building classes and/or teaching materials

hihi.

i looked through events and found almost no building classes. (1 building class in the last 10 days)

and lotsa people have been asking me how to make/customize bears. and they've need a basic course on making prims, coloring prims, linking and unlinking.


1) are there any classes? and i'm just not find them? if so, where do i find them?

2) does anyone have a good outline for teaching the basics of building?
an outline on rotations and cutting would also be appreciated.
could you include time estimates to go through the material?

thanks

Building classes, sadly, are under-attended. The last one I went to (to help Ingrid out) received a total of 3 interested people.

It's not as flashy as tringo and whatnot, so no one goes to them.

LF

Building classes need more BLING! And sex balls!

Typically when I've done a build class lately, its been impromptu - and not posted to the event calendar.

If there's enough new folks asking questions about building - (2 or more) - that's what tends to spawn it for me.

From my experience - the class goes better, and folks get more out of it when its small. When there's more than 5 people, its becomes harder for me to make sure everyone is the same page.

It all depends on what you're after. If you're measuring the success of an event with Dwell - then no, Classes are definately not the way to go. But if you're measuring your success on folks either enjoying themselves, or getting something out of it - 3 people attending might be just the right number


Travis

I'm glad the topic of classes came up here

I hope these posts convince the LL to reexamine the rules concerning class support. If the LL really want to support classes in SL there are a few changes I would offer up for consideration.

The primary focus should be on creating incentives to instructors to hold classes of any kind about anything that can be done in SL. SL is not all pg rated, and classes should reflect the true demographics of the entire community. If an instuctor wants to hold a class on adjusting sexballs I see no reason that wouldn't be supported, it's a big part of what brings people to SL, at least as an early attraction. I would humbly offer as a possible solution all classes be supported, but m rated classes must be marked m rated.

Secondly, class size should be small to benefit the attendees ,if possible, if a class is 1 or 2 people it is still a class. The instuctor shouldn't have to gamble on attendance levels. If the class is posted and held on time it should be supported, even if no one comes. We want the instructor to be on site ready to teach, hopefully that will get more classes posted. At some point, if it is abused, the LL might consider tighting it up again.

Lastly, the proceedure required to register a class might be streamlined to get approval more quickly. If an instuctor wants to teach a class tomorrow he/she should be able to get approval quickly. Perhaps we could get a small group of citizens to approve the class. To be approved the class should be something people need or want to learn.

To recap, bring in the instuctors by not limiting the classes to pg, allow class size to be any number even 0, and streamline the approval process to allow instant or within 24 hour approval.

Just some thoughts from the peanut gallery. )

I reapplied as a SL Instructor..... just waiting for it to be confirmed Once it is done I will start holding at least 2 classes a week. Class size never bothered me, mine always were 10-30 attending. They did take some time to prepare, were open to questions and lasted a hour for the actual class, but the extended time I spent by helping with individual help made most my classes be 2 hours
Them being in a PG sim was okay with me. I mean come on... why would it have to be a class specifically for sex-balls? hehehe if someone wanted to do this why not for sit-balls... Once someone has the basics they can apply what they learn for other uses.
What is really needed is the basic classes, be they building or UI or whatever. These classes have almost disappeared. My thoughts are they have because so many were starting classes under other venues. This is also why I only gave classes as a recognized SL Instructor. For a short time the other venue took over. Then it seems to me that when it was realized there wasnt a lot of money to be made they kinda went away. In the meantime it also made the SL Instructors feel they were no longer needed.
Well I am back and gonna start my classes once again

What we like to teach personally shouldn't limit what others wish to teach. If SL was a pg community I would agree with you, but we are adults here. If someone doesn't want an m rated class even listed in their window because it's offensive they can unmark the m rated box. I don't think adults need our protection. And we shouldn't limit what adults are willing to teach other adults.

As to class size, I'm glad your classes are always large, but it's not the case with the majority of classes I have visited in the last few months. Do you think a class is a class if 3 people show up? Should instuctors have to gamble their class will attact at least 5 attendees to receive support. Or do you think a class should be supported just for being avaliable to anyone seeking to learn the subject matter?

My opinion is, as adults we should have a wide range of choices, not limited by those who are offended by what SL really represents, a free world for adults to do anything and share any ideas they find interesting or fun. The reason I came here was because The Sims Online was a teen hang out. The restrictions were set to reflect the fact most people there were children. Here everyone is(or should be) an adult. So why is LL restricting supported classes to pg ratings? If sexballs are offensive we don't mark the m rating listing filter and we will not see such classes. I'm for more freedom in SL and RL so these are my natural beliefs... No limits of the actions of adults as long as they don't infring on another's rights...

are we teaching because we want to or for L$? And as far as the M vs PG why does sex-balls have to be taught the basic concept with them is the same as it would be with sit balls? Classes taught in the PG sims are open to all whereas if taught in M sims they would be resticted to those who want to learn sex-ball positioning. Whats next, Penis making101?

I teach because I like to teach, but does that mean we only want teachers who teach based on a desire to teach? Do we care if an instructor does it for the money? I hope the offer of money brings more instuctors(look at the events board, there are almost no classes at all) and I don't care if money is the incentive, LL doesn't care either, in fact they offer the money as an incentive. In RL we pay teachers because we value their skills. I don't think LL should be checking the motive for holding a class and neither should we be motive checking. We should be praising anyone willing to teach any subject for any reason they do it.

All classes are open to everyone. M rated classes would also be open to all, they would be on M rated land but anyone can come if they want to learn the subject. Why do we need to restrict what adults do? Why insist sitballs are used to teach a class about sexballs? What are we afraid of? Why are we restricted because a few might be offended? Is using a filter too much to ask the pg people to use? If you look at land sales prices you'll see m rated land is more valuable meaning more people want m rated land so they can be free. So clearly the majority of SL residents support the idea of m rated content. I beleive we have a vocal minority that pushes LL into a postion of fear, or LL is run by people who don't like m rated material. Either way, the majority isn't being represented. We are seeing classes disappear because the subjects being taught are not what most residents want to learn. Basic building classes are listed under mentor events daily but the classes we really need are not being listed under any topic.

Its apparent you dont know me hehehe I am afraid of nothing

What I am saying and you are missing is limiting the teaching to a class those only interested in sex-balls and as such limits the attendance. The same basic concept of sex-balls is in any other ball scripts.... I wasnt meaning the class such as you suggest is not open to all but it is limited by the simple class name.

Every class is about the material it's about. I wouldn't expect a basic building class to teach me how to fly correctly. When you are looking at the class listings and see a class on adjusting sex balls, you can either go or not, no one is making you go or not go. If you see such a class and really just want to learn about sitting balls, IM the instuctor and ask him/her to offer a pg class on sitting balls so you can attend. If somene is looking for a class on adjusting sex balls then that should be offered if someone is willing to teach it. The person looking for a sex balls class shouldn't be required to use sit balls to learn the subject just because a minority of residents don't like sexballs in SL. Let that minority ignore the m rated material as they already do, with the filter. I don't think we are limiting anything by offering more classes. You can hold classes to adjust sit balls if that's what floats your boat, and someoneelse can use sexballs, if that floats their's. The idea is more classes on more subjects not limited by the few who might be offended.

The example of sexballs was just an example, there are many more examples. The main point is FREEDOM of choice. If I want to go to a class on how to look more sexy, that shouldn't be the concern of anyone other than the one teaching and myself. It's clearly part of the nature of SL and most new people want to find help on these type of topics.

BTW, I didn't suggest you are afraid of anything, I sugested LL might be fearul of pressure from a vocal minority. And I asked what those people who don't want m rated classes are afraid of where it concerns m rated classes. If you aren't afraid m rated classes are supported, why not allow them? I used the point of land sales to point out the fact most resident support m rated material.

I would pay to attend a class on PSP. The only thing I can use it for is making plant textures and I want to learn more about it. In addition, a clothing class in PSP would be super. I attended one for Photoshop but got lost because of the differences.

Alexa

Im not going to argue semantics with you..... I have given my thoughts and you have given yours. They dont mesh but I can agree to disagree

I'm still not sure on which points we disagree, but I'm all for agreeing to disagree on point we don't agree... lol

I held my first class this weekend and only got 2 people also, which lead me to thinking....

The greeter program is going to match new residents with tutors. What if there was a similar program for Instructors? To be an instructor in a given field, you would have to pass a test to certify that you had enough knowledge to teach the basics.

We have people who volunteer for live help, maybe the next option after that is available live instructors? So, if you have a few hours open and are certified to teach building, you would list yourself as available from 2 - 4 at X,Y,Z location.

I was thinking of trying something like that.

Rather than have a class at a specific time teaching specific subjects in an orderly way, I was thinking it would be neat to have building/scripting 'forums'... Have a place set aside to gather and invite folks (set up an event) to just come and hang out and build, with knowledgable building and/or scripting people willing to answer questions and help out available.

-Ghoti

Stone, I didn't have time or regular enough schedule to teach classes so put this DIY carousel together

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It has notecards with screenshot explanations of some basic building skills, such as hollowing/cutting/linking, choosing a parent prim, using prims for light effects, changing textures, cell shading, using some basic scripts like texture animation, etc. But more notecards would be ideal -- it doesn't go into detail on advanced cutting or rotations, or using dimple to create mini-prims, etc. If anyone creates those and wants me to include them, send em over!

I was hoping people could learn from the merry go round by taking it apart, looking at the way different shapes were formed/cut, etc, reading about building techniques, etc

I've been dropping it on people's inventory upon IM requests, and it is also available right now in the Fairchang Project (southern edge I believe) for $1L (I'm charging a dollar rather than making it $0 because it is fun to see who is picking it up -- at zero there is no record of the transaction).

however, this is geared towards people that are brave enough to learn by taking something apart, or patient enough to follow an illustrated notecard. Hopefully people have found it useful.

basic building 101 classes are, sadly, poorly attended -- probably for three reasons : they happen at irregular times, the people who need them aren't all online at the same time, and those who are so new as to need the classes don't know where to look for them.

thankfully there is the ivory tower!

oooo! that's a cool idea.

I love the idea of automated classes. I set up a notecard delivery script cone so addendees can click the cone to get a card. I do this when teaching a class as well because it gives me the time I need to help those few who require extra attention. I have found that teaching more than one or two at a time without notecards is not very effective, I end up teaching to the slowest student, and the others get bored and leave.

I also ask $1L for the AV in a box they use to learn. If I could charge $0L and get a record I would.

I would love to see a board just for automated classes, so people easily locate the info they require, and might go to all of these places t gain info they didn't know they need.

Perhaps LL would support the efforts of people like you in some way differently than class support. Some kind of incentive to get as many automated classes on the board as possible. Maybe a flat pay for starting it up and a monthly reduction in your tier, something... just an idea. I don't expect the best teachers to give freely of themselves. The creators of products get paid and so should instuctors. Education is a product, knowledge is power, here that is true more than anywhere else.

This may be of interest to those posting in this thread.
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