Voice of a Leader in Second Life

John Lester, or in "Second Life" Pathfinder Linden is the academic program manager at Linden lab.  He notes that he sees a "growing interest in higher ed as a logical devlopment.  'Second Life gives both students and faculty a new medium for exploring things like distance learning, experiential learning, simulation, and scientific visualization in a fundamentally collaborative environment." He believes that this allows people to find a familiar gaming platform where teachers can engage students in the virtual world medium because they find it appealing. 

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"Second Life" simulation in real life with real people

Just wanted to throw some humor into this.  Here is a video on "Youtube" that shows real life people simulating what "Second Life" life is like in our world. 

Video

Here is a video that explains what "Second Life" is and gives an overview and introduction.

Second Life Timeline and my vision for Second Life

• Philip Linden was in the shower and envisioned the basis of "Second Life" and decided to build it.
• Andrew and Philip Linden composed Linden Lab and used it to build and house "Linden World" which now known as "Second World".
• Alpha "Second Life" in March 2002 with a handful of residents
• Beta "Second Life" in November 2002 for closed beta and then April 2003 for the version open to the public.
• June 23, 2003 the first version of "Second Life" was open to the public.
• 1.1-2.0 versions have since been used and improved. 
• 5 years later in 2008 "Second Life" is going strong and growing fast.

I believe that "Second Life" will continue to flourish with more people taking part in it.  It's like how computers were something some people had and some used, now most every household has a computer and uses it.  I see even more businesses and schools utilizing it as a tool to improve and reach out to clients and students.  It is a wonderful emerging tool for technology and the sky seems to be the limit. 

Diffusion into Education

This is a wonderful tool for education because it provides an opportunity for students and faculty to learn in a virtual world that has professional qualities.  There is no cost to register, but there is a cost to have land and privacy, which is highly desired when trying to keep "Second Life" professional.  It is a public virtual world, so there are some issues that could arise when dealing with the public.  "Second Life" has a webpage with information regarding how to purchase private land and how to afford it and maintain it.  

There is very little that is required in order to use "Second Life".  It is easy to download, and MAC, PC compatible, costs nothing to register, and takes a little time to make an avatar, but other than that it is quite simple. There is a form a creativity and self-expression that is involved with representing yourself in your avatar. You can be as professional or imaginative as you can think of.  It is another way for people involved in something together to bond on another level. It is fairly easy to use because of how the tools are setup that are similar to a webpage.