Second Life part II: Exploration

Despite my initial impressions of Second Life (SL), I decided to continue exploring it to see what it had to offer. But this time, I explored from a different perspective: that of a teenager who just wants to see what something is about, rather than as someone who is expecting more guidance in what to do or what can be done. So I logged in, and started moving my mouse over everything, and clicking on everything that indicated a potential interaction. Via this new perspective, here is what I learned:

1. That many items provide the resident with a note card providing information or guidance for how to do various things within SL
2. How to add/request someone be a friend
3. How to teleport directly to someone on your friends list
4. How to create a prim (primitive object, usually something of a geometric shape such as a box, cylinder, ball, etc.; that can be made in various sizes, shapes, colors, textures, etc.
5. How to personalize my Avatar
6. How to create landmarks making it easy to return to locations I had visited.


After offers of friendship had been sent, received and accepted, I had the opportunity to interact with one of my friends. And it was via this type of interaction that I figured out how to teleport on cue (at least to a friend or location I had previously landmarked), as well as to send someone an invitation to teleport to my location.

As a result of this further exploration, I am more comfortable in SL, and more confident that it may have some viable educational uses…