Teaching SL

This is interesting
The head of our part-time studies dept just asked me to teach a one-day RL workshop on how to use SL.
Meaning, teaching this in a computer lab, not in-world. This would include hardware requirements, creating an AV, getting around, avoiding idiots, places to check out, maybe the rudimentaries of building.

This would probably include having the class actually create an AV and basically go through an orientation.

The question is, what is the safest, quietest place to gather a group without being hounded by griefers and other assorted idiots? I don't know if taking them right out of an orientation place to some quiet place is the best way to go about it, as they might end up missing some important information.

Any suggestions? Does LL have any sort of spot where private groups can gather or would we have to invest in real estate to create out own orientation island?
These would not be big groups.

B.

Go to the Hangout, you can rez a sky platform if you want.

Brann....I have a sim with 4000 prims still available on it that I can rez a platform above, along with free packages of skins, hair, AOs, and clothing. You could take them there and do one stop shopping.

If you're creating one AV you should be fine but if you're thinking about everyone in the class having an AV then plan ahead because a security flag gets raised and the system won't let you do it.

Think LL would give her special dispensation if she called them and explained she was bringing potentially three new members to SL?

If you're not premium Brann, upgrade before you do this and have everyone sign up using your link...cha ching!

Edit: Er...THIRTY new members....

To teach building rudimentaries (very few!), you might use the Mystitool sky platform, and let them ride the cool little elevator vehicle up to it in groups. Set it up with a grid floor and at least the built-in fence, if not full walls!

The hangout is a good idea. However, sim performance there can be a little erratic. If this is going to be an ongoing class, NMC has classroom space created to host such things: http://sl.nmc.org/wiki/Getting_Started

If it's a one-off, many of us dwell on islands on class 5 servers who have many days where we don't use our land! I could prolly free up only 100 or so prims, tho, on my 4K ... however, our archipelago has many free parcels and I could prolly wangle you a loan of one for a day. Let me know if you'd like me to try. Most of the land like the Pacific Northwest - forested, hilly, water features.
.

The Castle in Dore is a great place for this sort of stuff. Surprisingly quiet: I pass it often an hardly ever have seen any avvies there. It has the old style orientation stations (lift eh beach ball, talk to the parrot, etc.).

Alternately, I could temporarily set up all the old orientation stations somewhere on the north end of Livingtree, if you'd like. You'll likely find no drama there.

Do a search for Caldeon Oxbridge - it's Desmond's version of OI and it's beautifully done... and it was very quiet when I was there last.

uh ohhh, keep them out of the sex shops if you ever want them to go back to real work.

Make sure you get any referral fees credited to you.

Brann, some suggestions:

1. You may be able to make some kind of deal direct with LL to bring in your group all in one place. Most Help Islands are relatively lightly populated. If LL could manage to bring everyone in on the SAME Help Island, your problem is solved. I did encounter one academic "tour guide" doing something like this, but I forgot to ask him how he'd arranged the details.

2. If you can't do that, then do the class in two parts. Part one will be registration and avatar creation. Have the SL viewer installed on all your workstations, and be sure that the individual stations AND the local IT network can handle SL and the bandwidth requirements. Walk your students through the registration process and get them each onto a Help Island. Walk them to the exit portal and TP to a Welcome Area, then have them TP to your actual class location. Break for lunch.

3. After lunch, have them log in at Last Location. Conduct your seminar. I would suggest covering Moving, Flying, and Sitting; Appearance; Attaching and detaching prim objects; navigating the Inventory; Opening A Box; Communicating in Chat and IM; and Using Search and the Map. As a "graduation exercise", take them all to The Free Dove to pick up some freebies, and then to the Cartel Hangout for chat and some dancing lessons. At "graduation", give them a list of other good landmarks to check out on their own.

4. You will be busy enough in the RL classroom running around and answering questions. You could also recruit some in world helpers to provide assistance. If the timing is right, I'd be happy to help.

[EDIT: How large is your group? I'd suggest keeping it smallish...certainly no more than 20, and 12 or so would be much better.]

Many universities own islands that are not used much. Find a nice one, ask the university that owns it if you can use the location and explain why. I suspect they would be happy to help.

Does SL still offer a free parcel for educational use? I haven't heard of anyone taking that option lately, so it may not be something LL still does, but they used to give you a location for a semester.

Yup there's a way around it if you let them know in advance.

sighs......

WE are TEACHING people how to use SL?

Wow, great suggestions, everyone, and thanks for the wonderful offers.
My greatest fear, of course, is to get a class together and then have SL decide to get balky.

Perhaps it would be wise to have a half day workshop on the nuts and bolts, including initial character creation and a Flickr slide show.
Then have them all go away for a week to try SL out on their own and then reconvene (in class or inworld) to answer questions, do a tour, talk about building, and tips on buying/renting a home (and I'd have to have a guest speaker for that last bit, for sure).

It would take up a large chunk of any class to walk a bunch of noobs through an orientation island, so having inworld helpers would be ideal in that scenario.

Our target audience for this workshop would be people who have heard about SL but aren't that computer savvy, or people who tried it and were frustrated.

Yes, PeterPan, noobs, who are paying to have someone get them over the inital learning curve

Info International Help Desk..

Find a librarian..someone will be able to help you put this together..they do it all the time!

good luck.

You could also try one of the new orientation islands from the various communities, like Dreamland, STA Travel, The L Word, etc. Talk to someone about using those.

As a former computer instructor RL, I'm excited to hear about this. (Wish I could have taught something fascinating like this in my teaching days...imagine teaching adults about DOS when the personal computer was fairly new. "I *know* it isn't "doing" anything right now, but trust me, you need to know DOS before you *can* write documents, make spreadsheets, etc. Really."

Anyway...if you are still looking for a place to either hold class or be one of the exploration spots, my sim is generally empty, low lag and you are more than welcome to use my property either on the ground (which currently has the dock where my shop will be...right now there's 7Seas fishing *grins* - or overhead in a Mysti box. Drop me an IM if you'd like to see it or get more info.

Have fun and good luck

Not really. I would suggest that you try NCI & Caledon's Orientation Island, Caledon Oxbridge. NCI (me) developed the orientation content, Caledon (Desmond) build the island and its buildings, and the entire community of Caledon (and beyond) contributed freebies and Avatars.

I'm in world most evenings. IM me for a tour, if you like.

You can get them to put a questionnaire together so they can post it in RA and bloody annoy everyone.

I envy you

I would love to teach folks in RL how to use SL

wonder if that would pan out as a viable business in the Real World

will have to do some research after I get out of the hospital

LOL

No suggestions here but I just had to say what an amazing assignment! Sounds like a lot of fun to me and I only wish I could attend your class.

There are a few educatioinal areas within SL, I'm sure they would have no problem allowing you use their facilities..

Also, you can't shield them from the griefers and actually part of your teaching shoul dnot only be how to spot one, but also how you can react to one....

Thanks again, to everyone, for your help and kind comments. It's amazing how this community can come together even if we clash once in a while

I spent quite some time last night following up on what is mentioned above. Thanks for the tour, Carl! (If anyone comes across a noob, send them directly to the Caledon orientation. It's very well designed and interactive as well.) I also spent a while tossing about ideas with the project manager of the dePaul University sim, which was very helpful.
This "workshop" has to be more than just showing people how to open boxes and I'm starting to sort out some learning outcomes.

Then I tried to create a teacher-alt and, after FINALLY getting a name I liked, got a "registration unavailable" screen. Lovely.

Once I've got my (non-survey!) research done and made my reports, I'll be turning this over to an alt for development, since I don't want students or my fellow RL staff interacting with this av. I'll let those of you who have offered help (and those I'll be bugging for it ) know who that is.

B.