The purpose of our group, and our trips, is to make it easier and more fun for anyone from SL to make the transition to open sim. Confusion yes, drama no. Open sim is not a smooth operation, but it offers such a lot of possibilities that well, frankly you'd be foolish not to at least dip a toe in the water.
OpenSim is not one place but many, and everyone has their favorite, and (perhaps more importantly) their less-than-favorite grids in open sim, so we're here to lift the curtain and reveal it in general terms, rather than promote one world in particular. That's harder than it may seem but it's an essential part of the game we're playing here. Th great thing about there being lots of grids is that there is something for everyone. If you end up in a place you don't like, or that doesn't work for you, there's plenty more grids in the hyperverse.
SaveMe Oh did a sweet light show in a skybox on the roof of the Embassy. She's not the churchgoing type.
When OSGrid went offline, we were very kindly offered a region attached to Metropolis, hosted by Zetamex. It is a budget sim, and you might say (and people - always men, for some reason - often do ) "why don't you come to my super dooper fast single dedicated server and meet there?" and in the middle of the lag spike that hit us when we landed there after the party, there was no 'might' about it. Yet in a way, the freezing and crashing are helpful. They make one realize what it means to be on an unstable platform, to be ready to relog, to figure out strategies for getting by. It's a sort of endurance test.
Apart from the obvious addition of cloudiness, most of us appear a bit different in SL, but Jessica Pixel takes the prize for Altered Look, with her bouncy blue and white springs. We were due on Craft Grid at 2pm so a little bit of time in Metropolis gave the newbies a chance to acclimate a bit. And where better to get a sense of self than Wunderland. It's such a great showcase of what kind of art and imagination is alive and well, well outside the borders of SL.
It doesn't seem to matter how many times we visit, there's always another bit I had not noticed before. This time, for me, it was the wool. Apparently there is a matchbox that Roxy Geller found her way into. Tina Bey joined us and experienced some feline magnetism.
Lastly we were on Craft Grid, in sort of two waves. Classic Safari confusion. Our appointment was with Michelle Tech, an Italian school teacher who uses virtual world technology to teach kids Math and Chemistry. Craft has a long tradition of educational regions and events of all kinds, not to mention art, and of course everyone is happy to learn that Roxelo Babenco's Museo del Metaverso is coming back there and will be open soon.Apmel Metropolison: great I'm here :)
Michelle Tech: this is mathland, dedicated to geometry. Student can walk around and click, objects move and give information, or I explain in classroom
Apmel Metropolison: you and wizzy should have a lot to talk about..she is nuts about math and geometry Michelle Tech: students make presentations and put the presentations in slider -see the pytagora theorem
Apmel Metropolison: yes
Thirza Ember: they have avatars?
Michelle Tech: sure, in a private world, because they are underage. I have the authorization written from parents. I have been using this method for 5 years. Now I changed schools, so i have to start again.
Serene DiPiDiTy: yes that is not easy to explain to them.....their children play with quaternions
Jessica.Pixel : You're old school :]
Thirza Ember: you could not do this in SL
Michelle Tech: no
Jessica.Pixel: Cost alone omg
Michelle Tech: i showed mathland ad the European Festival of Science in 2013, Science on Stage in Poland
Apmel Metropolison: wow Michelle
Thirza Ember: you click on the containers and they unfold to show you how to calculate their area... it is really neat!Michelle Tech: you can see the site www.virtualscience.it - there is an english version
Jessica.Pixel: Bookmarking!
Apmel Metropolison: good italian is pure math to me
Thirza Ember: i'm going to click on everything
Michelle Tech: lol
Roxy.Gellar: giggle right there with you! Click Monsters!!!!
Don't get me wrong, virtual art is great, but seeing a living working classroom, made by one woman not for the plaudits of an inworld group but to touch the practical, day to day lives of students - that is something special. Wander around open sim, and you'll see a billion boring auditoriums that may come alive an hour a week perhaps. This place is the perfect balance of pragmatism and whimsy, interesting for the passing tourist and classroom inmate alike. And Michelle isn't resting on her laurels either, but has plans to create a quiz area for students, and actively uses the feedback she has received from past students to improve and refine the learning experience. It takes a lot of grit to accomplish all this, remember, she does it all on her own, with no support from a University or even much financial help from the school where she teaches.
Apmel Metropolison: I've been camming around..this place is truly awesome
Lucy Afarensis: wow
Thirza Ember: you must really love your students and your subject
Michelle Tech: mathland and statland were completely built by me, just few sculpts are not mine.
Art Blue: do you start with prim building and you add scripting then?
PatriciaAnne Daviau: excellent!
Michelle Tech: yes I learned a bit of scripting necessary
Apmel Metropolison: hehe..a math teacher can learn anything
Michelle Tech: in craft i have just the copy of few sim, but I have a my own metaverse, Techland, about 10 islands
Anyone that doesn'¨t fall in love with Michelle is an idiot!
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with her too.
ReplyDelete