Second Life

We have recently started using Second Life in class and it has been an interesting experience. I appreciate Second Life and the medium it could possibly provide for students but it can be so frustrating. I have spent a lot of time trying to find eight different "locations" in SL that focus on Literature/Libraries and the whole time I have been frustrated. It can be very confusing. Although it gets easier as you go along I still don't think that I could ever be fluid in SL not do I think that I want to be. I can definitely see why people really like SL but I am just not one of them yet.

Eight locations focusing on libraries/literature/language arts:

1)Information Communications and Technology Library
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/21/192/33">
This Information Communications and Technology Library looked as if it was collaboratively made and it provided a lot of information. In this photo I am standing in front of a great article about second life, education and libraries. It was visually rewarding and there were a lot of interesting pieces in this library. I found a blog online about this particular library at http://secondlifelibrary.blogspot.com

2) Publishing Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Publishing%20Island/128/128/7
This is a place where people can post some of their own personal work. In this photo I am standing in front of an author’s “store” and the author posted an introductory note to all the visitors. Each of the posters on the wall are of the author’s work and if you click on them then it will give you an introduction to the book/article behind it. In Publishing Island you can rent out a store and post your own books/articles/poems and people that visit the island are allowed to read them. I think this would be a great place for students to post some of their own work and allow them to network with others about their work.


3) Book Island
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/128/128/34

Book Island is very similar to Publishing Island in that there are several different “stores” that offer free books, articles and entrances to different websites involving literature. I am standing in front of a small store that offered several free books and articles along with a website entry too. This would be a great place for students to get new, free books and articles and look at some other interesting websites.

4) Alliance Virtual Library
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/218/59/96
This was a great place for resources and I think it was the best for students. In the photo I am flying in front of one of the towers and the top floor has information on Africa and other places around the world and then the building to the left had information about astronomy. There was a lot of good information and was visually stimulating.

5) Infolit iSchool
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infolit%20iSchool/76/145/23
The Infolit iSchool was created by the University of Sheffield. This picture was taken in the iSchool library where there are several links that will take you to the of library. This is very similar to the University of Northern Iowa online library. There is a place to look up articles, books, etc. It would be a good place for students to research for projects for find casual reading literature.

6) Meteora

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meteora/178/173/27

I found Meteora on accident but I think it is an excellence research facility for science classrooms. My favorite part of Meteora is that their is a Hurricane simulator and weather balloon. This will allow students to have a virtual experience in a hurricane. There are a lot of great resources regarding weather and different climates. Very neat!

7) English Village

http://slurl.com/secondlife/English%20Village/131/162/126

English Village was created by a teacher that lives in Japan and is teaching English. The main purpose of this island is to provide a tehcnology medium for students to learn English. There are a few resources around this island that provide literature research along with different places for lectures about English.

8) Cincta - The Dream It, Do It Initiative

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cincta/91/98/22

This was a great resource it focuses a lot on multicultural education and literature. As you cna see in my photo I am standing in front of a lot of books lade open on a pier. People are allowed to read these pieces and it also provides a lot of links to other resources.