James Moore at DePaul: Second Life Educational Tutorials and Resources

What Is Second Life?

Second Life is a virtual world that you access through your computer. You need to be connected to the Internet to access Second Life and using a client program (Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X).

Second Life was inspired by the science-fiction novel Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson. The book introduced the Metaverse - a fully immersive 3D virtual space with:

Avatars
An in-world economy
Real-world metaphor

On this page I have provided links to resources and tutorials that should get you up-to-speed on Second Life.

Second Life Tutorials

Creating Your Second Life Avatar: Harvard University's Extension School has a seventeen-minute video tutorial that explains how to create your Second Life avatar from scratch. The tutorial was created for the Law in the Court of Public Opinion course.
SLTutorials: SLTutorials has an extensive selection of video tutorials.
Second Life Wiki: Second Life has a Wiki in which there are numerous video tutorials.
PacRimX: PacificRim Exchange with links to videos, tutorials, wiki’s, programs, books and other useful tools for those new to Second Life.
The Unofficial Complete Fool's Guide to Second Life: PDF guide and tutorial to Second Life.
TeacherTube: TeacherTube educational videos.

YouTube Video Tutorials

There are many Second Life tutorials available on YouTube (just search for "second life tutorial"). Here are some that answer some of the more immediate questions:

How to change your appearance

How to manage your inventory

Making Hair for Templates

Second Life Articles

Second Earth.: Technology Review. July/August 2007.
Upload University: Edutopia. May 2007

Educator Resources

Annotated Bibliography: Mark Pepper's annotated bibliography of Second Life educational online resources.
NMC Campus Observer: New Media Consortium’s experimental Second Life environment.
Open SLedware: Open SLedware in an initiative of SL educators to make course content accessible to all
Second Life Best Practices in Education: Archive from the 2007 International Conference.
Second Life Education Wiki: Linden Lab's official resource for educators in Second Life.
Second Life in Education: Overview of the educational possibilities of virtual worlds.
SLED Events Calendar: SLED Events in Second Life time (Google calendar).

Miscellaneous Resources

Second Seeker: Travel and cultural guide to the “no-sleaze” parts of Second Life.
SLCN: Second Life Cable Network.