Second Life 3

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Site name: C.F. University
Location address: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BOOMER%20ISLAND/95/144/27

This week I still participated in the activities in Virtlantis which I have been exploring since the first week (if you are interested, you could check my former blog about it). I assisted to teach Chinese last Friday. It was my first time being a teaching assistant in Second Life. It was a very interesting experience in teaching Chinese to people from different countries.



In the following I would like to talk about my exploration in C.F. University on Second Life. The teleport link is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BOOMER%20ISLAND/95/144/27. Comparing to Virtlantis, the environment in C.F. University is more like a campus. Virtlantis consists of many natural and casual places where we could study. C.F. University has many school buildings which we could see in real life. After I teleported to C.F. University, I can't help moving and seeing around.



The first thing that attracted me was the carousel. I sit on the horse and click the top of the carousel, then it swirled! How amazing! I didn't play with this for a long time and it was a surprise to experience it in Second Life. I also found a swing, which made me very happy.





After playing with the carousel for some time, I decided I can't be too playful, so I stood up and looked around. I saw a green ball and two purple and yellow balls in frond of me. I clicked the green ball and found that could make me dance. I could choose different kinds of dance style. I chose one and danced for a little while.



Afterwards I went to the Bowman Art Institute and Museum. There are some art works outside the building. I went into the building and saw many pictures and an information board about the artists. By clicking the board, some webpages could be open and we could learn more about the artists and their works.



Under the direction of the gift shop, I went forward and saw a campus freebie shop. There were many things for free. I clicked and got some of them.



There is also a ballroom. Following the direction, I went to the second floor of the building where the ballroom is. It is gorgeous. Someday we may gather there and have a party with our friends.





Leaving the ballroom, I wandered and saw a place offering food. I went there and got a cherry cheese cake. In Der Rathskeller, I got some drinks. My avator felt very satisfied after having the cake and drinks.





Afterwards I walked around and found a computer on the table. I clicked it and found I could write and read emails there. I could also have an email address. That's amazing.



I also found the peg game in a room. I once played it with my friends. I didn't expect that I could even the game in Second Life. By clicking it, I got a notecard which told me the instructions



In C.F. University, there are many class schedules boards. We could see all the class information. The classes will teach Second Life skills. I participated a building class for beginners this morning. However, I didn't catch up with it. The instructions were rolling quickly in the nearby chat area and there was no voice instruction. I didn't understand some of the concepts, so I was stuck then fell behind and didn't know how to build. It was still a good experience though. It was the first class about how to build in Second Life. I still need to learn more about Second Life.







After the stressful class, I flew to another building where there were some coach. I lay down and had a good rest. After a while, I went into the building and found some sofa and computers. I sit down and played with the computer. To my surprise, I saw some websites and links which I could get a lot of information when I clicked the screen.







That is my experience in C.F. University. I could feel campus atmosphere in this location. During my journey in C.F. University, I had some similar experience which were similar to real life experience. Second Life does have many affordances for education, however, sometimes I feel it is more difficult for students to follow the teacher in Second Life than studying in real world. Students are also easy to be distracted while taking the class. If some measures could be designed and adopted to make students be concentrated and follow the teacher, the study in Second Life will be more efficient and effective.

Second Life 2

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Site name: VIRTLANTIS
Location address: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Knowingly/155/122/22

During the second week, I explored some new sites. However, most of the time, I was further exploring the Virtlantis site which I explored last week. I decided to participate in some of the activities and learn through them. The most exciting thing is that I met many friends from different countries and get to know them. Most of them are very experienced in Second Life, so as a baby in Second Life(about three weeks old), I got a lot of care from them. In the following, I would like to talk about the activities I participated, and the people I get to know through Virtlantis.

On June, 3rd, I was wandering in Virtlantis and saw an activity information, so I teleported to that place. There were just two people there, Kip and Branken. It seemed that the activity was over. I was surprised to find that both of them are the organizers of this site. We sit down on the ground and talked. Kip is an American, but he and his family are in Austria now. He has several language schools in Germany and Austria. He teaches both in real life and Second Life. I asked him what age students are his favorite. He told me adult, whom he is teaching now. He is also training teachers. He will go to China one year later, so he would like to learn Chinese from me, and he could teach me English. Branken is from London. She is also both teachers in real life and Second Life. She has four degrees, mathematics, computing, humanity, and linguistics, which is amazing. She is teaching in university and she has education technology class. We talked a lot. She gave me some suggestions and resources on Second Life. She told me there is even hospitals in Second Life, which broadens my horizon. She even gave me one of the journals about Second Life she published to read. I'm so lucky to meet and talk with them.



In Virtlantis, I find a very unique place. There is a blue ball on the top of the mountain, with a word Meditate in it. I clicked sit, then my avator was meditating. The mountain is in front of the sea. With the splendid scenery and peaceful music, I felt I was in a real world and very relaxing. I met Branden there on the second time. She told me she likes standing there and meditating.



The first activity I participated is Walk & Talk. It is very good for people who are interested in practicing English and discovering new places in Second Life. After chatting with the group, the activity organizer, Kip, took us to Vernian Deep to explore. The link address is Vernian Deep. I feel it's like an industrial area. Afterwards, we found the undersea world, with many fish and a submarine. We tried to operate the submarine, but failed.











Through this activity, I met a Japanese woman Yuri. She has been in second life for four years. She called me baby and said baby need a lot of care. LOL. She is learning Chinese. She went to Shanghai, China with her son this May. She told me she builds a new house every month. She invited me to her home in Second Life. Her house is very beautiful and the environment is fabulous.



The second activity I took part in is English Scrabble. I played the game with Astro and Vedis. Astro is from Sweden and Vedis is from a South American country. Vedis is the organizer of this game. It's a very interesting game and very good for learning English. In the game, we could increase our vocabulary and improve our speaking English, because we could also talk during the game. Sometimes, we were stuck in the game, then the others would help and think together. It was more like a team work. We also talked about many things.

The third activity I joined in is Coffee Break. I met some people I knew yesterday and also some new people. They are all very friendly. As soon as I teleported in, they said hello to me and invited me to sit down. Mimi and I were new people here, so we were invited to introduce ourselves at the beginning. Afterwards, we talked about piano, guitar, and different kinds of music. We were talking and typing. If someone didn't know the word, the people who knew it will type it in the chatting place. We are from different countries, so the time was different. It's amazing that people from different countries could talk together.





There is also a pronunciation activity. I didn't have chance to participate this one, but I will do it later.



In Virtlantis, I also find a place where we could watch youtube videos. We could choose the video we like.

I increased my experience in Second Life by participating in the activities and talking to people. I learned a lot from them. I will keep exploring and learning. The activities I took part in are very beneficial for learning English and getting to know different people in different countries. Not only could we improve our English skills, but also increase our knowledge about different countries. Some activities also help us to explore sites in Second Life. The people I met in Second Life helped me a lot. However, we need to be careful in Second Life since not all the people are good. 

Especially for teenagers, the content and the people in some sites are harmful for them. Second Life has two grids, the main grid and the teen grid. Teenagers need to be restricted to some safe sites.

Second Life 1

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Site name: VIRTLANTIS
Location address: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Knowingly/155/122/22

I have been roaming in Second Life these days. Yesterday when I searched "Learning Chinese", I found a site called Sky Learning Center (SLC). I teleported to that site and heard some people talking in Chinese. I just chatted by typing before and I was not familiar with speaking in Second Life. I talked with those people and they taught me how to speak in Second Life. Talking with them, I got to know that SLC is created by them. I was very glad to meet some people who are able to build sites in Second Life. They told me SLC is new and small, and people have to pay to learn. They suggested Cypris and VIRTLANTIS to me, which are more popular and free to learn foreign languages. A girl brought me to both the sites and simply showed me around, then I explored them on my own. I finally chose VIRTLANTIS to explore further.

After teleported to VIRTLANTIS, I landed in the welcome area. The background music was very fascinating. After Looking around, I saw the VIRTLANTIS Activity Calendar. There were different languages to learn. I clicked the Strange Stories English Club and it showed specific information on the board.

By clicking the Google Calendar on the right, I could load a webpage which showed the complete calendar. There are many different activities each day. I clicked the Strange Stories Club on 29th, then I saw a page which told me the time, address, and description in which there was a teleport link. I teleported to the place afterwards.



I met a friend from Finland in VIRTLANTIS. He has been there for a long time and he goes there nearly everyday. He is also a Finnish teacher in VIRTLANTIS. I saw there are also some Chinese courses, so maybe I could teach Chinese in this site. All the courses are free, and all the teachers are volunteer. It's a very good place to help each other.

On the left side of the welcome area, there is a map, on which there are some red spots which could take us to different area. I clicked the Paradise on the bottom of the left page, and a page popped out, then I could teleport to the Paradise area.





After that, I went back to the welcome area and flew in the air, and looked around. I saw there are many computers in a place, so I flew there. I sit on the chair and played with the computer. There were many different activities to choose.

Afterwards, I flew in the air again and saw an interesting place. There was a screen and I clicked it, then it taught me how to install flash. I clicked the pictures on the cushion, and I found that they could be changed into different pictures! Amazing. On the right of the screen, I saw a board. I walked nearby and clicked it. Then I have nine notecards to choose to learn something. I chose the Vocabulary-G for games, then a notecard popped out, which taught me some English and also some websites to play games to improve my English.







After that I went to Wodek's Lounchroom, where the pronunciations are taught. It's very beneficial.



There are still many other places to explore. This is just the beginning. I'm more familiar with second life now and I will continue to explore it and some other sites.

It's a very good site for learning foreign languages and all the courses and activities are free. I may teach Chinese in America in the future. VIRTLANTIS provides me a platform to teach and learn in an virtual environment. With the support of Second Life, we could teach and learn anywhere if there is internet, without worrying the transportation, which is very convenient. If I could be a teacher in the future, I will encourage my students to learn in Second Life. I may also teach my students or hold meetings in Second Life.