Second Life and Lunch Review for Wednesday, September 2, 2009

I thought it might be a good idea to post a review of our Second Life and Lunch sessions for those who were unable to attend and to help clarify when we cover a lot of things. Those who know me best tell me I'm good at "information overload" when I get excited about a topic, so hopefully this wrap-up will help clarify things.

Feedback Survey
First I would like to remind everyone if you haven't done so yet to please fill out the "Second Life and Lunch Feedback for Fall" online survey. If you're a group member without an avatar, this survey is for you too! Please try to complete the survey by 3:00 on Friday, September 4 as we would like to have the results of the survey by next week's Second Life and Lunch session.

Member Directory
Have you ever wondered who all the other people in the Kirkwood Second Life Group are? Well, you're about to find out. We're compiling a list of group members (with and without avatars) to share with everyone on our Web site. This list will include the real name, title and department (title and company name for non-educators) and avatar name of each member.

Group Project on the Kirkwood Island
You have the chance to participate in something unique and helpful for instructors on the Kirkwood island. We're putting together a directory of educational Second Life locations on the second floor of the new building by the sandbox. It's a collection of signs with teleports to educational places organized using the Dewey Decimal System. By using this familiar system, even instructors new to Second Life can find educational content for their field of study easily.

Right now if a visitor clicks on a sign they receive a teleport to the location. This is helpful, but we want to make it even better. That's where you come in. We are asking members to lend their expertise in their field of study by writing a short "tour guide" note card to be placed in each sign. Write directions that visitors can follow when they arrive at the new location. Where should they go? What are the "must see" areas of the location? How do you think it might be useful in the classroom?

To participate, identify an educational site you've visited or choose from the selections on the second floor of the building. Write a notecard and give it to Alan Peterka or myself to include in the collection. (If you identify your own location, please give us a teleport also.) We're asking members to try and review one educational location per week if you can.

Other Ways to Contribute
You can also add to the resources on the Kirkwood island by suggesting a useful book about Second Life, suggest a Web site that is useful, or stretch your creativity and build and script a pastry or drink for our group cafe next to our meeting area. This is a fun way to teach new members how to use attachments. Have some fun with it!

Sharing "Second Life in the News" in a New Way
From time to time Second Life pops up as a topic in newspapers and magazines. A couple of people in our group send these articles to me to share with the group. In the past I've brought them to our Second Life and Lunch sessions and set them on the back table by the sign-in sheet for all to see. This is great if you are able to make it to a meeting, but not so great if you can't. So, we're going to do things a little different.

Starting this semester, I'll be sending the newspaper and magazine articles I receive to group members in our campus mail. There will be a list of all the names for the article to circulate to on a sheet attached to the article. When you finish reading it, simple cross your name off the list and send it to the next person.

If you're on the group email list, you are now on the Snail Mail Publication Sharing List. If you do NOT want to be on this list, please contact me and you will not receive any of the publications. I plan to send the articles I've received from members over the past two years out to the group right away.


Fall Meeting Schedule
The schedule for the Fall sessions is available on our Web site.

Sorry this review is so long, but there was a lot to share. That's all for this week. I hope to see you at our next Second Life and Lunch session next Wednesday, September 9, 1-1:50 p.m. Central Time.