I am taking a temporary hiatus from this blog. I will be adding videos and rewriting some of the tutorials in this blog. Please check back in June!
Thank you for reading!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
3/14/12 Changing Your Appearance - Edit Clothing
Control over How You Look and What You Wear
You can change the way you look by editing and creating clothes. This is an easy function to use, but it can take up a lot of your time.
2) Click on Appearance. The Appearance Box comes up.
There are 2 sections to the Appearance Box - Clothing and Body Parts.
Clothing:
You can change the way you look by editing and creating clothes. This is an easy function to use, but it can take up a lot of your time.
To customize your appearance:
1) Right-click or opt-command click (mac) on your avatar. A menu will come up.2) Click on Appearance. The Appearance Box comes up.
There are 2 sections to the Appearance Box - Clothing and Body Parts.
Clothing:
--> The most important thing to remember is to SAVE AS when you are done.
NAME your new look.
(Just like when you are saving a word file...)
When you click on one of the clothing buttons, that article of clothing will appear with slide menus. You can edit the shape, color and texture of the clothing.- Choose which piece of clothing you want to edit.
- Change the shape of the clothing with the slide menus
- Change the color. Click on the color box and a color picker will come up - you have thousands of colors to choose from.
- Change the texture. Click on the Fabric box and your texture inventory will come up. You can use ANY texture - it doesn't matter what the texture was originally created for.
- Save the new item - be sure to name it.
- Open your Inventory to double check that it is there.
Just Try It! Experiment with the sliding options, the color options and the texture options in the Appearance Box.
Monday, March 12, 2012
3/11/12 Connected Learning
Connected Learning - a new model
Designed to 'mine the new social, digital domain'
http://hastac.org/blogs/slgrant/2012/03/01/researchers-introduce-new-model-learning
http://connectedlearning.tv/
http://clrn.dmlhub.net/
I was happy to see the introduction of Connected Learning at the DML (Digital Media and Learning) conference this year. The elements of this idea have been around and talked about quite a bit, but this is a framework that professionals can use and build on. Importantly, it is not meant to be the 'be all, end all'. As we work with students to learn, we share our understandings and this model will evolve and emerge. The MacArthur Foundation www.macfound.org is the leading institution exploring these ideas.
Here are the set of principles of Connected Learning (italics) and a brief interpretation.
3 Contexts:
Interest-powered. Research has repeatedly shown that when a subject is personally interesting and relevant, learners achieve much higher-order learning outcomes.
If the learning is interesting to the student, they will be engaged, they will want to experience the learning and therefore learn more more broadly and deeply. The more they learn, the more they will want to learn, the more they will want to share their learning, the more complicated their understandings become.
Peer-supported. In their everyday exchanges with peers and friends, young people are fluidly contributing, sharing and giving feedback in web-powered experiences that are highly engaging.
When people can make a contribution to a shared environment, such as a virtual world, they have a vested interest in that environment. They will be more motivated, more engaged, more interested in sharing their experiences. They will both learn and support their peers in learning.
Academically-oriented. When academic studies and institutions draw from and connect to young people's interest driven pursuits, learners flourish and realize their true potential.
Academic studies which connect to young people and their interests can enhance and optimize the teens learning experiences. For this to happen the academic studies must be able to access the young people and their interests.
3 Design Principles:
Production-centered. Connected Learning prioritizes the learning that comes from actively producing, creating, experimenting and designing, because it promotes skills and dispositions for lifelong learning, and for making meaningful contributions to today's rapidly changing work and social conditions.
This learning model focuses on learning in highly networked connected environments. There is user agency in exploration, experimenting with ideas, designing and creating, and publicly shared products. These activites evolve and emerge from users perspectives and interests.
Open networks. Today's platforms and digital tools can make learning resources abundant, accessable and visible across all learner settings.
New media is proliferating, allowing as never before, for production centered activities.
Shared purpose. Today's social media and web-based communities provide unprecedented opportunities for cross-generational and cross-cultural learning and connection to unfold and thrive among common goals and interests.
Learning occurs around common interests. The nature of the communities formed around these common interests is changing - the communities can be much more diverse than ever before. And, that diversity leads to more learning.
Briefly:
More research needs to be done to explore these points. Lets try this with teens and see where they lead us. Practice informs research as research informs practice.
These ideas are not discreet. They are connected.
Designed to 'mine the new social, digital domain'
http://hastac.org/blogs/slgrant/2012/03/01/researchers-introduce-new-model-learning
http://connectedlearning.tv/
http://clrn.dmlhub.net/
I was happy to see the introduction of Connected Learning at the DML (Digital Media and Learning) conference this year. The elements of this idea have been around and talked about quite a bit, but this is a framework that professionals can use and build on. Importantly, it is not meant to be the 'be all, end all'. As we work with students to learn, we share our understandings and this model will evolve and emerge. The MacArthur Foundation www.macfound.org is the leading institution exploring these ideas.
Here are the set of principles of Connected Learning (italics) and a brief interpretation.
3 Contexts:
Interest-powered. Research has repeatedly shown that when a subject is personally interesting and relevant, learners achieve much higher-order learning outcomes.
If the learning is interesting to the student, they will be engaged, they will want to experience the learning and therefore learn more more broadly and deeply. The more they learn, the more they will want to learn, the more they will want to share their learning, the more complicated their understandings become.
Peer-supported. In their everyday exchanges with peers and friends, young people are fluidly contributing, sharing and giving feedback in web-powered experiences that are highly engaging.
When people can make a contribution to a shared environment, such as a virtual world, they have a vested interest in that environment. They will be more motivated, more engaged, more interested in sharing their experiences. They will both learn and support their peers in learning.
Academically-oriented. When academic studies and institutions draw from and connect to young people's interest driven pursuits, learners flourish and realize their true potential.
Academic studies which connect to young people and their interests can enhance and optimize the teens learning experiences. For this to happen the academic studies must be able to access the young people and their interests.
3 Design Principles:
Production-centered. Connected Learning prioritizes the learning that comes from actively producing, creating, experimenting and designing, because it promotes skills and dispositions for lifelong learning, and for making meaningful contributions to today's rapidly changing work and social conditions.
This learning model focuses on learning in highly networked connected environments. There is user agency in exploration, experimenting with ideas, designing and creating, and publicly shared products. These activites evolve and emerge from users perspectives and interests.
Open networks. Today's platforms and digital tools can make learning resources abundant, accessable and visible across all learner settings.
New media is proliferating, allowing as never before, for production centered activities.
Shared purpose. Today's social media and web-based communities provide unprecedented opportunities for cross-generational and cross-cultural learning and connection to unfold and thrive among common goals and interests.
Learning occurs around common interests. The nature of the communities formed around these common interests is changing - the communities can be much more diverse than ever before. And, that diversity leads to more learning.
Briefly:
More research needs to be done to explore these points. Lets try this with teens and see where they lead us. Practice informs research as research informs practice.
These ideas are not discreet. They are connected.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
3/7/12 Easter Eggs
Stuff for your Inventory
All through the island are easter eggs - objects that hold items that you can put in your inventory. When you mouse over an egg, a $ will appear - you can 'buy' the items in the egg. Everything on Peninsula is free because it is a Creative Commons environment. The users of Peninsula share the objects they create for free with other users of Peninsula.
For instance, many of the eggs hold clothing. Most of this clothing was created by Linda Kellie Designs, another user in Kitely. (ty LKD!) LKD has provided these free of charge to users in Kitely because the clothes are licensed under Creative Commons.
Here's how you get that clothing into your inventory and then wear it. When you find an egg:
1. Mouse over it to see if $ shows up. If it does...
2. Click on the egg. A box with the list of contents with the option to buy.
3. Click on Buy on the menu.
4. The items will appear in your Inventory.
Once you have those items, all you have to do is drag and drop them from your inventory onto your avatar. Voila! A new sweater. The word (worn) will appear next to the item you are now wearing in the inventory. It may take a minute or two for the clothing to 'rez' (appear).
I will add eggs on a regular basis. Some may obvious and some may be hidden :-).
All through the island are easter eggs - objects that hold items that you can put in your inventory. When you mouse over an egg, a $ will appear - you can 'buy' the items in the egg. Everything on Peninsula is free because it is a Creative Commons environment. The users of Peninsula share the objects they create for free with other users of Peninsula.
For instance, many of the eggs hold clothing. Most of this clothing was created by Linda Kellie Designs, another user in Kitely. (ty LKD!) LKD has provided these free of charge to users in Kitely because the clothes are licensed under Creative Commons.
Here's how you get that clothing into your inventory and then wear it. When you find an egg:
1. Mouse over it to see if $ shows up. If it does...
2. Click on the egg. A box with the list of contents with the option to buy.
3. Click on Buy on the menu.
4. The items will appear in your Inventory.
Once you have those items, all you have to do is drag and drop them from your inventory onto your avatar. Voila! A new sweater. The word (worn) will appear next to the item you are now wearing in the inventory. It may take a minute or two for the clothing to 'rez' (appear).
Monday, February 20, 2012
2/20/12 Simple Scripts with Scratch 4SL. Example.
Simple Scripting with Scratch
Here is a concrete example of creating a script with Scratch. We will put a script into an object to make it rattle and roll when touched. The object is a crate which has fallen off of a pirate ship.
Think about your screen as divided into 4 parts:
In this video you can see the crate outlined in yellow - this is the object we are scripting for.
Scratch Commands --> Scratch Script First move commands into the script window.
From the control menu: When I am touched
From the sound menu (the rattle): Play Sound (type in the name of the sound. I put in rattle441)
From the Motion menu (the roll): Roll 15 (this is the motion. Change 15 to 90 = 90 degrees)
From the control menu: Repeat (type in how many times you want it to repeat. I put in 6 times)
Scratch Script --> Linden Script --> Inventory
Save the Scratch script as a Linden script (Copy Linden Script button).
Then, Create a New Script in your inventory.
These scripts can involve sound, motion and any number of other actions.
Here is a concrete example of creating a script with Scratch. We will put a script into an object to make it rattle and roll when touched. The object is a crate which has fallen off of a pirate ship.
Think about your screen as divided into 4 parts:
- the Commands (in Scratch),
- the Script a place where commands are assembled (in Scratch),
- your Inventory where you save the script on your grid, and
- the contents of the OBJECT you are scripting for.
In this video you can see the crate outlined in yellow - this is the object we are scripting for.
From the control menu: When I am touched
From the sound menu (the rattle): Play Sound (type in the name of the sound. I put in rattle441)
From the Motion menu (the roll): Roll 15 (this is the motion. Change 15 to 90 = 90 degrees)
From the control menu: Repeat (type in how many times you want it to repeat. I put in 6 times)
Scratch Script --> Linden Script --> Inventory
Save the Scratch script as a Linden script (Copy Linden Script button).
Then, Create a New Script in your inventory.
Named the New Script. We named it rattle and roll. Double click on it to open it.
Paste. The Linden Script will automatically paste in.
Inventory --> Object Contents.
If the Object isn't opened yet,
Right click (opt-command) on the object you want to rattle and roll.
Select Edit.
The editing box will come up.
Click on the contents tab.
Drag the script rattle and roll from the inventory into the contents.
Drag the sound rattle 441 from the inventory into the contents.
Close the inventory. Close the editing box.
Test!
(video coming)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
2/15/12 Simple interaction using Scratch
Making Scripting Simple
It is important to make all of the features of the virtual world as accessible to users and to creators as possible. Scripts provide this accessibility. Teens can learn OSS (OpenSim Scripting) but the learning curve is fairly steep. Most will want a simple way to generate scripts for movement, for sound and for special effects.
You have a few options in how to create a script.
Scratch is an animation scripting program and is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Eric Rosenbaum is in this Group. He has taken Scratch and developed an interface to convert Scratch scripts to LSL (Linden Scripting Language) and OSS.
--> The link to download Scratch for Second Life (S4SL) is:
http://web.mit.edu/~eric_r/Public/S4SL/
It looks like this when you open it:
It is important to make all of the features of the virtual world as accessible to users and to creators as possible. Scripts provide this accessibility. Teens can learn OSS (OpenSim Scripting) but the learning curve is fairly steep. Most will want a simple way to generate scripts for movement, for sound and for special effects.
You have a few options in how to create a script.
- You can create your own script.
- You can copy existing scripts and edit them for your purposes. An example of how to do that with sound scripts is in an earlier post.
- You can create YOUR OWN UNIQUE interaction using a script generator - Scratch for Second Life.
Scratch is an animation scripting program and is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Eric Rosenbaum is in this Group. He has taken Scratch and developed an interface to convert Scratch scripts to LSL (Linden Scripting Language) and OSS.
--> The link to download Scratch for Second Life (S4SL) is:
http://web.mit.edu/~eric_r/Public/S4SL/
It looks like this when you open it:
The left column is Commands. Clicking on the categories on the upper left will bring up different commands that you can string together to create movement, sound and interaction. You drag the Commands into the Script area to create the script. Go to the next blog post to see an example of Creating and Using a Scratch Script.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
2/13/12 The importance of detail and interaction
Create Interaction and Detail
One of my hypotheses is that including attention to detail and interaction will be more motivating and engaging for users in the environment. So, I have a shipwrecked pirate ship that is fun. You can crawl all over it and find boxes and items that you may be able to use in your own builds.
I have built 3 levels of detail and interaction. This is the beginning of thinking of a taxonomy of interaction:
One of my hypotheses is that including attention to detail and interaction will be more motivating and engaging for users in the environment. So, I have a shipwrecked pirate ship that is fun. You can crawl all over it and find boxes and items that you may be able to use in your own builds.
I have built 3 levels of detail and interaction. This is the beginning of thinking of a taxonomy of interaction:
- First level (visual) - There are a number of crates (thank you AJ Kelton) scattered on the sea floor, the beach and in the pirate ship.
- Second level (audio) - when you touch these crates, a noise is made - a bomb, a creak, a zing, a rattle and so on.
- Third level (animated) - when the crates make a noise, they move. They all move differently and there is a relationship between the noise and the movement. For instance, one crate has a whistle and then a bomb sound when touched. As the whistle starts , the crate moves 2 meters up, rotates and falls back down hitting the ground as the bomb goes off.
(video coming)
You get visual by BUILDING inworld. There will be several posts in the future explaining how to build inworld. You get audio and animation by WRITING SCRIPTS that tell the objects what to do. The next blog posts explain how to write a script using Scratch for Second Life.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
2/9/12 Clean Inventory
Keep Your Inventory Organized
As I spend time on Peninsula and create objects, textures and scripts, my inventory becomes increasingly long without any structure. What I have found are:
I need to organize these so I know what I have.
Organizing inventory is the same as organizing the files on your computer. You create folders and folders within folders, and file your objects, scripts, texture, gestures, etc. in the way that makes most sense to you. I created folders in 'objects' for botanicals, buildings, food, furniture and doodads, land, outdoor items and vehicles, and filed all my objects in those folders. By doing this I discovered a number of items that I had forgotten or didn't know I had in my inventory.
The diagram below shows where to open inventory and how to add a folder.
If you want to delete an item, highlight the item and then click on the trash can on the lower right hand side. It will ask you if you want to delete it, click yes and it will be removed from your inventory. This is not undoable.
As I spend time on Peninsula and create objects, textures and scripts, my inventory becomes increasingly long without any structure. What I have found are:
- At least 25 - 30 'Primitives' - objects that I created but didn't name.
- Several versions of objects with the same name, some of them duplicates, some of them different versions.
- Many objects that I bought from Linda Kellie but haven't used yet.
- Other objects that I copied from Joe Essed or AJ Kelton and haven't used yet.
I need to organize these so I know what I have.
Organizing inventory is the same as organizing the files on your computer. You create folders and folders within folders, and file your objects, scripts, texture, gestures, etc. in the way that makes most sense to you. I created folders in 'objects' for botanicals, buildings, food, furniture and doodads, land, outdoor items and vehicles, and filed all my objects in those folders. By doing this I discovered a number of items that I had forgotten or didn't know I had in my inventory.
The diagram below shows where to open inventory and how to add a folder.
If you want to delete an item, highlight the item and then click on the trash can on the lower right hand side. It will ask you if you want to delete it, click yes and it will be removed from your inventory. This is not undoable.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
2/7/12 Hypergridding
Hypergridding
- the ability to move from grids and regions to other grids and regions in OpenSim through teleporting.
Think of the Hypergrid as a planet with hundreds of grids (like countries) and thousands of regions. Regions are individual areas on a grid. My region is Peninsula. My grid is Kitely.
If I want to go from one grid to another I have to Hypergrid - teleport using Hypergrid coordinates. The technical part is complicated. The key to Hypergridding is knowing regions hypergrid coordinates.
4096 is the magic number.
You can only move 4096 regions in one Hypergrid jump. If you want to to go further you have to make more than one jump. You need to know the hypergrid coordinates to know if you need to make more than one jump. Think about it like a tank full of gas - for trips over 250 miles or so, you have to stop and get more gas.
Todays trip was: (thank you Pathfinder for this information)
1) We started in Jokaydia (grid) Scooter (region)
Hypergrid Address: 71.6.165.144:8002:Scooter
Region: Scooter
Hypergrid Coordinates: (1000,1000)
Jokaydia:Scooter
2) Then we teleported to the 'gas station' at OpenSim:
Hypergrid Address: hg.osgrid.org:80:jump4000
Region: jump4000
Hypergrid Coordinates: (4090,4090)
OSGrid:jump4000
3) Then we teleported to Butterflysmack (grid) Butterfly (region):
Hypergrid Address: butterflysmack.com:9000:Butterfly
Region: Butterfly
Hypergrid Coordinates: (5659,4203)
Butterflysmack:Butterfly
Notice that the distance from Jokaydia (1000, 1000) to Butterfly (5659, 4203) is MORE than 4096. That is why we had to stop in OSGrid. Here in Butterfly, avatars surfing the hypergrid place their flags to let others know they have been here.
My grid in Kitely is NOT on the Hypergrid yet. That is a feature Kitely is considering adding, but as of now has not.
Hypergridding is a more advanced feature:
Here are Pathfinder Lesters instructions on how to Hypergrid. Unless your home grid is on the Hypergrid, it may be time consuming to figure it all out.
How to make a Manual Hypergrid Jump in 4 easy steps
1) Open your World Map in your viewer.
2) In the text box next to the Search button, enter the Hypergrid Address.
3) Click the Search button and wait for the map to move to the destination region.
4) Click the Teleport button.
For a list of Hypergrid Landmarks, see http://becunningandfulloftricks.com/hypergrid-landmarks/
- the ability to move from grids and regions to other grids and regions in OpenSim through teleporting.
Think of the Hypergrid as a planet with hundreds of grids (like countries) and thousands of regions. Regions are individual areas on a grid. My region is Peninsula. My grid is Kitely.
If I want to go from one grid to another I have to Hypergrid - teleport using Hypergrid coordinates. The technical part is complicated. The key to Hypergridding is knowing regions hypergrid coordinates.
4096 is the magic number.
You can only move 4096 regions in one Hypergrid jump. If you want to to go further you have to make more than one jump. You need to know the hypergrid coordinates to know if you need to make more than one jump. Think about it like a tank full of gas - for trips over 250 miles or so, you have to stop and get more gas.
Todays trip was: (thank you Pathfinder for this information)
1) We started in Jokaydia (grid) Scooter (region)
Hypergrid Address: 71.6.165.144:8002:Scooter
Region: Scooter
Hypergrid Coordinates: (1000,1000)
Jokaydia:Scooter
2) Then we teleported to the 'gas station' at OpenSim:
Hypergrid Address: hg.osgrid.org:80:jump4000
Region: jump4000
Hypergrid Coordinates: (4090,4090)
OSGrid:jump4000
3) Then we teleported to Butterflysmack (grid) Butterfly (region):
Hypergrid Address: butterflysmack.com:9000:Butterfly
Region: Butterfly
Hypergrid Coordinates: (5659,4203)
Butterflysmack:Butterfly
Notice that the distance from Jokaydia (1000, 1000) to Butterfly (5659, 4203) is MORE than 4096. That is why we had to stop in OSGrid. Here in Butterfly, avatars surfing the hypergrid place their flags to let others know they have been here.
My grid in Kitely is NOT on the Hypergrid yet. That is a feature Kitely is considering adding, but as of now has not.
Hypergridding is a more advanced feature:
Here are Pathfinder Lesters instructions on how to Hypergrid. Unless your home grid is on the Hypergrid, it may be time consuming to figure it all out.
How to make a Manual Hypergrid Jump in 4 easy steps
1) Open your World Map in your viewer.
2) In the text box next to the Search button, enter the Hypergrid Address.
3) Click the Search button and wait for the map to move to the destination region.
4) Click the Teleport button.
For a list of Hypergrid Landmarks, see http://becunningandfulloftricks.com/hypergrid-landmarks/
Monday, February 6, 2012
2/6/12 Quick Sounds
Quick Sounds
I want sounds when avatars interact with my objects.
Here is a script that works for me to create a sound when an object is touched.
Quick Sound Script:
the words that will come out in the chat - "Watch out!"
the name of the sound in the inventory - "bomb441"
You need to make sure the sound is part of the objects inventory. To do this, just drag the sound from your inventory to the contents tab on the object. Follow it with the script. Like this:
A little more technical.
Unless you create your own sounds, you have to download sounds from the web, then upload them into your viewer.
Three things to keep in mind:
1) The sound has to be at 44.1kHz.
You can resave the sound at 44100 Hz using Audacity if it is at a different frequency.
Download Audacity from (it is free):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
2) The sound has to be less than 10 seconds.
3) A couple of free sources for sounds:
http://www.findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll
http://www.wav-sounds.com/
Let me know if you have other free sources of sounds.
So, in this order:
Decide what sound you want.
Locate it on the internet.
Make sure it is 10s or less.
Download it to your desktop. (right-click for pc, opt-command for mac)
Use Audacity to save it at 44.1KHz if it isn't already.
Upload it into your Inventory.
Drag it from your inventory into the contents of the object that is to make the sound.
Drag the premade script or create a script (see above) into the contents of the object.
Save. Test.
I want sounds when avatars interact with my objects.
Here is a script that works for me to create a sound when an object is touched.
Quick Sound Script:
default
{ // this open curly bracket denotes the start of the state state_entry() // an event
{llSay(0, "Watch out!"); }
touch_start(integer total_number) // another event
{llPlaySound("bomb",1.0); }}// end of state entryYOU put in what you want for the words in red
the words that will come out in the chat - "Watch out!"
the name of the sound in the inventory - "bomb441"
You need to make sure the sound is part of the objects inventory. To do this, just drag the sound from your inventory to the contents tab on the object. Follow it with the script. Like this:
(video coming)
A little more technical.
Unless you create your own sounds, you have to download sounds from the web, then upload them into your viewer.
Three things to keep in mind:
1) The sound has to be at 44.1kHz.
You can resave the sound at 44100 Hz using Audacity if it is at a different frequency.
Download Audacity from (it is free):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
2) The sound has to be less than 10 seconds.
3) A couple of free sources for sounds:
http://www.findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll
http://www.wav-sounds.com/
Let me know if you have other free sources of sounds.
So, in this order:
Decide what sound you want.
Locate it on the internet.
Make sure it is 10s or less.
Download it to your desktop. (right-click for pc, opt-command for mac)
Use Audacity to save it at 44.1KHz if it isn't already.
Upload it into your Inventory.
Drag it from your inventory into the contents of the object that is to make the sound.
Drag the premade script or create a script (see above) into the contents of the object.
Save. Test.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
1/31/12 My Maze!
How to Create a Maze (and other things)
This is a mid level building skill.
Today I created a floating maze in Peninsula.
I used an existing maze in Ipswich as a template:
This is a mid level building skill.
Today I created a floating maze in Peninsula.
I used an existing maze in Ipswich as a template:
I saved the image from the Internet
I uploaded the image into my inventory.
I created a thin board the size that I wanted the maze to be.
I loaded the image of the Ipswich maze onto the board as a texture.
This is my template.
I built one hedge going down one side:
I copied that hedge, moved it to a parallel line and adjusted the length to fit the template:
I continued doing this until I completed the template.
Then, I linked all the pieces, named it, did a take copy, and deleted the template. - Voila, a Maze.
A more technical explanation:
I thought it helped to use the object position, size and rotation features. (see image below)
I held the z position constant (the height off the ground),
I held the x and z sizes constant (the thickness and the height are always the same - all you change is the length)
The hedges parallel to the first will always have the same rotation.
The hedges perpendicular to the first will rotate 90 degrees.
Going through the maze, the end is in the center.
Friday, January 27, 2012
1/27/12 Who uses virtual worlds? Some statistics...
Demographics of Virtual World Users:
I am focusing my sims on teen use - grades 6 - 12. Here are some of the reasons why:
the line graphs are representations of statistics in a chart in the:
Universe Chart Slideshare Presentation "Total Cumulative Registered Accounts"
http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/universe-chart-slideshare-presentation/ slide #7.
As 10-15 yr olds age into the 15-25 yr old group, they continue to join and remain in virtual worlds. The 25+ yr old group fell slightly to 3% of total virtual world accounts in Q4 '11.
THE question is - as these 5-25 yr old users grow older than 25, what will happen to their virtual world use? Are virtual worlds truly the domain of youth?
I am focusing my sims on teen use - grades 6 - 12. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Virtual Worlds are dominated by youth, users under the age of 25.
- Significant increases in virtual world use are in the 5 - 25 yr old group.
- The 25+ group remains steady at about 3% of the total market.
- I think teens can and want to create their own virtual worlds.
the line graphs are representations of statistics in a chart in the:
Universe Chart Slideshare Presentation "Total Cumulative Registered Accounts"
http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/universe-chart-slideshare-presentation/ slide #7.
Participation in virtual worlds is strongly on the rise for 5 - 25 year olds.
Interestingly, for those over 25, the increase is very small.
THE question is - as these 5-25 yr old users grow older than 25, what will happen to their virtual world use? Are virtual worlds truly the domain of youth?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
1/25/12 Entering peninsula and Camera Controls
When you enter peninsula, this is what you should see:
The avatar will be your avatar and will not look exactly like this.
Check out the book! If you right click on it (opt-command on a mac) and then click on 'touch'. It should open for you. You can use the camera controls to zoom in on it and read it.
Camera Controls (found in the World Menu at the top of the screen, or as a tab at the bottom of the screen) are a way of looking around without having to move your avatar - you can zoom in and out & pan up and down & right and left & rotate 360 degrees. Experiment with them! It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of them. Hit 'esc' to return to the normal view.
(video coming)
The avatar will be your avatar and will not look exactly like this.
Check out the book! If you right click on it (opt-command on a mac) and then click on 'touch'. It should open for you. You can use the camera controls to zoom in on it and read it.
Camera Controls (found in the World Menu at the top of the screen, or as a tab at the bottom of the screen) are a way of looking around without having to move your avatar - you can zoom in and out & pan up and down & right and left & rotate 360 degrees. Experiment with them! It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of them. Hit 'esc' to return to the normal view.
(video coming)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
1/24/12 Getting into my sim Peninsula in Kitely
How to get into a virtual world
Here are the instructions for accessing my sim. If it is closed that probably means I have students under 18 on it for that time. Just check back later and I will have opened it up again. Keep in mind that it is a work in progress. Trees or half buildings in the air mean I am in the process of constructing something. I will post photos here as I complete features.
Here are the instructions for accessing my sim. If it is closed that probably means I have students under 18 on it for that time. Just check back later and I will have opened it up again. Keep in mind that it is a work in progress. Trees or half buildings in the air mean I am in the process of constructing something. I will post photos here as I complete features.
This is what you do to get into PENINSULA, Beth's virtual world on Kitely:
1) Download the viewer - this lets you enter virtual worlds:
CLOSE it if it opens on your machine. It needs to be opened through Kitely.
2) Go to my world in Kitely:
the plugin should load at this time if it is your first time in.
3) Click on Enter World:
You can set it up to login with your Facebook account, your twitter account or your gmail. Follow the directions on the screen.
It will take a few minutes to open the second life viewer. You should appear as a dressed avatar next to a row boat with your name hovering over your head in text.
If you have problems:
1) You can reinstall the plugin:
2) You can check the technology requirements below to see if your computer meets the minimum tech requirements.
Tech requirements:
for everyone:
Internet connection: cable or dsl.
Memory: 1gb or more.
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
for pc:
xp, vista or windows 7
graphics card: one of these:
NVIDIA GeForce 6600, ATI Radeon 9250, Intel 945 chipset
for mac:
Mac OSX 10.5 or better.
1/23/12 Definitions
Early thinking and definitions:
Creating peninsula, a virtual island in Open Sim on the Kitely Grid.
Definitions - Second Life is the original widely known virtual world grid. Originally a haven for educators, they changed management and created an environment that was not educator friendly. Many educators are going to OpenSim, the open source equivilent of Second Life. Its kind of like using Open Office instead of Microsoft Office.
There are hundreds of grids in OpenSim. They are run individually or by grid managers who oversee a large number of related grids (ReactionGrid and Jokaydia are examples) or a large number of individual grids (Kitely is an example).
I am on Kitely because they provide a useful service - I can create a grid and duplicate it as many times as I want. So, I can create a curriculum looking at the southern plantation societies of the 1850's by creating a complete plantation on a grid, write the curriculum for the unit, and duplicate it every time someone wants to use the unit. Up until now, that was more difficult to do.
However, one of my primary interests in bringing teens to a virtual world is to provide an environment where THEY can create the content. A grid that can be duplicated is also valuable to me in being able to facilitate that kind of activity.
What I need:
a vehicle script. Maria Korolov (Hypergrid Business publisher) says that there isn't really a good one for Open Sim. :-(
a dance/poseball script. I had implemented this in Second Life (SL) at one point, but I am having trouble duplicating that in Open Sim.
I was in Jokaydia today looking around and it occurred to me that a lot of space and effort in vw's are put towards teaching noob's the basics. The tutorials that I see seem long. I wonder if they can be taught in about 10 - 20 minutes avatar to avatar (a2a)? I don't think teens will need these, they are much savvier that the average 35 - 55 year old. I think these inworld tutorials will be more confusing for them - they can probably figure L1 skills at least for themselves.
As I go through this process research questions (RQ) occur to me. These do not have to be addressed with formal research (although they could be), but are questions to keep in mind with informal/formal data gathering.
RQ - how quickly and thoroughly can teens find their way around L1 skills without another avatar? w/another 'knowing' avatar? What pre conceptions do teens come in with? pre existing skills?
RQ - once the teens are able to move around comfortably in the environment what do they want to be able to do? How about when they achieve L1 skills?
I am looking for a 3-dimensional maze to model on peninsula - participants can move up and down as well as right and left.
Started private flicker site for textures by mark. Although Creative Commons, I would like them to maintain attribution if used again.
Creating peninsula, a virtual island in Open Sim on the Kitely Grid.
Definitions - Second Life is the original widely known virtual world grid. Originally a haven for educators, they changed management and created an environment that was not educator friendly. Many educators are going to OpenSim, the open source equivilent of Second Life. Its kind of like using Open Office instead of Microsoft Office.
There are hundreds of grids in OpenSim. They are run individually or by grid managers who oversee a large number of related grids (ReactionGrid and Jokaydia are examples) or a large number of individual grids (Kitely is an example).
I am on Kitely because they provide a useful service - I can create a grid and duplicate it as many times as I want. So, I can create a curriculum looking at the southern plantation societies of the 1850's by creating a complete plantation on a grid, write the curriculum for the unit, and duplicate it every time someone wants to use the unit. Up until now, that was more difficult to do.
However, one of my primary interests in bringing teens to a virtual world is to provide an environment where THEY can create the content. A grid that can be duplicated is also valuable to me in being able to facilitate that kind of activity.
What I need:
a vehicle script. Maria Korolov (Hypergrid Business publisher) says that there isn't really a good one for Open Sim. :-(
a dance/poseball script. I had implemented this in Second Life (SL) at one point, but I am having trouble duplicating that in Open Sim.
I was in Jokaydia today looking around and it occurred to me that a lot of space and effort in vw's are put towards teaching noob's the basics. The tutorials that I see seem long. I wonder if they can be taught in about 10 - 20 minutes avatar to avatar (a2a)? I don't think teens will need these, they are much savvier that the average 35 - 55 year old. I think these inworld tutorials will be more confusing for them - they can probably figure L1 skills at least for themselves.
As I go through this process research questions (RQ) occur to me. These do not have to be addressed with formal research (although they could be), but are questions to keep in mind with informal/formal data gathering.
RQ - how quickly and thoroughly can teens find their way around L1 skills without another avatar? w/another 'knowing' avatar? What pre conceptions do teens come in with? pre existing skills?
RQ - once the teens are able to move around comfortably in the environment what do they want to be able to do? How about when they achieve L1 skills?
I am looking for a 3-dimensional maze to model on peninsula - participants can move up and down as well as right and left.
Started private flicker site for textures by mark. Although Creative Commons, I would like them to maintain attribution if used again.
1/24/12 Early Thinking
Early Thinking
Scripting in virtual worlds is the tool that allows for interaction, I think of it as the way I can give life to the objects and environments I create. Through scripts I can ride a bicycle, dance, play in an amusement park, engage in simulations, etc... The original scripting language for Second Life is called LSL (Linden Scripting Language). The scripting language for OpenSim is closely related but not always the same - hence some problems in translating scripts into OpenSim. The OpenSim language is called OSSL - OpenSimScripting Language. There are other ways of scripting, but most of them rely on some previous knowledge of other scripting protocols. I need to stick with LSL and OS for now.
As a result I am reviewing the LSL scripting language tutorial at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_101.
I agree with Fleep that educators need a startup kit on Open Sim. There also needs to be a more central repository of scripts and objects with language for the inexperienced LSL/OS user. And is anyone posting or setting up a class to teach scripting in Open Sim?
A Partial Answer: Peter Miller has a site with OAR files. http://bit.ly/edu_oars These are files that you can import into a grid system or onto an individual grid to create the landscape. They frequently contain buildings, a variety of objects and scripts as well. Incredibly useful. These files are specifically for educators. Thank you Peter and thank you Rich White for the files. I will look through them. In Kitely it is trivial to use one of these files to set up a sim. Thank you Ilan for that.
Scripting in virtual worlds is the tool that allows for interaction, I think of it as the way I can give life to the objects and environments I create. Through scripts I can ride a bicycle, dance, play in an amusement park, engage in simulations, etc... The original scripting language for Second Life is called LSL (Linden Scripting Language). The scripting language for OpenSim is closely related but not always the same - hence some problems in translating scripts into OpenSim. The OpenSim language is called OSSL - OpenSimScripting Language. There are other ways of scripting, but most of them rely on some previous knowledge of other scripting protocols. I need to stick with LSL and OS for now.
As a result I am reviewing the LSL scripting language tutorial at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_101.
I agree with Fleep that educators need a startup kit on Open Sim. There also needs to be a more central repository of scripts and objects with language for the inexperienced LSL/OS user. And is anyone posting or setting up a class to teach scripting in Open Sim?
A Partial Answer: Peter Miller has a site with OAR files. http://bit.ly/edu_oars These are files that you can import into a grid system or onto an individual grid to create the landscape. They frequently contain buildings, a variety of objects and scripts as well. Incredibly useful. These files are specifically for educators. Thank you Peter and thank you Rich White for the files. I will look through them. In Kitely it is trivial to use one of these files to set up a sim. Thank you Ilan for that.
Taxonomy of Activites
This is another taxonomy of sorts - I have taken the same skills and categorized them according to essential virtual world activites - movement and location, communication, appearance, building and life. Again, not new distinctions, just trying to frame them in a less linear light.
Taxonomy of Levels
This is a taxonomy of sorts sorting the skills that can be acquired in a virtual world into 4 levels - L1 - movement and location, L2 - edit, L3 - create and L4 - script. These are not new distinctions I am making, I just have tried to place them in a less linear fashion.
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