Anyone using Second Life?

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I have been reading a bit online about using Second Life and a coworker is starting to use it, so I thought I'd explore it a little this semester and see if I could incorporate it in the future. I teach mostly community health, so "simulations" in the lab sense are not necessarily appropriate. I thought this might be a fun/different way to simulate different experiences.

However, I signed up and started the orientation, and although I consider myself to be pretty proficient with computers and exploring new programs, I am completely lost on this one.

Anyone have any tips? I'm hoping that my school will offer a workshop, apparently they had one a few weeks ago but none that are planned for the future.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Critical Care/Teaching.

what again is second life?

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Second Life is a "virtual world" somewhat like the game The Sims, I think, although I've never used the Sims. The Sims is a game with goals, however, and Second Life's purpose is not to be a game, but a virtual world and/or meeting place. From what I have read, many people around the country are starting to experiment in using it for simulated educational experiences, and although I'm a total beginner at it, some thoughts I had for use were things like simulating a home visit for students to practice certain skills, or for patient education, etc. You can also hold "virtual meetings" with coworkers or students.

Basically, you can sign up for an "avatar" (your 3D character) and you get a name for your avatar for free (http://www.secondlife.com). You can interact with other people on there as well and I think it has some very interesting capabilities, although it is by no means easy to use (in my opinion, anyway, and I feel I'm pretty good w/ the computer).

Some universities lease "virtual islands" in which you can build/create these scenarios. I am going to get some training from our faculty training dept next week... I don't know a whole lot else but this website has an interesting document:

http://facstaff.elon.edu/mconklin/pubs/glshandout.pdf

and also

http://www.simteach.com

It will be interesting to see if it lasts, I suppose.

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I use SL :) I'm always looking for Nursing Simulations that DONT require you to be a student at the universities. But more and more lately people dont like sharing their simulators to non-students

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Specializes in med surg.

Explain to me how I use this,

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Have you gone to http://www.secondlife.com yet? Once you do there is an option that says "join our community" Just sign up for an account, its free, and download the application. Then you'll be able to sign in :) Let me know how it goes!

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