For the love of teaching or money? *edited to comply with T.O.S.*

There is money in education. and people will pay money to gain knowledge to get the advantage in rl and sl.

The old teazers used to have lessons on how to make simple things as stated earlier. 500 a class. I have done free classes and write books in sl and i see at least 3 others now following my lead. Even tui have got a place to purchase tutorials on notecards. Then you have a breakaway teacher setting up classes and tutorials shops and crated classes and a few other places. And of course SLGuides.
I have charged for my books in sl and try to stay away from EASY and readily available subjects.
Even spending upwards of 100k on scripts and many many hours and weeks to bring tutorials to my many students. I charge because my time is money. I have an rl book on sl. and it took me many months and blood sweat and tears to wrte it. I do though have free books. Building, prims, texturing and basics and business which are freely available with no catch, i also do events and teach (no fees) i also have a program were i take people wh are serious in sl and they get FREE use of a low prim island and access to all my tutorials/scripts/my 4000 textures and thats all 100 percent FREE.
I think tui in the present climate of education in sl being available to all now instead of the old 2005.06 of teazers has the brand and nearlty everyone went to teazers days have finished.

So good on tui. And everyone else who has the CHOICE to charge or not too....

Hmmm (To everybody, not just to Dnali):

Reading this thread made me feel like I was at one of those political forums where people spend time mudslinging each other. Somehow, that seems to go against the communal spirit that is supposed to be enshrined in the Philosophy of SL.

Anyway, I seem to note that this forum has been hijacked by the TUi Neo teachers/ student teachers. So, to balance off, I shall provide the student's opinion:-

Firstly, on the RL/SL thing. I hope I don't offend any other residents in this thread, but yes - the question of whether SL is a game or not is still up for debate. I see it as more of a virtual platform, but I don't believe that that concept will catch on for another 20 years or so. As much as there are businesses in SL, there are much and many more in RL, measured in terms of physical presence. The Big Brands that have SL sites have them 'in addition* to their RL HQs, not exclusively as their RL HQs. And of course, these treat SL as an extension of internet marketing i.e. they are not interested in the community-aspect of SL at all.

SL has an economy with Lindens, that is correct. And it just so happens that one can exchange USDs for Lindens. But sincerely, I am a player on a Basic (Free) Account. If I had to keep drawing out cash from my pocket to pay for things in SL, then I am either addicted to SL or wasting my life away with nothing better to do. I agree with the point that your SL job shouldn't be your only job.

Plus, face it, how many teachers in RL are always protesting about not having enough pay? But at least the teachers' pay are constrained by monetary policy. LL does not have a similar policy, so if such a cap were lifted, it would be possible for some advanced course junkie to charge 500k Lindens for a course. Sure, people might come for a really good course, but seriously you are bleeding a poor AV like me dry.

Oh yes, and the obsession over US Dollars. LL seems to enjoy stating to the media that SL is for a GLOBAL AUDIENCE. Your American $0.04 cents ($10L) would be costly for someone from India or Egypt to afford. Even for me, living in a pretty well-off country (currency is SGD), your 4 cents is my 10 cents, your $500L is $4.00 for me, which is roughly my weekly trainfare. And anyway, it seems that the only currency on the LINDEX is still the USD; Why aren't there other currencies too? I have been to TUi Neo lessons before, and met people from Japan, Greece, Romania, Russia and China before, proving first-hand that the population of SL is fully global. Now hmm, what is the exchange rate of these countries' currencies to the USD?

But anyway exchange rates aside, SL is not the only virtual environment that has an economy. Nowadays, games like the Sims and WOW and Granado Espada and MapleStory also have their own in-game economies. You can buy in-game credits with your pocket money. But the difference is that beign games, these environments offer basic equipment for free within the environment or within acceptable boundaries. A beginner with few credits (because he can only defeat low-level monsters, which don't give much money) will be assured to have some decent items for his level. Contrast this to SL where the noob comes in and the first thing I see is a pair of slippers that cost $500L, the kind of slippers I can get for $15 in my local market. Noting that I start off with $0L, and don't even get a monthly stipend (at least I get an allowance in RL!!), $500L for a pair of normal slippers is way overboard.

The only way I could make money was through camping, where most places pay you about $1L/ 20 min, not ideal if you don't have so much time to spend in SL and no money to buy camp-bots. I Found a good $1L/ 10 min spot, but I have to fight with others to get the camping spot, otherwise I was left floating around answering trivia.

And then coming in, I learn that unless I get a job as an escort, I really can't earn enough money to even get myself a decent tux. But hey, I am a decent guy; I really don't go for *that* kind of stuff. So where am I left? Well, I figure that I like building and scripting, so I search for lessons on these. At first, I go for the very basics, since I don't know anything. But after a while, I have reached the stage where I have covered all of these and want to know more, but can't because of the price tag involved. Sure, $25L is less than $1 USD for you Americans, but I ain't one ok! And the money-changer isn't that close by to my house either. Internet Banking? Lindex apparently don't allow that. Context-wise, SL economy suffers from a super-bad inflation problem. NeoPets had the same problem with their NeoPoints (NP) some five-years back, and they instituted pricing controls but LL chooses a free market with an external exchange rate, so well...

And so, I do the one sensible thing left for me: leave SL and vow never to come back.

Rgds,
The Sad Wit

P.S.: I have nothing personal against TUi Neo. I did go for a few lessons there, and was impressed by the dedication of the teachers. I tipped when I could, but my basic point is: Teachers, please bear in mind the (SL) economic situation of your students before you decide to charge decidedly insane prices. In the end, the one losing out from high prices will be the Basic Account Noob who has VERY Limited means of earning $$$$.

You want to earn $$$L? Well, we want to elarn how to earn $$$$L too, that's why we attend your classes. And oh ya, it is possible for noobs to get gifts from friends who have been on for a much longer while. So just because they have 'cool' looks doesn't mean that they have a tonne of Lindens (or RL money) to spare.

P.P.S: But however, I do find Sleven's description of the behaviour toward him on TUi Forums rather unacceptable. I really think TUi Forums people should be less political.

I do really think that teachers who teach in a school setting need to be paid a decent wage.

That being said, when I get the urge to teach, I do it on my own and for free...I am not a good fit for a school because my available time is too erratic and I prefer to teach longer classes that don't really end but become an informal workshop where I give individual attention. I teach because I enjoy it. I also like the ability to eject students who never learned good manners at their mama's (and Papa's) knee.

But I know how much work it is to set up a school and I absolutely think that there has to be an adequate compensation or we will lose these people. I also think that Jopsy and the prim place must be subsidized completely by LL with a wage going to the organizers.

It is shocking and saddening to me that LL built Bay City which was not needed and continues to ignore the people like Jopsy who are shining lights in what could turn out to be a wasteland if the schools, teachers and generous folks get disenchanted and leave.