The first article of clothing that I created was a long sleeved red shirt. I referenced the Creating Your First Shirt in Second Life" by Nicola Escher while creating. It was a little challenging but in the end I figured it out.
Then I decided that I wanted to try to make a chain link necklace. I referenced the Creating Jewelry Part 4 (Chain Link) by Natalia Zelmanov while trying to create it. I followed the directions and was doing fine until I reached setting up the Loop Rez. I was able to create a script but could not figure out where the Loop Rez Object was located. I ended up building a box to try and rez the chain links and was able to do this a few times. You can see this in my picture below:
I decided to create the rest of the clothes using the "Appearance" mode in Second Life. In the end I decided to design three looks and add accessories.
My first look was pairing a long black skirt with my newly created long sleeved red shirt. I then used ring prims to make a green and a black bracelet. I changed my hair to match one of the colors of the bracelet.
My second look is a purple sequined shirt, a long white skirt and purple sequined shoes. I created all three pieces in the "Appearance" mode and added wrinkles to the shirt so that it would look more natural. I changed my hair to white to match the outfit.
My third look is a short sleeved pink shirt, pink leopard pants, black platform boots and a black belt. I changed my hair to match my outfit.
After creating my looks, I wanted to find a fun way to display all three of my looks. I decided to make a red carpet runway surrounded with posts and ropes. I made a "Designs by Lucy" sign and put it on the runway as well. I made my posters transparent and then applied pictures that I had taken of my avatar to complete the process. Although the pictures appear a little blurry, I think that it gives a good representation of my new looks. Here are some pictures of my runway:
Tranceformational Learning
The principles of transformational learning involve objectives, attention, in group interaction, immersion, emotion, authenticity and learning. I can see the value in using all of these principles to design learning that is engaging and effective for the learner, especially in a virtual environment. If I ever taught a Second Life class, I would most definitely keep these principles in mind to ensure that the learner had a worthwhile educational experience.
Readings
After creating my runway looks, I decided to do a little more reading about things in Second Life.
The first blog that I read was Spring Clean Your Inventory for a Happier Second Life. Before reading the article I watched the video and it is absolutely hilarious! The article talked about creating a temporary folder and putting in any items that your not sure about and then organizing them from there. There are some good organizing tips here.
The next blog that I read was Get less lag in seconds by increasing your Maximum Bandwidth!. I learned that the maximum bandwidth setting in Second Life is 500 kbps and that by keeping the setting like this it often creates excessive lag. There are instructions on how to change your settings to decrease lag and I definitely plan on doing this.
The next blog was Can't see? Get a new perspective, change your camera angle! This blog featured a video that shows you how to get better angles when taking pictures. I also found out that there are scripted camera gadgets that will allow a user to automate their camera angle changes. There was also mention of two of these gadgets. One is free and the other costs L$100. The free one is Penny Patlons's Camera Control (HUD) and the other one is Rian Jayaram's Dvandva Region Snap. Links to both of these gadgets can be found in the blog.
I then read a few articles and the first one was from the Chronicle of Higher Education and it was titled "Professor Avatar" and was written by Andrea L. Foster on September 21, 2007. I found this article while looking through the Fontbonne library electronic databases. This article was really interesting because it talked about how a professor used Second Life to teach because his real world surroundings were not safe for his students. He also brought up the point of the potential international reach that both he and his students could be exposed to. Another point was, "more than 150 colleges in the United States and 13 other countries have a presence in Second Life." I was surprised that more colleges in the United States are not present in Second Life. This article then went on to discuss six stories about other professors and their experiences in Second Life. One of these stories is from Sarah B. Robbins who is a doctoral student in rhetoric and composition. One of her comments is that "the platform makes many students more enthusiastic about learning" and I couldn't agree more. Another comment was "If we let the students create the space, then they make the space that's best for them. And that gives us insight into how they learn and makes them more engaged and more responsible for their learning." I could not agree more and think that when students are given freedom to create their own space it makes them more creative. This process enables students to retain information and learn more.
The last article that I read was Smithsonian turns 3D to bring collection to the world. This article caught my attention because I remember visiting the Smithsonian as a child and loved it. The Smithsonian is currently looking into having 3D-printed models, exhibits and replicas to create a digital archive so that anyone, anywhere can view the collection. There are currently only two people that are working on the digitization and resources are needed in order to complete the full collection. They have to be very selective on which objects they choose to digitize. I think this is a great idea and can see a collection like this in a Second Life environment.
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