MVN08

OK, that’s it. I’m done. Better late than never, ok? Comments welcome.

Well, where can I begin? When I first joined SL I thought it was going to be an easy task. Soon, however, I realized it wasn’t that easy. I arrived in Orientation Island, and didn’t know what to do. I saw many people who looked like me. We were all alike … But that didn’t matter at first. My big concern was moving around. I found walking straight quite difficult. I bumped into things or other avatars all the time. Anyway, that really helped me a lot since I started meeting people and learning with and from them. It was truly motivating, in fact.

While on Orientation Island, I went through several of the basic tools, such as movement controls, clicking on objects and signs, flying, etc. I enjoyed each of these activities, but I thought that it was going to be quite difficult for me to get used to these tools. I even learned how to activate some gestures. That was fun, too. Then, one day, someone I met offered me friendship!!! Wow, my first SL friend … and he immediately gave me an item of clothing. Soon, I found out I could change my appearance. I started experimenting with different clothes, then with new body shapes and hair styles. What a problem it was, but little by little I became more confident. When I learned about taking snapshots, I decided I had to keep a record of those Eureka moments I had. Here are a few pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24076221@N04/3050508923/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24076221@N04/3050508723/in/photostream/

After spending several days on Orientation Island, I made up my mind and set off to other lands. I have to say that I was afraid at first. You know that you can’t come back to Orientation anymore, but then I found out that I could get information about basic skills almost anywhere. I looked for some educational sites, but I met just a few people. I couldn’t see any classes. I guess it was due to time zone differences. Besides, I usually logged in late at night. Therefore, I felt lonely many times. I thought SL was no fun. I got bored, so I started playing with the inventory, changing my appearance, and creating simple objects.

But one day, I had the chance to meet some people at ISTE, and that was the beginning of my great adventure in SL. They recommended several landmarks and websites, wikis, blogs, online classes, machinimas, seminars, online lectures and therefore I became addicted to SL and Web 2.0 tools, which I hadn’t known much about. I figured out the amazing potentials behind these new tools. For example, when I learned about this MUVEnation course, I didn’t doubt it. I knew I wanted to learn and share with and from partners around the world this passion for learning, teaching, and growing professionally.

Well, I know it’s going to be hard, specially at this time of the school year, with lots of final exams to prepare and so many end-of-the-year activities to organize. Anyway, I’m so motivated that I’m sure I will find the way to keep up with both RL and SL.

Well, when I think back on those first days in Second Life, one of the big issues I couldn’t cope with was the awfuI hair I had. Yeah, hair!!! Women stuff, you know … Always wanting to look nice! Well, I had tried changing my hairstyle several times without success, in fact it got worse and worse. I know wearing a certain hairstyle in SL shouldn’t have been something to worry much about, but I didn’t feel comfortable the way I looked.

Read the rest of this entry »

A. I am your friend. I don’t work in education. You are talking to me about the idea that we all learn from each other, in all kinds of contexts, and that this can often be richer than more formal classroom based learning. I am sceptical. Tell me about an informal learning experience you have had online in which collaboration was involved, show me a concrete example to help me to see what you mean.

This type of introductory activity is like a “déja vu” to me. I can recall a similar scenario in real life after I joined Second Life. Some months ago, I was talking to some of my friends and family, who are not Internet fans, about the idea that we all learn from each other, in any kind of contexts, and I claimed that there were lots of benefits from using new and different learning environments such as the ones we can access on the Internet. However, they were very sceptical. I started telling them about my learning experience online: joining a virtual world, Second Life. My friends and family laughed a lot, and said I was a grown-up girl who should not be playing and wasting time on those things. I kept on telling them that at first, being in SL was a bit of a chaos for me, or a total chaos, I might say. I arrived in what was called Orientation Island. I didn’t know how to move around, where to go, what to do, how to find places I would like to visit … I felt somehow disappointed. I got lost easily. Besides, I didn’t like the way I looked, and everytime I wanted to change my hairstyle, my hair got worse. I always had something black on my skull. I also felt very lonely. I wished I had had a friend or someone who could help me. But after a few days on that island, I decided I had to try other places. I looked for some educational ones, and “teleported” there.

Wow!!! What a great decision it was!!!! Read the rest of this entry »