ignoring me again. I’ve just said hello to everyone – no response. Once more, I’m the only non-human avatar. I’m going to log in one of my attractive female avatars and see what happens. Oh, someone has said hi ad that she likes my avatar. I’m not invisible!

I’ve logged Katerina Sylvester on as well. She’s arrived and says hello to Ferdinand. She says hello to the room and this time two or three people say hello. She has a conversation with Ferdinand and they end up dancing. Someone ends up IMing Katerina and talking to her, chatting about this and that. This person has added me as her friend and is going to tell me about some other good places to go. She keeps IMing me after I leave. She thinks it’s rude when people don’t greet people in these places but she hasn’t talked to Ferdinand.

I go out of the front door and say good bye to everyone but no one says anything. Poor Ferdinand! It was interesting seeing the contrast between how Katerina was treated and how Ferdinand was treated.

Making my Avatar look like me

In the previous post I mentioned why I wanted an avatar that looked like me. In this post I want to say a couple of things about making my avatar look like me.

To start with, if you're not a perfect shape already, it's hard to buy a skin or shape that is likely to reflect your real life shape. I have a friend who this is a big issue for. All of the skins/shapes to buy are way too skinny. And though it's nice to have a wonderful and beautiful avatar, some of us would like an avatar that does look like us.

Then if you do manage to make your avatar a little wider around the middle then the clothes don't fit. That's fine if you can modify the clothes but often you can't.

I found it difficult to buy hair that wasn't really long and luxurious or really short, but mid-length. I did find some but it was an epic search.

Basically, I sat there with a photo and tried to match my features. People who know me in real life often comment about how much my Second Life avatar looks like me so I guess I succeeded, at least to a certain extent.

Professional Avatars: necessary or not?

One way or another, I've thought a lot about avatar appearance in Second Life. One of my first experiences was as a student doing a course about teaching in Second Life through Boise State University (wonderful course; I highly recommend it!) I went along as Rupert Uriza and Rupie at that stage was only marginally modified from the standard avatar that you are equipped with when you enter Second Life.

I noticed that this class of educators wore all sorts of things; but what was especially interesting was that everyone had altered their appearance from the standard. The other interesting thing was that everyone changed their clothes between lessons. I didn't understand this because of course in Second Life you don't get sweathy and smelly. I felt some considerable pressure to change my appearance and to go shopping for new clothes and I too started changing clothes regularly.

The other thing I noticed was that people were uncomfortable with me having a male avatar when I am a woman. It became especially disturbing for people when voice came to Second Life so that there was a woman's voice coming from a male body. I would hear conversations like:

'Oh, where's Rupert?'

'She's over there by the amphitheatre.'

People were clearly confused.

The lecturer and some of my female classmates wore ballgowns but the males didn't seem to wear suits. The general attire was jeans and t-shirts. This seemed appropriate as Second Life feels like an informal environment.

Two or three of my classmates had furry avatars but even then, they were 'normalised' by wearing jeans and t-shirts. Somehow this seemed more appropriate to me than the lecturer wearing a ballgown. Somewhere in my head it felt like she'd been partying all night and had turned up to class straight from going out. I know that is a ridiculous thing to think, and maybe now I'm more familiar with Second Life I wouldn't think that, but I was a newb back then and maybe that is still how a newb would feel.

I also decided to get another avatar when I started thinking about taking students into Second Life. I created Helen Frak which looks more like me (but thinner and more glamorous), so that my students would know it was me they were dealing with. And I dressed Helen Frak in clothes that the real life Helen would wear. I also decided to do this so that people wouldn't be confronted by having a female voice coming out of a male body. So for me that whole idea of making a professional avatar is a little redundant because I made an avatar that dresses and looks like me.

If I taught a class entirely in Second Life (instead of how I do with real life and SL) I wouldn't feel the same pressure to have an avi that looked like me. I think I still would have a female avatar because of the voice issue (I know you can get devices that change your voice but I couldn't be bothered). I think I still would look reasonably professional though I would stop short of wearing a suit. One of the resons for this is that maybe as part of the course I would need to appear more formal at some time (a presentation of prizes or something) and I would like to make that occasion more special by 'dressing up'.

Interestingly, I recently organised a SL event to mirror a real life event. Audio from speakers in real life was streamed into avatars in SL. When I modified some avatars 'to be' these people in SL, without thinking, I put them in suits. I thought they should look professional (and they did wear suits in real life).

So, I'm not sure I would favour creating a really professional looking avatar except for a specific occasion (say for a building launch or something where that avi needed to stand out from the crowd). For teaching, I think I would use Helen Frak looking like me. I want to retain my authority in SL by carrying my real life image over to there. I want to be able to visually signal to my students, what is appropriate. Ok now we're going to have fun and go dancing - that's when I'll wear a ballgown.

I do think there are certain guidelines that should be followed:

• I don't think avis should be showing too much flesh


• I don't think avis should have provocative walks/gestures/animations


• I think that it makes sense that if you have real life classes with a Second Life component then be consistent with level of formality in dress between both (unless you are going to do something more informal in SL)


• I don't think furries are a problem (though I have heard there is discrimination against furry avatars)


• Think about genderbending. Will it confuse people too much?

I would change my avatar under other circumstances with my students, for example, if we were role playing then I would be someone else more appropriate to the role.

I wouldn't be comfortable teaching in Second Life being too beautiful and girlie and showing too much flesh. I ask my tutors not to wear provocative clothing or tattoos and so on. They've responded by having work and play avatars.

Also, closely linked to the idea of a professional image is the choice of name for your avatar. Some names I've seen are very risque and also what groups are you a member of. It's easy for a student to check your profile, even if you don't have the offending group name hovering over your head a student can see a list of your groups and do you really want a student to know you're a member of 'Shemale Sex Garden'?

Inductions can be fun: a microlearning induction session

Learning seems to be that much more effective when you’re unaware that you are learning. When you are engaged and interested then the learning becomes almost accidental. This is how I try to run my courses and this is the approach I would like to try in this activity.

I would like to put this mission in the form of a quest whereby students, through fulfilling the requirements of the quest, will also garner the skills necessary for negotiating Second Life.

The quest could take almost any form but perhaps, given the boundary stretching facilitated by Second Life, a quest based on the Harry Potter series would be effective (in the Teen Grid or perhaps Lord of the Rings in the Second Life grid).

A scenario could be established, for example, As Harry Potter you are asked to take on a new identity in order to steal into Voldemort’s lair and steal the Rosicrucian Chalice of Paracelsus (or some such thing).

The first step would be to disguise yourself as a servant of Voldemort’s. Some instructions could be given in a book or on a poster (or even in a notecard). A picture could be provided in a frame and then the student could try to make the avatar as close to possible as the avatar in the picture. Of course, the necessary materials would need to be available in the standard inventory. This would help the student master the skills of manipulating an avatar’s appearance.

The next section would deal with getting around. Certain clues or objects could be placed around the specifically constructed build to entice students to master the skills they need. Once they succeed in getting the object, they could be given instructions on how to obtain the next object. Once all of the objects have been completed (and hopefully, the skills mastered), the objects could combine to form some other object or could be used at specific times for specific purposes and so on. Maybe they would have to sit in a boat to cross a river, walk through some terrain and then run to escape a ferocious beast. Then they would have to fly across a great chasm to get to the other side.

In order to master the skills of looking around and zooming in on objects, students could be required to read books or small print, etc in order to determine the next part of their quest. I haven’t worked this out totally but you get the idea!

This design utilizes the features that we identified as being necessary for a successful orientation:

1. Organisation: once one part of the mission is achieved, instructions for the next part are delivered.


2. Appropriate skills levels. The activities will be csaffolded so that students quickly gain confidence in the environment.


3. Support: students will have access to notecards and other resources that will help them if they difficulties. Others could be on hand to help students with difficulties.


4. Activities are varied and interactive.


5. Students can interact with other participants or it might be a good idea to send them out in pairs.

So, let me know what you think!

Coming in to Land

I decided to go undercover to look at these orientations. Linden Labs have just released a whole stack of new names so I went and created a couple more avis. Jasper Jinx I hadn’t yet customized so it was Jasper I took on the expedition. She looks brand new.

Orientation Stations, Dore

This is a very appealing looking build. I think that when the build is interesting, it helps you to see the possibilities of Second Life.

The first place I went to was ‘Changing your appearance’. I like that when you click on the Linden Labs symbol you get an explanatory notecard. This helps you to form a small library of useful information. Maybe, an explanation of that possibility would be a good way to start the orientation.

What I didn’t like about this build is that there was no set path to follow. I can imagine that being a newb that this would create some anxiety because you would be worried that I would miss something and that something would be the whole crux of understanding Second Life.

The layout of the place was confusing. I could see steps leading to higher places yet it wasn’t obvious how I could get there. Once I did climb the stairs, I wasn’t sure what to do. Because I’m not a newb, I clicked and the doors opened but I’m not sure that it would be obvious to a person brand new to Second Life.

I go inside and there are paintings. I see stairs and I climb them but they don’t go anywhere. The ceiling is low so I often lose sight of my avatar; again, potentially confusing for someone new. I come back down the stairs but it’s not obvious how to get out. I leave the buildings and move towards the water. I see that this leads nowhere so I try and retrace my steps but the steps are too high and I have to fly back up the steps; not easy for someone new.

I didn’t feel that the time spent at this orientation would justify going there. There’s very little in the way of information or useful, interactive exercises.

Unfortunately, at first there was no one else there when I was there. But just as I was about to leave another avatar showed up. I chatted to him for just a few moments before he started flirting and being sexually suggestive. He even asked me to marry him! This is exactly what I don’t like about some of the public orientation places. I had the same thing when I emerged at the Linden Labs Orientation Island.

NMC Orientation

This is an orientation that I am very familiar with. My university is a member of the NMC and this is where I direct everyone to. If you join Second Life through http://sl.nmc.org/join/ you automatically emerge here. I’ve had lots of very good conversations with other educators that I’ve met here.

As with the previous build I discussed, this build is very visually appealing. It was dark when I arrived and it occurred to me that it would be good to have a notecard when you arrive that welcomes you to the space, but importantly, tells you have to change your environment settings so that you can see. Why would a newb already know this?

The instructions are easy to follow and I like the fact that you are guided around the orientation by following the orange arrows. And there is an area specifically for educators.

What I also like about this orientation is that you have access to lots of free resources in the NMC Resource Centre. Unfortunately, although this is a beautiful building, it would be very difficult for a newb to get up all those stairs and along all those paths. The effort is worth it though.

I like this orientation. I feel completely comfortable here. This is somewhere I can return to without being worried that I’ll be harassed. And you can meet some good people here.

Being born into my Second Life: the first hours

As it happens, I blogged about my first hours in Second Life above! So, I won't repeat myself but take a look there. I was very lucky because I met a friend early on and together we worked lots of the difficulties out.

I didn't intend to stay in Second Life. I was just going to have a quick look and then leave forever, but I ended up staying. The hardest thing about going into Second Life was that I wasn't sure what to do. I think it can be very boring just sightseeing; you need a purpose, a reason to be there. Meeting up with friends is fun. Learning something new is fun. But just flying across a sim or shopping by yourself is not fun.

I've been lucky in tht the software and my computers have all been good. So, there weren't those sorts of issues that plague many users. The hardest part for me was acquiring those basic skills like walking and running and building. I had never played games before like World of Warcraft so I was starting from scratch.

I also think that getting your first Second Life apartment is fun. You have a private space where you can try things out. I learnt a lot by doing that.

Pre-week 1 Exercise

A. Conversation with a friend who's not in education ...

So, I had heard of Second Life but I said: 'Who wants a Second Life when you can have a first life?' But you know, I was intrigued and I had work to do and didn't want to do it, so I went to secondlife.com, read some media they had posted there and signed up. I didn't want to be hassled by guys so I went in as a guy. I didn't spend too much time thinking about my name because I wasn't go to go there ever again. So, I became Rupert Uriza. Just like that.

And when you emerge into Second Life you are on Orientation Island. And there are all these avatars and it was so confronting with everyone chatting at you. I felt vulnerable and afraid which I know is ridiculous but I did. I tried to work my way through the various exercises but I was so self-conscious. I was struggling trying to take a photo of myself and another avatar, a female avatar, talked to me. She was having trouble too, so we chatted because there was no voice back then. We figured out how to take a photo and a decent photo at that!

Then we just kept hanging out together. It was very strange because it was like any new relationship, am I IMing too often? Should I go now and all those things. But we kept working through the little exercises. We were frustrated because we couldn't get off the island. It was like the Hotel California! But she escaped and TPed me out too and we set off to explore Second Life together.

We learnt about a million times more than we did on that terrible island. And I guess by now you've figured out that I did go back (and back and back and ...) Having someone there made a world of difference and we learned things together. She helped me and I helped her. I was good at building and she knew the best places to shop. So we covered each other's deficiencies and learned together. We had the benefit of two brains to work things out and nut our way through things. A tour of Svarga looks better with mouselook we're told. Mouselook? Oh yeah, she says, what you do is ... oh, that is better. Hey, look at that!

And it was a real relationship and our communication was real and our learning was real. And not once did we talk about our first lives. I can't say for sure she was even a 'she' and I didn't tell her I wasn't a 'he'. And you know, we gradually lost touch but my relationship with her, the first person I met in Second Life, is exactly what I love about Second Life. It's about people working together, irrespective of first life concerns. Sharing knowledge and skills and inventory and not looking for a return except the satisfaction of wanting it to work and wanting everyone else in the world to love Second Life as much as you do.

You know, I haven't thought about that first friend in a long time. I think I'll IM her now and see if she's still around.

I hope you like the picture. This is Rupert before I made him groovy!

B. A new tool that excites me ...

Second Life is a really exciting environment. It is itself a tool and yet within it there are many tools also. I think elsewhere I've talked about what I want to do with undergraduates in Second Life (role plays, etc) but what I didn't anticipate was how wonderful Second Life could be for my postgraduate students as well. I have one postgraduate student doing a PhD. She lives a long way away from me and she's feeling her way in the world. So, she's outspoken and idealistic and is always thinking of a million wonderful (but impractical) things to do. She would ring me often because she really felt isolated living far away from me and from my other PhD students. She felt she was missing out on those accidental collaborations and meetings that happen when you study on campus.

I mentioned to her that I was discovering Second Life and that maybe she should try it. And low and behold, I was inworld one night when I got an IM from a name I didn't know and it was my student. So, we met up and went on a shopping expedition.

Then it occurred to me that we could hold meetings in Second Life. We could collaborate on documents via Google Docs or something like it but actually meet up and do things together. I mentioned this to my other postgraduates and a couple decided to get accounts for themselves and try it too. A couple more decided they didn't want to use it. Mmm.

But we happened upon a solution. Now, every Thursday my non-Second Life students come to my office and my Second Life students meet in Second Life. My avatar goes into Second Life and my students in my office talk through my avatar (we have a conference mike) and my Second Life students chat to each other and the students in my office. And it works perfectly for the technophobes and the technophiles!

So, the mixing of real life and Second Life I find intriguing! I've had my outspoken grad student lecturing to my undergrads about her research. We are in a lecture theatre and I'm hooked up to Second Life and via a data projector I show my whole class what's going on. They are transfixed! And when they want to ask questions (and it seems to me there is always a line of students wanting to ask questions), they come to the front and talk through a mike. She takes them to relevant places in Second Life, and they see the wonderful builds and replicas even though they are not in there themselves. We also did the same with a conference. A few people couldn't make the long trek to Australia so they delivered their presentations from our island in Second Life. The real life audience asked them questions and responded just as if those people were here with us. These are affordances for Second Life I never imagined.

So, this tool is already changing my practice. I want to get more subject experts in to talk from Second Life to my undergraduates. There is the stuff I already want to do with them too - role playing, historical reenactments and so on. But I especially want to facilitate collaboration between my students and other students in similar or even different disciplines across the world. The potential for collaboration is enormous. I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what's possible yet.

C. Am I a pioneer?

I never thought I was a pioneer. I used to hate elearning. I believed it was an easy way out and that it would lead to the unemployment of lecturers and academics.

And then ...

I was enrolled in a postgraduate course and my lecturer used ... shock, horror! ... a WebCT site. And I was angry and annoyed and scared and I told him so (well, maybe not the last bit). He was mild mannered and polite, so he didn't really say anything in response.

And I was walking along, thinking about how truly unfair the whole thing was. My lecturer expected me to access materials via the WebCT site, outrageous! And a little voice in my head said: 'So, Helen, in five years time will there be more computers or less computers in education?' And then it occurred to me, of course there would be more. I just had to embrace it, learn about it and try and stay ahead of the game. So, that's how I saw myself - just staying ahead of the game.

But then I realised it wasn't that hard. WebCT was easy enough and so were most things I encountered. My fear vanished and I began to be intrigued by technology. What could I do? What is possible? Oh, wouldn't it be fantastic if I could do this with that thing and this thing. Oh, I can really do that! And you know, virtual worlds are the ultimate. Anything is possible.

I thought everyone was with me on this one but I talk to people and they're not. They tell me that in spite of the cohort changing drastically over the 30 years of their teaching career, that an essay is the only valid way of assessing a student, still.

So, I have come grudgingly to the conclusion that I am in fact, a pioneer. Maybe not on the scale of Neil Armstrong or Sir Edmund Hilary but a pioneer all the same.