Our developers are performing a truly admirable task, transforming what was our basic and dull standard island into a beautiful place. This was always one of our major requirements – I think it’s very important for it to be a very attractive place to hang out, apart from all of the educational and fun things on offer. If we can make our island a place where teens want to visit just because it’s cool, and an attractive part of Seond Life, then we’re half-way there.
I dropped in there yesterday, logging in under our owner’s account (hence the sex change in the picture above), to take a look at how things were going, and the sheer beauty of the place, especially with the sunset, made me linger far longer than I’d originally planned.
It reminded me of a key moment in Second Life, last year, when something finally ‘clicked’ inside and I realised that, for me, the platform was a far more powerful tool than any chat room or videoconferencing set-up. I bumped into Sus, from Denmark, and we were sitting chatting on a bench as the sun went down, with a Marx Brothers movie showing on a screen in front of us.
Some combination of what we were talking about, the setting , the ambient sounds, movie, etc. led to this being a special ‘Aha’ moment, and I just understood that this type of environment could be a very special place to be.
After talking to Bee last week about how she feels she still hasn’t ‘got it’ yet (even though she’s spent a lot of time in SL), I wonder if anyone else has experienced the kind of moment that I did. If you have and feel inclined to share it, I’d love to hear about it.
4 responses so far ↓
1
Rafi Santo
// Apr 23, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Hi Graham!
Just found this budding blog via Katharine’s Blog, and wanted to pop in and say hi. In TSL I’m Rafi Gkid, one of the folks working over at Global Kids. So glad to see some more neighbors moving in!
I’ll admit that I had my definitive ‘getting SL’ moment about a year ago, in, of all places, Kim (of the Magicians) main grid lodge. It had been a long long stress filled day of many long long stress filled days, and I was getting to the end of it, just had one more meeting, with Kim. I popped onto the main grid, and she teleported me to her cabin amidst snow capped peaks. And suddenly, the nyc cityscape dropped away, and the stress and long day dropped away, and I appreciated the stillness and contrasting greens and whites and browns, and I sat and relaxed for a couple of minutes. It was then that I realized how powerful such an immersive environment could be, what it’s potential was, and how profoundly it could affect a person.
We just need to keep on reminding ourselves of this once we do become immersed, as with any habit, we can forget. Somewhat like the ways we forget about the beauty, peace and potential of the real world at times too!
Welcome to the neighborhood, and much luck with your prepping and launch!
-Rafi
2
grahambluecoat
// May 2, 2007 at 4:51 am
Thanks Rafi! I think we’re going to be hearing a lot more of these ‘SL moments’in the next year or so.
BRW, congratualtions to you and the Global Kids project on the work that you’ve been involved in from more than a year in the TG!
3
Miguel Mendoza
// Sep 23, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Hey Graham,
Well, SL hasn’t been that easy. You know the walking and flying thing, my SL appearance, and all that…I never thought dancing was going to be that difficult for me in SL;-)
Now, if I put aside how hard it’s been coming to grips with SL I’ve found that being on my own in places I’ve been teleported to has been quite relaxing and, for sure, surreal…I still wonder how a virtual thing can have this cathartic effect on me, say, when I fly -Ok still awkwardly, but I do:-)
Just the other day I went to this place sat on a bench, looking at the sea and this music…It was awesome! I’ve never enjoyed myself ever…I didn’t miss talking to anybody or feeling I had to…
Now I still have this need for understanding and learning more about SL…I don’t want to be that selfish and keep that to myself…But I’ve got a motto: “Never spread the word if you don’t know what you are talking about”…So I’d like to learn , enjoy and see the potential SL may have especially for ELT.
Miguel
4
grahambluecoat
// Sep 23, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hi Miguel,
it’s great that you’ve had that experience and that you’re persisting with SL – I’ve just spent this weekend presenting Second Life in two sessions at the English Teaching Professional live conference and both times the reaction was positive – there seems to be a lot of interest, fascination and (occasionally) bewilderment at how it can be used for language learning and teaching beforehand, but I’m happy to say that at least a good percentage of the audience leave believing there’s a lot of promise.
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