An Educator's Tour of Secondlife

So far, we've spent our time in the wonderful paradise lovingly known as imagiLEARNING Island. But there is more to Secondlife! Really!

So, it's time to go out into the big wide virtual world and see what we can see.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON!!

Ok, I just dated myself there, and several of you are sitting there going, "Huh? What's that danger Will Robinson stuff?" Unless you saw the movie version of the Lost in Space thing...but the movie wasn't anywhere near as good as the original TV show, I mean it was corny but really cool at the same time, and I especially liked the program where the professor went in cahoots with this giant robot alien thing and they.....oops, sorry.

Anyway, I do want to WARN you about the realities of the virtual world. Just like the real world, there are all kinds of people and places out there. Keep in mind that Secondlife is a virtual expression of what all kinds of people want to express, and while you are never forced into something you don't care for, you can stumble across it quite by accident. SO DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU....oops, another slip back to grade school and the 'talk' I got after the time I threw the walnuts over the fence at Roger Lauder and.....man, there I go again.

So, let's get started. The kiosk back where you first entered imagiLEARNING has a list of sites you might want to visit for now. The notecard contains a list of 'teleports' you can click on and that will 'zap' you directly to that spot....or at least nearby it. Remember that anytime you get lost, just click on WORLD and then TELEPORT HOME and you will be right back in imagiLEARNING.

Here's how the teleport thing works. Find the location on the list you want to visit and left click on the link. A small window should appear near the top of your screen listing the location, with a button that says: TELEPORT.

Click it.

BUT WAIT!!! When you want to return to imagiLEARNING, just open your Inventory and find the LANDMARK folder. Inside you will find the landmark back to imagiLEARNING...the one you created back in Module 2 or so. You DID create that didn't you?

Ok, let's just assume you did not create it, and you are now standing in the middle of a crowd of very tiny, furry little creatures all waving little pickles at you. Here's how you escape. At the bottom of your screen, click on the MAP button. In the map window that appears, on the right side near the middle, you will see a spot to enter a SEARCH phrase for a location. Enter: imagiLEARNING and press SEARCH. The map should center on imagiLEARNING...and you just press the TELEPORT button. Leave any pickles behind please.

I suggest you grab that piece of paper you have been writing all of you great ideas down on...you have been writing them down haven't you?....and keep notes of the sites you like and the new ideas that come up.

Oh yeah, one other neat thing. When you find a place you really like and might want to come back to, click on WORLD and then on CREATE LANDMARK HERE, and it will create a personal teleport location for you and add it to your inventory. Find it later in your inventory, double click on it and the teleport opens on your screen. That inventory thing is getting cooler all the time, isn't it?

So, go explore. Have fun. Don't worry about me back here working. I'm just happy I could give you the help I never got when I started out. I had to walk five miles back and forth, each way up-hill and in the snow just to get......oh, go play.

When you are ready, move on to the next module.

Module 6: So, who do you want to be today?

or, go back to Module 4.

or, go back to the Introduction