11.5 Thing #10-Virtual Worlds

Thank you for the option of looking at other virtual worlds if we did not feel ready for Second Life. I read ALL the links providing information about SL and the more I read the more I dreaded joining. Cool Cat Teacher emphasized the importance of NOT entering alone. Someone posted to her blog additional advice that indicated we should immediately change our clothes and purchase advanced walking skills so that we would not look like newbies who walk like ducks. The reader said that if we didn't dress for success we would be indicating that we do not take the game seriously and would look like tourists. Who needs that? All this judging of people by how they look and dress along with not accepting newcomers is something I see all day in the high school where I teach. I sure don't want that in my second life!

I looked over the list of 200 virtual worlds for kids and found several of interest. One was based on Legos, another was Hello Kitty. At Hello Kitty one could chat, farm, build a house, battle opponents, mine and cut timber. The tutorial for building a house said that one would use up his energy by working, so be sure to eat. Of course, the food had to be purchased with Kitty dollars! These seemed very similar to Second Life but much safer and less judgmental. The downside to most of the ones I looked at is that they are still in the developmental stage and not ready to play. Some were being beta tested and would allow users to sign up for emails to be notified when the game is ready.

I did join Zwinky where I got an avatar, dressed her in the "free" clothes and got a free dorm room at ZSU. I furnished it with furniture I found at the department store. This was all part of a newcomers quest and I racked up lots of points by successfully completing the quests. My clothes didn't fall off and no one asked me for sex which happened to another participant in the 11.5 Things when she was in Second Life.

Lots of people are certainly excited about the possibilities of using Second Life in education. At the ALA Convention I learned that the Chicago ISD has an island in Second Life! I think our students could see land forms, waves, the inside of cells, and other things that they might not otherwise see by using the subscription databases, Flickr, Google Earth, and other tools we have learned about through 23 and 11.5 Things.