Building in Second Life

In July, I took a class through Ball State University entitled "Building Blocks 101," a beginner's course in building stuff in Second life, taught by master builder SunQueen Ginsberg. Here she is with some robots she created.

Some of what was covered I had already learned through a course offered at TLE and by Kevin Freelunch on building some furniture. It was very helpful as well, though it was more, "do this, then that, then that" whereas the BSU course included much more of why and how the editing controls work.

Now, I have no intention of spending a lot of time in SL building stuff, though I find it quite enjoyable to do.

Here is a shot of our two assignments, a sculpture with five prims (which means primitive objects in SL lingo) and a robot. If you can't tell the difference, the sculpture is on the right, a glass flower-vase, and the robot is on the left!

My goal was to understand the basics so that I can manipulate objects needed while teaching. This class worked really well in giving me those basics.

Also, in July, I made arrangements with KarenSPC Fride, the administrator on Angel Learning Island, to teach WRIT 121 in world on the sim (simulation--lingo for the virtual land owned and controlled by users). So I have an office and some space for a class where I can leave stuff, and students can go to, both for whole class meetings and smaller group meetings. Here's a shot of my avatar sitting on my office balcony overlooking the ocean. I have to say, certainly beats the view of a brick wall in my LCC office! (by the way, the blue chair is one of the pieces of furniture I built in the TLE class mentioned above.)

So, July has been a busy month in the metaverse! Now it's time to get serious about preparing for fall semester. With four preps this time through, I need to start right now.