This research seminar examines the social practices of Residents of the virtual world known as “Second Life.” Students will make oral presentations on some of the research and instructional activities that are currently going on in the growing field of “avatar psychology” and “immersive cultures.” The virtual world forms part of the mental world. This relationship is based on a description of the substance and anatomy of the mind. Such a theory is available within the perspective of substantive dualism (or two worlds). It provides a theoretical basis for discussing the immortality of the mind or self. Students will have the option of carrying out a collaborative research project with their avatars in Second Life. All students publish their reports on the Web to become part of the cumulative Online Generational Curriculum that Dr. James has maintained since 1994.

Schedule of Weekly Readings and Oral Presentations

Class 1 (J15)

Syllabus information and class procedures.

Debate:

Teams of two propose a theory of immortality and life after death. Students rate the proposals and members of the top proposal receive one bonus point.

Class 2 (J22)

Teams of three present these Readings:

(1) Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (see Section below) From beginning up to the Section on Propositions of Virtual Psychology

(2) The Organic Mind Section titled Discovering of the Mental World of Eternity

(3) Serious Virtual Worlds (first half) (see Section below)

Class 3 (J29)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1) Serious Virtual Worlds (second half) (see Section below) [2, 3, 4]

(2) The Organic Mind Section titled Mental Anatomy Notation System [6, 7, 8]

(3) Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (see Section below) From Section Affective and Circulatory Systems up to the Section on Physical World, Mental World [9, 10]
(Note: We are doing again a portion of last week’s Readings, so that we can focus in on more specific topics this time)

Part B:

Three different Teams give explanations of Diagrams 1, 2, 3 below, followed by general discussion.

Part C:

General discussion on how Second Life Residents establish social presence in virtual world.

Class 4 (F/5)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(4) Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 1 and 3 [2, 6, 11]

(5) The Organic Mind Two Sections titled The Vertical Community and Intersubjectivity in Virtual World and in Mental World [3, 4, 9]

(6) Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (see below) Section titled Research Methodology in Mental Psychology [7, 8, 10]

Part B:

Three different Teams give explanations of Diagrams 1, 2, 3 below, followed by general discussion. (Repeat from last Class).

Part C:

General discussion on how Second Life Residents establish social presence in virtual world. (Repeat from last Class).

Class 5 (F/12)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1). Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 3 and 4 [3, 7, 10]

(2). The Organic Mind Two Sections titled Mental Anatomy of the Individual's Threefold Self and Male and Female Human Anatomy [2, 8, 11]

(3). Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (see below) Section titled Research Methodology in Avatar Psychology [4, 6, 9]

Part B:

Three different Teams give explanations of Diagrams 4, 5, 6 below, followed by general discussion.

Part C:

General discussion on how Second Life Residents establish social presence in virtual world. (Repeat from last Class).

Class 6 (F/19)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1). Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 5 and 6 [4, 7, 11]

(2). The Organic Mind Section titled Personality Development and Spiritual Growth [3, 6, 10]

(3). Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (see below) Section titled Rational Psychology vs. Empirical Psychology [2, 8, 9]

Part B:

Three different Teams give explanations of Diagrams 4, 5, 6 below, followed by general discussion.

Part C:

General discussion on how Second Life Residents establish social presence in virtual world. (Repeat from last Class).

Class 7 (F/26)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1). Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 7 and 8 [3, 8, 11]

(2). The Organic Mind Section titled Mental Physiology to the Section titled Mental Physiology of the Threefold Self (inclusive) [4, 9, 10]

(3). Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology Section titled Dualist Empiricism [2, 6, 7]

Part B:

Three different Teams give explanations of Diagrams 4, 5, 6 below, followed by general discussion.

Part C:

General discussion on how Second Life Residents establish social presence in virtual world. (Repeat from last Class).

Class 8 (Mr/5)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1). Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 9, 10, and 11 [2, 4, 7]

(2). The Organic Mind Section titled Mental Self-Witnessing and Exercises [8, 9, 11]

(3). Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology Section titled Avatar Psychology and Cognitive Science [3, 6, 10]

Part B:

Come prepared to discuss the instructions for the written report. You need to print it out.

Class 9 (Mr/12)

Part A:

Three teams present these Readings:

(1). Dr. John Suler on Cyberpsychology (see below) Articles 12, 13, and 14 [3, 8, 11]

(2). The Organic Mind Section titled Body-Mind Correspondences in Popular Symbolisms, Section on Three Ways of Knowing God and Section on Divine Psychotherapy (first one third of whole Section) [4, 6, 10]

(3). Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology Section titled Body-Mind Correspondences

[2, 7, 9]

Part B:

Come prepared to discuss the instructions for the written report. You need to print it out.

Class 10 (Mr/19)

Discussion on New Diagrams.

Team Exercise: Three Quiz Roles on Rational Spirituality

Class 11 (A/2) (no class M/26)

Presentation of Readings

Team A: 3, 4, 8

Select various types of information to present from this site:

Living through an Avatar: VWN Resource Database: Avatars and Personification:

www.virtualworldlets.net/Resources/Menu.php?NewsMenu=Yes&Category=45

Team B: 2, 6, 10

Virtual reality as a leisure activity for young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities.

A virtual reality scenario for all seasons: the virtual classroom.

Doing play: competency, control, and expression.

Team C: 7, 9, 11

Design and testing of a virtual environment to train stroke patients with unilateral spatial neglect to cross a street safely.

Virtual reality and the person-environment experience

Blind persons navigate in virtual reality (VR); hearing and feeling communicates "reality".

EXERCISE

Two per team. Alternate roles. Interviewer and Author answers. See Instructions for Typed Report.

Questions Student Team

4, 19 2 and 4

6, 7 3 and 9

9, 12 6 and 7

13, 17 10 and 11

Class 12 (A/9)

Presentation of Readings

Team A: 3, 4, 8

Managing Our Eternity

The Laws of Providence and Permissions:

Regeneration and the Divine Psychologist:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226430775

Team B: 7, 9, 10

Why This Is a Perfect World Despite Evil:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226529886

Virtual Intersubjectivity

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226529927

Team C: 2, 6, 11

Second Life Affordances for Social Practices by Residents

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226529928

Observing Stages of Acculturation in Becoming a Resident of Second Life:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226529929

Social-Biological Features of Second Life Technology:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226529937

Class 13 (A/16)

Presentation of Readings

Team A: 3, 6, 7

Exercise for Self-witnessing the Threefold Self on the Daily Round:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212036252

Team B: 2, 9, 11

The Seven Avatar Bodies:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226097593

Team C: 4, 7, 10

The Virtual and the Actual
Discovering the Vertical Community
What Dreams Are Made Of

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226097608

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226097593

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226430817

Class 14: (A/23)

Team A: 8, 9, 10

Overall Explanations of the Diagrams; Material Loves; Rational Loves; 12 Anatomical Layers of Existence

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy29/avatar-psychology-g29.htm#_Toc226552848

Team B: 4, 6, 7

Body-Mind Correspondences in Popular Symbolisms

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212519339

Correspondences in Our Thinking and Language.

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/Users/Leon/AppData/Roaming/theistic/correspondences.htm#language

Team C: 2, 3, 11

Exercise on Mind-Body Correspondences

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212519340

Class 15: (A30)

Team A: 2, 4, 6

Taxonomy of Unregenerate and Regenerate Loves in the Natural Mind

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212519343

Team B: 3, 7, 8

The Anatomy of Spiritual Combat in Temptation

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212519350

Team C: 9, 10, 11

Altruism and Selfism; Love is a Substance; The Biophysics of Creation http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm#_Toc212519351

Readings

Lecture Notes on Avatar Psychology (2009) by Leon James

See text in the Section below.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Organic Mind: Discovering the Mental World of Eternity (2008) by Leon James:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/mental-psychology-p1.htm

This online book describes the principles of mental psychology, and provides a basis for examining cyberpsychology, in particular, avatar psychology and the virtual self. Mental psychology topics include dualism, discrete degrees, immortality, eternity, mental anatomy, development, inherited traits, regeneration, marriage, vertical community, heaven, hell, God.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Second Life Wiki For beginners. Searchable complete information on most things in SL with useful links.

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=3927

From Wikipedia

Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based 3D virtual world launched June 23, 2003 and developed by Linden Research, Inc, which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007. A free downloadable client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade items (virtual property) and services with one another.

In 2008, Second Life was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the development of online sites with user-generated content. Philip Rosedale, President of Linden Lab, accepted the award.

The Metaverse is a virtual world, described in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. The word metaverse is a compound of the words "meta" and "universe".

Although many people have assumed that the inspiration for Second Life originated from Philip Rosedale's exposure to Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash, he has suggested that his vision of virtual worlds predates that book and that he conducted some early virtual world experiments during his college years at the University of California San Diego, where he studied physics.^[3]

At the beginning of September, 2008, just over 15 million accounts were registered, although there are no reliable figures for actual long term consistent usage. In January 2008, residents spent 28,274,505 hours "inworld", so on average about 38,000 residents were logged on at any particular moment.^[6] Despite its prominence, Second Life has notable competitors, including Entropia Universe, IMVU, There, Active Worlds, Kaneva, and the erotic-oriented Red Light Center.

Residents are the users of Second Life, and their appearance is their avatar (often abbreviated to av, avi or ava). The basic avatar is human in appearance, but may be of either gender, have a wide range of physical attributes, and may be clothed or otherwise customized to produce a wide variety of humanoid and other forms.

Avatars may be creative or can be made to resemble the person whom they represent.^[8] A single Resident account may have only one avatar at a time, although the appearance of this avatar can change between as many different forms as the Resident wishes. A single person may also have multiple accounts, and thus appear to be multiple Residents (a person's multiple accounts are referred to as alts).

A player's identity is generally less anonymous in Second Life than in other virtual worlds. Any avatar and any object in the world can establish whether or not real payment info is on file for his or her avatar,^[9] although they cannot access any personal details from this payment information; this was implemented to provide age verification and also to enable users to distinguish between established paid-for accounts and free alts which can be thrown away at any moment. Some in-world services also require the resident to disclose his or her real name or other personal data to different source, although this is voluntary and hence the resident can choose not to use the services which require such disclosures.

A resident's creations are likewise far less anonymous in this virtual world. The Linden servers register your avatar as the uploader or creator of the object. While this is not an official notice, it can be used to help establish who introduced an item to the system first.^[10]

The Second Life world runs on Linden Time, which is identical to the Pacific Time Zone. The virtual world follows the North American Daylight Saving Time convention. Hence it runs 7 hours behind UTC most of the year, and 8 hours behind when Standard Time is in effect during the winter. The servers' log files actually record events in UTC, however.

User-generated content comprises a large portion of the activity within Second Life. Second Life may be considered part of the web 2.0 phenomenon in that the Residents, not Linden Lab, create most of the content of the world. Built into the client is a 3D modeling tool that allows any Resident to build virtual objects. Residents can also create gestures and animations using software such as Blender, Poser. Second Life also includes a scripting language called Linden Scripting Language, or LSL, which can be used to add autonomous behavior to objects and create dynamic systems. User generated content can run the gamut from simple furniture and apparel to complex systems such as the artificial life experiment of Svarga, where a complete ecology runs autonomously.^[15]

Second Life allows users to give, or sell, objects that have been created to other residents. The Second Life Terms of Service ensure that users retain copyright to any content they create. Within the server and client is a permissions and digital rights management system which prevents Residents from casually disregarding a creator's copyright. The creator of an in-world object decide whether or not any recipient of them can modify, copy, or transfer the creation. These limits are respected both by the client and server; however, as the visual data of an object must be sent to the client in order for it to be drawn, unofficial third-party clients such as CopyBot can bypass them - though such use is prohibited,^[16] and may be prosecuted under the DMCA.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Serious Virtual Worlds: A Scoping Study (2008) by Sara de Freitas:

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/seriousvirtualworldsv1.pdf

This report provides a scoping study of the use of serious virtual worlds to support learning and training, including a review of the field and case study examples. The report also provides valuable resources such as a typology and a list of virtual worlds. In previous work it was identified that there were a great range of different virtual world applications (de Freitas, 2006), and in preparing this report, 80 virtual world applications were identified with another 100 planned for 2009. The field is extensive, not just in terms of potential use for education and training but also in terms of actual usage and uptake by users, and Second Life currently has 13 million registered accounts (as of March 2008). This report however is focused upon how the virtual worlds can be better understood and used in the context of education and training. The use of Second Life for supporting seminar activities and lectures and other educational purposes has been documented in a number of recent reports (eg de Freitas, 2006), and Kirriemuir (2008) lists a wide range of examples of Second Life use by UK universities. (p.4)

Contents

1.0: Introduction and Background...............................................................4

2.0: Review of Virtual Worlds.......................................................................7

2.1: Historical perspective of virtual worlds...................................................................................................................10

2.2: Role play worlds: multiplayer role play online games...........................................................................................12

2.3: Social worlds: open-ended exploratory immersive worlds....................................................................................12

2.4: Working worlds: corporate and business 3D spaces and intranets......................................................................13

2.5: Training worlds: 3D training simulations and serious games...............................................................................15

2.6: Mirror worlds: using geo-spatial databases and mapping services......................................................................15

3.0: Case Studies of Practice.....................................................................17

3.1: Active Worlds Educational Universe: supporting science teaching in schools.....................................................17

3.2: SciLands in Second Life: science education and virtual conferences...................................................................19

3.3: Croquet Community: supporting forums for research...........................................................................................21

3.4: Project Wonderland: teaching tool for collaborative learning in mixed reality spaces .......................................................................24

3.5: Forterra’s OLIVE platform: supporting surgical education and major incident training......................................27

4.0: Challenges and Opportunities in using Virtual World Applications...30

4.1: Participation of learners in constructing spaces, content and activities...............................................................31

4.2: Blending between virtual and real spaces and experiences..................................................................................34

5.0: Conclusions.........................................................................................36

References.................................................................................................38

Appendix A: Experts Consulted for the Review.........................................41

Appendix B: Glossary of Terms.................................................................42

Appendix C: List of Virtual Worlds.............................................................44

Appendix D: Useful Resources..................................................................48

Appendix E: Related UK-based Research Projects..................................49

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

John Suler on Cyberpsychology

Articles:

http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html

Bibliography for SL Research and Instruction

Directory of Second Life Resources:
http://tinyurl.com/JJD-SL-Resources
Create an account
https://join.secondlife.com/

Basics tutorials
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials/Basics
Tutorials blog
http://secondlifetutorials.blogspot.com/
Lyr Lobo's Getting Started Guide
http://ctusoftware.blogspot.com/2008/08/second-life-getting-started-guide.html
Things every newbie should know before starting 2nd life
http://sl4nowt.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/30-things-every-newbie-should-know-before-starting-second-life/
30 things to know (maybe not)
http://www.irisophelia.com/2008/12/thirty-things-i-want-you-to-know.html
Beginners' Resources
http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/secondliferesources#beginners
Speaking SL
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Glossary
Making it simple: Creating a new avatar using the NCI/Caledon community gateway (PDF)
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/techweb/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=4772
Citations and Scholarly References about Second Life and Virtual Worlds http://www.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SecondLife/SecondLifeCitations.html
Scholarly articles - SLIS Second Life Wiki
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Scholarly_articles
Joe Peterson/ Second Life Bibliography
http://www.ebusiness-newcastle.com/blog/?page_id=55
Joe Sanchez
http://research.educatorscoop.org
Bibliography of Second Life Education
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~mpepper/slbib
Virtual Social Worlds and the Future of Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2jY4UkPbAc
Introduction to Second Life
http://blip.tv/file/262909/
Blog for SL "Freebies" list of places to go for free Stuff
http://fabfree.wordpress.com/freebie-break-down/
Education in Second Life: Explore the Possibilities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMGR9q43dag
Introduction to Second Life and its Educational Possibilities
http://puritansguidetosecondlife.blogspot.com/2007/09/introduction-to-second-life-and-its.html
Science Learning Opportunities in Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfsSGBraUhc
A Writer's Guide to learning about SL
http://www.writersinthevirtualsky.com/a-writers-guide-to-learning-about-second-life/
More - From Howard Rheingold
http://www.socialtext.net/socialmediaberkeley/index.cgi?introduction_to_second_life
Resources from a 2007 "Hit The Ground Running" workshop for educators
http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/NMC2007_Hit_The_Ground_Running
Slideshow from the same workshop
http://www.slideshare.net/trottahe/hit-the-ground-running-in-second-life/34
Introduction to Second Life by 2 experienced educators
http://www.slideshare.net/jokay/introduction-to-second-life
Training simulations in Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJTzNSV8pb0
Principles of Good Practice
http://magazine.openhabitat.org/tal/principles-good-practice
eLearning, SL articles
http://www.elearninglearning.com/second-life/
Channel for Metaworld - The Second World Monitor
http://www.mogulus.com/metaworld2
More - Berkman Center: Second Life: Open Education and Virtual Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3sblfBjh_4
What is SL?
http://secondlife.com/whatis/
SL Wiki
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page
Help portal
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help_Portal
Official blog
https://blogs.secondlife.com/index.jspa
How to speak Second Life - Glossary
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Category:Glossary
System Requirements for SL:
http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php
SL Community Standards
http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php
SL Terms of Service
http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php
Linden Labs Privacy Policy
http://secondlife.com/corporate/privacy.php
Online Safety
http://secondlife.com/policy/security/
Abuse risks
https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=3989
Construction Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSzh_QTE00&mode=related&search=
How to Make Tiny Prims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6XqQM9hgB0&mode=related&search=
How to Use the Building Grid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8k-XoIPycm8
Video Tutorials in scripting
http://klinelabs.com/vidtut.php
Keyboard shortcuts
http://hippasus.com/resources/secondlife/SL_Keyboard_Shortcuts.pdf
SL cheatsheet
http://www.kippiefriedkin.com/resources/secondlife-viewer-cheatsheet.pdf
Tips & tricks
https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/tnt
Tom Werner's Business Blog for Second Life
http://brandon-hall.com/tomwerner/?tag=second-life
White paper on making machinima
http://static.secondlife.com/_files/making_machinima.pdf
Second life Movies & Machinima forum
http://forums.secondlife.com/forumdisplay.php?f=278
SL on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=%22Second+Life%22&aq=f
Culture, Techne, and Virtual Worlds: An Interview with Anthropologist Tom Boellstorff
by Dusan Writer
http://dusanwriter.com/index.php/2009/01/24/culture-techne-and-virtual-worlds-an-interview-with-anthropologist-tom-boellstorff/
SLCC 2006 proceedings
http://www.simteach.com/SLCC06/slcc2006-proceedings.pdf
SLCC 2007 Proceedings
http://www.simteach.com/slccedu07proceedings.pdf
Judith Molka-Danielsen and Mats Deutschmann (eds.) (2008) Learning and Teaching
in the Virtual World of Second Life. Tapir Academic Press
http://butikk.tapirforlag.no/en/node/1195
http://slenz.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/the-slenz-update-no-42-january-28-2009/
Tom Boellstorff, Coming of Age in Second Life (2008) Princeton University Press
http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8647.html
Tagging the New World - Sloog
http://www.sloog.org/
Digging in Second Life
http://digging.secondlife.innx.co.jp/
Libraries and associated organizations in SL:
http://infoisland.org/directory/all.php
Second Life: An Engaging Learning Platform
http://www.slideshare.net/shornik/second-life-a-learning-platform?from=email&type=share_slideshow&subtype=slideshow
Engagement in SL learning
http://www.slideshare.net/intellagirl/engagement-in-second-life-learning?from=email&type=share_slideshow&subtype=slideshow
Information seeking in SL
http://www.slideshare.net/librariandreamer/talking-looking-flying-searching-a-research-report-on-information-seeking-in-second-life
and note the related slideshows
Second Life Cable Network TV – Best Practices in Education:
http://www.slcn.tv/best-practices-in-education
Terra Nova, a collaborative blog that deals with virtual world issues, including Edward Castranova
http://terranova.blogs.com/
Virtual Worlds Facet Study - Sarah Robbins
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pgKqGR6eOiPOKjMG9f856Sw
Virtual Worlds Theory Roundup
http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/vwtheory/
eLearning Virtual World articles
http://www.elearninglearning.com/virtual-world/
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
http://jvwresearch.org/
Journal of Virtual Worlds & Education
http://jvweducation.org/
VWN Resource Database: Avatars and Personification:
www.virtualworldlets.net/Resources/Menu.php?NewsMenu=Yes&Category=45
National Library of Medicine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=DetailsSearch&Term=disabilities[All+Fields]+AND+((virtual[All+Fields]+AND+reality[All+Fields])+OR+%22second+life%22[All+Fields])
National Library of Medicine
Virtual reality as a leisure activity for young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities.
National Library of Medicine
A virtual reality scenario for all seasons: the virtual classroom.
National Library of Medicine
Doing play: competency, control, and expression.
National Library of Medicine
Design and testing of a virtual environment to train stroke patients with unilateral spatial neglect to cross a street safely.
National Library of Medicine
Virtual reality and the person-environment experience
National Library of Medicine
Virtual reality: consumer perspectives.
National Library of Medicine
Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality.
National Library of Medicine
Blind persons navigate in virtual reality (VR); hearing and feeling communicates "reality".
National Library of Medicine
Medical applications of virtual reality.
National Library of Medicine
Ethical issues in the application of virtual reality to medicine.
Rez Libris The Magazine for Librarians, and Bring to class for presentation and discussion.
http://www.rezlibris.com./social
Interesting statistics from a survey of 1000 Second Life Residents:
http://socialresearchfoundation.org/report/index_files/annual-survey.pdf
Prof. Bellivau’s Courses and Articles on Teaching in SL. Bring to class for presentation and discussion.
http://slane.bradley.edu/com/faculty/lamoureux/website2/slstuff.html
Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (2008)
by Tom Boellstorff.
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Age-Second-Life-Anthropologist/dp/0691135282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228195349&sr=1-1
Introducing students to SL:
http://www.cxknowledge.com/Intro_SL.html
http://www.cxknowledge.com/Intro_SL.html

Book List for Second Life and Virtual Worlds
http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~chandler/HEA-ICS/booklist.html
Steve Wheeler (Ed., 2009) Connected Minds, Emerging Cultures: Cybercultures in Online Learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers.

_{^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^}

Exercises

Before you login to Second Life you must become aware of the terms of use.

Terms of Service

“In compliance with Linden Labs Terms of Service - we uphold the age restrictions placed on the main grid. Any avatar claiming to be or known to be underage will be reported to Linden Labs immediately and banned from all of the ALS estates.

It is a primary concern of ours to keep Second Life a safe and legal environment. Second Life Residents are held to a clearly defined Terms of Service and Community Standards to prevent illegal and/or broadly offensive activities, and it goes without saying that anyone engaged in these activities will be permanently banned from Second Life. Additionally, it is important to clarify that when we discover minors in Second Life, or when their presence is reported to us, we terminate their access. Underage users are automatically directed to Teen Second Life, an area specifically designed for non-adults, and offering them a rich, creative experience collaborating with other teens.”

Must read: http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php and http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php

Hardware problems? Lag? See here: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/15/typical-frame-rate-performance-by-graphics-cardgpu/

First Exercise (Required if you decide to login)

After downloading the free Second Life Viewer at secondlife.com, start it, but before Clicking on Login (do not click on Login right away!) do this first:

Note the option under your name: “Start Location”: type in this address: Virtual Ability. Now click on login.

Your avatar will first appear at that location, which is a quiet protected area suitable for your first lesson in how to get around in SL virtual world with your avatar. You’ll see a tutorial window. Click on Begin. Watch and practice the instructions. Replay and practice again a second time. Now you are ready to begin exploring.

If you get an Offer of Friendship from another avatar, click on Decline. Do not accept Friendship Offers until you have acquired more experience and know what the consequences are. This takes several hours of safe protected exploration. Follow these Exercise instructions sequentially. Take your time and be thorough. You’ll be glad later.

Spend between one and two hours exploring and viewing tutorials at Virtual Ability. Read all the posters and do all the exercises. Walk and follow the green arrow on the wooden path. At the end of this you’ll know a few basics about your inventory, about how to change your appearance and clothes, how to communicate and chat, how to move around, etc.

Before you quit, see note below: Important: When you are ready to leave Virtual Ability

If you have to cut your session at this point, be sure to return here next time you login in order to complete the entire tour at Virtual Ability. When you’re done with the main tour, walk into the “Advanced Tutorials” area, and read about Social Practices in SL. These are on large posters, and you click on it to see the next page. Read about Groups and how to join and create groups. Read about Clothing. Read about Money. Read about Photography and how to take pictures in SL or upload pictures from RL (real life). Read about Profile which publicly shows your SL name and other information that you want to type in, including a picture of your avatar or of your real self.

Get into the habit of right clicking on avatars that you can see on the screen. Every avatar walks around with a big name tag above the head. By right clicking any avatar you get a window where you can read their Profile statement, see what Groups they belong to, and what is in their Picks (favorite SL places and hangouts).

Important: When you are ready to leave Virtual Ability

Copy and paste this link in your Web browser. It is the protected UH LIS Students Home. Click on Teleport.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infotainment%20Island/92/33/31

Your avatar will be teleported to the University of Hawaii Student Union Home. It is a teaching facility and protected area directed by Dr. Diane Nahl at the UH. Once your avatar is there inside the house, pull down the World menu (on top of your screen), and select Make this my Home. You’ll get a momentary blue confirm window at the bottom right. Now whenever you want to get away from somewhere quickly do SHIFT-CONTROL-H and your avatar will be teleported to this house, safe and sound. From here you can plot your next move (e.g., using the Search engine or Map to get to places).

Explore this area which is your academic home in SL. You can bring friends here, or put up notices and chat with other students. Explore the House by walking around. Then go outside. Explore the entire Infotainment Island by walking and flying around.

(end of Second Exercise) Now write your self-report on Exercise 1.

Self-Report 1

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 1.

_{^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^}

Second Exercise

First Destination:

http://nikadreamscape.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/destination-station/

Remember These Rules of Operation for Safety and Comfort

You don’t have to answer someone’s chat offer or IM requests for Friendship. Just ignore it, unless you decide you know enough about what you are doing. When you accept an offer of Friendship, that person will know when you are logged in, and can find you and join you using the Map (pull down “Online Friends”). After accepting a Friendship offer, you can at any time delete it. Click on Communicate (bottom left of screen) and select Contacts. Select the Friend and click on Remove. If you accepted a Friendship, you can immediately Remove it by this process, should you want to.

You can use the Mute button when you want to stop someone’s comments from showing up in your own chat window or IM window. To do this, right click on the avatar, then select Mute in the pie commands.

If your avatar is griefed, bumped, trapped, or immobilized all you need to do is to give the Teleport Home command (Shift-Control-h, or see under the World menu for “Teleport Home”). You can also do Control-q at any time to quit (or see under the File menu and select Quit, or click the X at the top right hand corner of your viewer). Wait a few seconds, then login again if you want to, making sure you select the option (below your first name) Set Start Location to: My Home (or if you prefer: Virtual Ability).

Required Reading for your protection and knowledge:

Go to this Web Wiki Information site and study it carefully. Come to class prepared to discuss the issues explained on this site.

http://npsl.wikispaces.com/Griefers-+what+to+do

This Web page gives you information and instructions on what to avoid when you are in SL, and how to protect yourself from unwanted exchanges with strangers. This is important since when you are a new Resident of SL you do not yet know all the functions and capabilities of the system, nor the style of interactions that are practiced by some people there, just as in real life (RL).

Summary:

Defense in short-
1) Sit in a chair (Objects with sit target scripts are easiest to sit on, even from a distance).
2) Disable particles (ctrl+shift+alt+=).
3) Contact the proper authorities.
4) Go into busy mode (world tab, then ‘set busy’).
5) Pull up history (control-H) and you can still see chat around you, but you cannot be spammed with notes or textures.
6) If necessary, teleport away (landmark or ctrl+shift+h)
7) If the situation is intolerable, log out.

After you explored as suggested in the First Exercise, you can now explore these Unprotected Public Places where there is high avatar traffic. Before you go these places, make sure you finish reading and processing the information above dealing with this Exercise.

Copy and paste each of these links one by one into your Web browser. Click on “Teleport Now” each time and switch to your SL viewer. Click on Teleport in the open window. Your avatar will then arrive at the place. These are mostly Welcome areas for newbies. Click on Decline when offered Friendship. When you get stuck or want to get out quickly use SHIFT-CONTROL-H to get to your Home (which is the UH Student Union – see First Exercise above).

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ahern/28/28/41 (Ahern Welcome Center)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orientation%20Island%20Public/128/128/32 (SL Orientation Island)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Theta/166/140/25 (Sandbox and Park)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clementina/173/147/62 (Governor Linden’s House)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bonifacio/233/234/41 (Welcome Area)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Help%20Island%20Public/123/123/27 (Welcome Area)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Help%20Island%20Public2/124/124/27 (Welcome Area)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Wengen/25/212/86 (Welcome Area)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hangeul/36/35/108 (Welcome Area)

Practice right clicking the avatars you can see and read their Profile and Groups. Open the Local Chat window (click on Communicate bottom left). It shows what other avatars are typing to each other in Local Chat. You can also type in your comments. If someone IMs you or sends you an IM message, a second tab will open on the open Communicate window showing the name of the avatar who is IMing you. You can answer if you want. Only you and the other avatar can see the IM window (not like the Local Chat window which everyone can see). Your computer saves the local chats cumulatively in a file called chat.txt which you can open and delete if you wish. You can also set Preferences (Edit menu) not to save the local chat.

(end of Second Exercise) Now write your self-report on Exercise 2.

Self-Report 2

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 2.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Third Exercise

Take notes for this Exercise. A convenient way to do this is to have your word processor file open and type into it as you are doing things in SL.

Come to class prepared to describe what you saw and what you did while on this land. Summarize what you have learned. Did you acquire any of the free objects given out there? Go to a Public Place Sandbox (see Exercise Two) and try to rez the objects you acquired. What problems did you encounter while doing this? Before leaving the sandbox area you are supposed to right click the objects that you rezzed and select Take from the pie shape menu. This will put the objects back into your Inventory file and insure that the sandbox remains uncluttered for the use of others.

Go to the Info Island Region and explore the links to teleport that are given there:

http://world.secondlife.com/region/833c243e-b8e6-4f4a-91e6-be889e44f2b0

Visit the International Info Island Reference Desk:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island%20International/111/237/34

Here you can ask questions. Watch the Local Chat window. Be sure to type Hi when you are greeted by a librarian in presence. Ask a question if you want. It can be anything about how to do things in SL, or something to do with the research paper you’re working on for another course. Walk around and explore.

Visit the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Portal on Info Island

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/198/105/34

Or visit http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/59/211/34

Get together with a partner and the two of you go to Heavenly Rose Garden to do things together:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rose%20Gardens/92/158/27

Go here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Manpower%20HQ/104/97/27

and explore what they have for newbies and visitors.

(end of Third Exercise) Now write your self-report on Exercise 3.

Self-Report 3

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 3.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Fourth Exercise

Watch these YouTube videos. Take notes in your word processor. Come to class prepared to discuss the details.

Now that you have a little experience in-world and have completed the Virtual Ability tutorials (see First Exercise above), you’ll be able to benefit and enjoy the following videos that describe some of what you have already done, and some new skills that you’ll appreciate. Take notes. You’ll need these notes when you write your written Report due after midterm.

Virtual Ability Orientation ONE in Second Life - part 1 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAjG4Tv6LvU&fmt=22

(arrow keys for navigation, camera controls activities with built-in assessment, mac specialist for assistive technologies, mouselook and how to exit, pose balls and picnic thieves, learning more about the inspiration behind the Virtual Ability Inc./Alliance Library System)

Virtual Ability: Orientation TWO in Second Life: part 2 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntRpndqwO6E&fmt=22

(learning to fly in the butterfly aviary, zooming in with your camera controls to get an even better look, flight rewards in Second Life, introducing communication features, talking monkey bot, IM window, buying and getting things in your inventory.. then wearing it

Virtual Ability Orientation THREE in Second Life: Part 3 of 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFE5G8gP5_g&fmt=22

(covering inventory search, finding and wearing t-shits, how not to wear a box! and cleaning up after yourself.... teleporting and climbing trees!)

Fifth Exercise

Take notes. You’ll need these notes when you write your written self-report.

As you explore the following places practice camera movements. Practice exploring a place with the camera without moving your avatar. When you land, move away from the landing by a few meters using the arrow keys. Then zoom out (click on the minus sign in the camera control window at the bottom). Inspect the entire area, then zoom back in (click on the minus sign in the camera control window). Now use the camera movements to explore in and out, around corners, inside buildings, all without moving your avatar. You do this by holding the Alt key down, and simultaneously hold the left click of your mouse down, as you move the mouse ball around with your other fingers. It takes a little practice to use both hands in this way. This camera action gives you full zoom in and out and movement in all directions. If in addition you hold the Ctrl key down you can rotate an object in any direction for closer inspection.

Now check the setting under the Advanced menu (top of screen near middle), and select Disable Camera Constraints until it shows an X that it is activated. Now your camera control will be extended to its full potential. Try the Alt-left click mouse ball technique again and see the amazing difference.

You can have your camera move through walls and buildings if you position it sideways rather than front on. You can also use the arrows on the right side of the camera control window (which opens under the View menu, when you select Camera Controls). Using these various camera techniques takes practicing a few hours, which you can do by exploring inside buildings, underwater, the sky, etc. without moving your avatar from whatever place you left it last time you used the arrow keys, or else teleported. To get back to wherever your avatar is press Esc twice. Also press the Esc key twice, when your camera gets stuck inside things and it won’t respond.

Try this as well:

Click on “Fly” (bottom of screen, left) and move your avatar around with the arrow keys. If you want to go higher, press Page Up (press it several times for still higher flight). Use the arrow keys to fly around the entire landscape. To stop, click on the “Stop Flying” command at the bottom of the screen.

Note: when your camera seems stuck, press Esc twice and it should stabilize.

First: Go to:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Over%20The%20Rainbow/254/122/28

Ride the Jet Ski and explore. Have fun. Go there with a friend or two. Both can ride a jet ski and interact. Have a race around the island. It’s fun. Careful: Do not run into other avatars who might be around! Also try windsurfing and other boats that you can find around if you look for them.

Second: Ride the boat in this beautiful place:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Omurice/112/174/43

Dine with friends in a beautiful bistro beside a marble columned pavilion where you can dance the waltz or ballroom. Take a romantic Gondola canal ride. Visit the buddhist temple. Camp out in a eucalyptus forest. One prim meals for sale. Try the dance place.

Third: Go skating and sleigh riding:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Midsomer%20Meadows/180/135/23

Fourth: Go Canadian seal racing at:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Southhaven/166/94/22
You can do this with a partner (double riders). Try it yourself. Observe other racers. Keep the camera zoomed in and locked on the racer (Alt+left mouse click+mouse ball rotations for zoom action and direction). See if you can ride around the island underwater, then fly up and around. If you get stuck, press Stand Up (bottom of screen). If nothing works Go Home (Shift-Control-H) or just Quit (control-Q) and start again.

Fifth: Find something to do that you consider fun. Click on Search, then select the Showcase Tab. Explore and teleport. Here are some additional suggestions:

Help People Institute on Help People Island (get help, explore, dance, walk around): http://slurl.com/secondlife/Help%20People%20Island/72/120/301
Mandaly Bay Ice skating rink, skate through tunnel, single or paired:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mandalay%20Bay/243/201/24
Caledon Wellsian Skating set up:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Wellsian/107/65/21

Ski in Japan. Free skis. Take the ski lift. Rez your skis after you get off the lift chair.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Niseko%20Hirafu/251/207/24
Try your skill skiing on streets, water, etc., as well as snow.
Also Niseko Hirafu Ski Shop and snow board:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Niseko%20Hirafu/155/145/24
VAI Sanctuary. Go skating with the free skates provided there:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/VAI%20Sanctuary/186/82/23
Also: use the water slide into the pool.
Also: meet someone there and play tag chasing each other while skating.
The Avatrait art gallery in the round is here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Evoluon/80/114/140

Try this skating arena:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mandalay%20Bay/243/201/24

Ride the train and sled here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Holidays%20at%20dAlliez/63/192/26

Try fishing for pets you can keep:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Livingtree/63/61/23

Enjoy the music video show and try dancing at the Love Hemisphere jazz club (requires formal attire): http://slurl.com/secondlife/Navaria/116/20/902
Ride the train at Wish Isle:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Wish/101/108/39
Go to Rachelville on Virtual Island and explore what is to be done there:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Imagination%20Island/99/196/25
(take the magic carpet tour, explore the gardens, sit on the wolf,
Sloog.org Get the HUD here and start using it.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%203/180/213/753

Self-Report 5

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 5.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sixth Exercise

Take notes. You’ll need these notes when you write your written self-report.

Download Jing at http://www.jingproject.com/ (for free), and practice using it in SL. Take pictures, save each under a suitable name that is descriptive of the content (e.g., dancing, flying above buildings, skating with so and so, etc.). Email your two best pictures to me. Continue practicing with Jing throughout the semester. Eventually you can make a slide-show or movie of your picture album in SL depicting your adventures. Anyone succeeding this difficult task will get appropriate bonus points on their grade.

Note: If you prefer another application to Jing you are allowed to use that one instead.

Self-Report 6

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 6.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Seventh Exercise

Take notes. You’ll need these notes when you write your written self-report.

Click on Search (bottom of window). Click on the Showcase tab. First see the explanation given for all the places by clicking on each line. This gives you an overview of what to select from. Now select one and click on Teleport (at the top). Have your word processor open and take notes about what happens, what you observed there, and what your conclusions are.

Repeat this with other Showcase locations listed there. Bring a friend from in-world or have a friend sit next to you at the computer so you can see and discuss together what’s going on. Keep taking notes as you do this. Summarize your observations and conclusions. What does this tell you about the relationship between the real world and the virtual world, and what of the relationship between the virtual world and the mental world.

Self-Report 7

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 7.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Eight Exercise: Acquiring and Wearing Formal Attire

Women, please find, acquire, and wear to class a formal gown, hair, and heels.

Men, please find, acquire, and wear to class a tuxedo, hair, and formal shoes.

If you already have the required apparel in your inventory, get something new (free or fee). Complete and save this Structured Self Report notecard on your task process. Steps 1-9 ask for descriptions of process in addition to the ratings and rating explanations. Please use the form below to include the descriptions as well as ratings and explanations:

1. Select and go to a place to find the required apparel.

2. Copy SLURL into report and describe how you decided to go there. Describe what if anything you obtain there.

3. Copy SLURLs for any additional places you go to acquire the clothing. Under each SLURL describe briefly your decisions to go there and describe what if anything you obtain there.

4. After obtaining the required elements, put the entire ensemble on your avatar. You may use the dressing area in the Student Union, and somewhere near the Ref Desk there are new changing rooms, some stores have dressing rooms.

5. Describe the process of dressing the avatar and how you managed all of the pieces, what SL affordances you used in the process, and your perceived level of success.

6. After you have dressed the avatar completely with all of the required elements, right-click the avatar, select Appearance, select Make Outfit in the dialog box, check all highlighted boxes including shape, hair, etc., then name the outfit, Save, then select Close on the Appearance dialog box.

7. Open your Inventory and type WORN in the search box. Review all of the items your avatar is wearing. Is anything missing (e.g., shoe, bald cap, shoe base, eyes, socks, etc.)? Try to wear it and discuss your success. Is there anything extra that should not or need not be there (e.g., piece of a prior outfit, double hair, etc.)? Try to remove it and discuss your success.

8. Delete WORN in search box and locate the outfit folder you created. If you want, move it to a desired location in your inventory. Describe your current Inventory organization strategy including letting the pieces stay wherever they land. Describe your usual approach to finding things in your Inventory.

9. Look at the elements of the outfit you created and note whether any are designated no copy. Those no copy pieces will exit the folder if you wear them in another ensemble. It is safest to copy the rest so they will remain in the outfit folder. If everything is in the folder you can just drag the folder onto your avatar to change outfits. Try it. You can even change while moving around.

Comment descriptively on your User Experience in terms of Affect (feelings, emotions, values, preferences, expectations), Cognition (confusion, understanding, problem solving, strategy, knowledge acquisition), and Sensorimotor (noticings, performance, actions, procedures, routines, accomplishments).

Fill out this Form at the following five points during the tasks:

A. Before you begin the tasks

B. After working through tasks 1-3

C. While working through tasks 4-5

D. While working through tasks 6-7

E. After completing tasks 8-9

A. Before you begin the tasks

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

B. After working through tasks 1-3

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

Copy SLURLs here and describe what you obtain:

C. While working through tasks 4-5

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

Describe dressing process, SL affordances used, perceived level of success:

D. While working through tasks 6-7

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

Describe missing or unnecessary elements and efforts to add or eliminate them from avatar, and perceived success:

E. After completing tasks 8-9

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

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Briefly explain your rating:

Ninth Exercise: Reference Desk at InfoIsland International

Background - The LIS Student Union on Infotainment Island is near the epicenter of library community activity in Second Life. The "InfoIsland Reference Desk" is a nearby spot where professional librarians serve thousands of "patrons" with a tight band of volunteers. But they are not always on duty when people arrive. So the desk features a wide array of interactive, self-serve information tools.

Your task - Enter Second Life and seek out this location. Interact with the volunteers if anyone is nearby and find the automated calendar tool. It connects with the Internet to help the community keep track of the large number of programs. Attending an event may enhance your career (not required for this assignment).

Complete and save this Structured Self Report notecard on your task process:

1. Go to Reference Desk at InfoIsland international http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infotainment%20Island/97/31/31

2. Find the "InfoIsland Archipelago Calendar" and Touch it.

3. Choose "This week" for the set of events.

4. Click "Local chat" tab and click on the URL at the end of the list of events.

5. Tip: You may have to copy the URL to access the website from the browser.

6. Paste that URL into the Interface Assessment Journal notecard.

7. Find the VOTE kiosk and register your vote for this site; it helps in SL search rankings.

8. Explore the "computer terminals" area and the information available through these information affordances.

9. Find the Caledon Libraries events and exhibits displays and read through the offerings. Take a notecard for any events of interest.

10. What is the Den? What happens there? What do you like about it?

11. Find the Alliance Virtual Library sign and get its notecard. TP to one of the locations on the notecard. Save the LM. Return to the Reference Desk after exploring 5-10 minutes.

12. Find the TP board to the language areas and other interesting spots and visit one of the locations. Return to the Reference Desk after exploring 5-10 minutes.

13. Go to the nearby SL Resource Center, explore and pick-up free and interesting affordances.

Interface Assessment Journal Structured Self Report Form

Fill out this Form at four points during the task session today:

A. Before you begin the tasks

B. After working through tasks 1-6

C. While working through tasks 7-8

D. While working through tasks 9-12

E. After completing task 13

Before you begin the tasks

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

B. After working through tasks 1-6

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

Type your number here:

Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

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C. While working through tasks 7-8

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

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To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

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D. While working through tasks 9-12

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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Briefly explain your rating:

How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

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Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

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E. After completing task 13

How likely is it that you will become good at this particular task?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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How likely is it that the skills you are learning in this task will be useful in your career?

Doubtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Almost Certain

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Briefly explain your rating:

To what extent are you feeling frustrated doing this particular task?

Not Frustrated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Frustrated

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To what extent are you feeling irritated doing this particular task?

Not Irritated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely Irritated

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Tenth Exercise: Inventory of Avatar Social Settings

Observe the behavior of avatars under a variety of setting. Only some of these might be available when you consider privacy issues. This is an initial inventory of social situations that avatars can find themselves, and establish social presence and virtual consciousness. “Alone” means that your avatar is not with a partner or companion at the time or in a place. There may be other avatars present but you are not together. “With a partner” means that your avatar is being together with another avatar, either chatting, or walking, or whatever the interaction is. When teleporting somewhere, partners send each other teleport invites so they can be together in the new place.

You can use different techniques for mutual teleporting. The most direct is to Right Click on the other avatar and select Offer Friendship. The other avatar receives the Notice Window to accept or decline. You do this to each other. Click on communicate at the bottom left and select the Friends tab. You see that the other avatar is listed on your Friends List. Now you can click on Offer Teleport at any time no matter where your friend is, as long as it is online and logged into SL. Once you are Friends you can at any time click on Map (at the bottom) and click Online Friends (top right of the Map window). This will show your Friend’s location if online (little red circle). Double click on the little red circle and you’ll be teleported there. You can also IM any of your friends giving them your location by the name of the place (which they can Search to get a teleport). The name is indicated on the top line of the browser window. Or, you can click on Map then click on Copy URL to Clipboard (bottom right). Now you can paste the address into your IM note. You can also drag a Notecard from your Inventory into the Profile of an avatar that you can right click (pie shape window appears, select Profile, drag Inventory Item or Notecard into their Profile). They will then get a note saying they received an object from you, and they can accept or decline.

Inventory:

1. alone in a restricted or secured area
(sentry lines, ejection procedures, access lists)

2. with a partner in a restricted or secured area
(see above)

3. alone in a private place or house
(unsecured)

4. with a partner in a private place or house
(unsecured)

5. alone in a public place that allows certain activities
(Building, Flying, radar and combat HUDs, etc.)

6. with a partner in a public place that allows certain activities
(see above)

7. aalone in a public place that does not allow certain activities
(see above)

8. with a partner in a public place that does not allow certain activities
(see above)

9. alone in a public place that provides local facilities or scheduled activities
(dance balls, music, rides, sports, park, beach, shopping mall, advertised events, library and information services, hiring offices, classroom, labs, exhibits, sandbox, demonstration projects or showcase, etc.)

10. with a partner in a public place that provides local facilities or scheduled activities
(see above)

11. (add any others you have discovered or thought of)

Self-Report 10

Date and time details.

Describe your experience of doing Exercise 10.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Second Life Skills Inventory