Arabella's Top 10 Links for a Second Life Adventure

Arabella looking a bit lost in Second Life
Arabella was given a twirl last Wednesday in her Second Life. She had some great fun with her new friends. Her mentor wasn't able to work out how to access full speaking controls, but that will come eventually, one hopes. Arabella can now do the following things in Second Life:

• sit down on a seat
• do yoga
• choose new clothes to wear
• fly (I think she learned to fly before she could walk)
• walk forwards and backwards
• send text messages
  
• answer messages
• take snapshots
• accept new friend requests
• dance 7 different dances
• make a lot of different gestures
• get lost very easily!

Unfortunately, Arabella can't do the following yet:

• eat or drink anything
• change her appearance
  
• speak (no sound)
• follow other people very easily
• follow directions (her creator can't do it in real life either)
• undestand a lot of things in her new virtual world
• teleport other avatars

Questions, Questions, Questions


Is one's avatar an extension of oneself or an "alter ego"?
Can one invent a completely new type of person?
If you have always been a goodie two-shoes in Real Life, for example, can you become a baddie in Second Life?
Can you actually sell things for real in Second Life?
Is a vivid imagination an essential quality?
Can you get qualifications via Second Life?

Arabella having the time of her life

A Second Life Beginner
I vowed to breathe life into Arabella as one of my resolutions for 2010. I am thrilled that she is slowly being given a chance to develop. She is a complete and utter beginner in an alien world. I am experiencing what it is like to be a beginner again, when it all seems to be so difficult and the learning curve is a very steep one. I have often taught complete beginners in the past. and this feeling is very good to remind me of the cycles that one goes through as a beginner. It's a bit of a scary feeling, but with expert guidance and lots of peer work with colleagues in the same boat as me, it is something that is not impossible any more. Of course, it will take hours of studying, copying, learning, practising, to become a proficient Second Lifer, if in fact Arabella decides to pursue this new endeavour.

Top 10 Links to Second Life Resources and TutorialsSome great posts and resources that Arabella has bookmarked for her mentor to read, digest and then learn from:


Second Life Welcome Page
Second Life for Beginners from the Second Life wikiSecond Life posts on Nik's Quick Shout
Second Life Educational Resources by Rebeka Simons
Does language learning in Second Life have serious potential? by Jason Renshaw
One week in Second Life by Graham Stanley
Why Every Language Teacher Needs a Second Life by Barbara Sakamoto
Second Life Tutorial 1 from Teacher Training VideosSecond Life Tutorial 2 from Teacher Training Videos

I will keep all the Second Life resources I come across in this post here, so it will be easy to find them all in one place. Please do feel free to share your favourite resources for learning about and learning from Second Life. As Arabella's creator and mentor, and ultimately responsible for her well-being, I would appreciate your comments, and any tips would be wonderful. Many thanks.

Arabella investigating the Open University in Second Life