Major update to the island!

Hello!

We are very pleased to announce that the School’s Second Life Island has been updated in preparation for the new academic year.

The whole island has been redesigned using the open source OpenVCE objects & buildings that were released to the Second Life community last week.

Our Second Life orientation website has also been updated to reflect the changes on the island itself – Click here to visit it.

What’s new?

• Avatars now arrive at a new ‘Central Hub’ & are offered a landmark, a map of the island and a copy of the island’s code of conduct.
  
  
• A new multi screen lecture theatre has been added, replacing the old one.
  
  
• The visitors centre has been overhauled & now contains an updated presentation room & meeting room.
  
  
• A social work development zone has been added – providing staff and students with a number of configurable rooms where students can further develop their skills and be observed by staff in doing so.
  
  

And finally…

We are very pleased to welcome RSC Wales onto our island.

Inside their office you'll be able to learn more about RSC Wales and the work they do throughout Wales, as well as listen to their latest podcasts and attend any in world briefings and second life orientation sessions that they run.

You can learn more about RSC Wales by clicking here.

The RSC Wales Office

We’d love to hear what you think about the updated island – so please do stop by and say hello, or leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Paul.

Follow us on Twitter

Hello!

You can now follow us on Twitter if you want to:

https://twitter.com/SHSSTELLS

Many thanks!

Paul.

New Video: An introduction to teaching & learning on the school's Second Life Island

Following the video I made last week showing how our second life island can be used to enhance conferences, I’ve re-edited it to make a 2^nd version that illustrates how the school’s island can be send to enhance teaching, learning and collaborative work.

Some of the shots are the same as the previous video, some are new.

The text has been reworded for a different target audience, lecturers, students and parents of students.

The running time of the video is 6:11.

You can watch it below:

If you cannot see the video above, or wish to view it in high quality, please click here.

Cheers!

Paul.

New Video: Conference facilities showcase

Hello!

At the request of some of our staff, I’ve put together a short video showcasing how the facilities on our island can be used to hold online conferences, or support “real” face to face ones.

If you’d like to know more, or hold a conference on the school’s island then please get in touch.

You can watch the video below – I strongly recommend you set the player to view in “HQ” mode:

Please click here if you cannot see the video above

Many thanks!

Paul.

Visitors Centre & International Gallery Updated

Hello!

 

We’ve updated the top floor of both the Visitors centre & our international gallery.

 

 Visitors Centre

The whole top floor has been re worked, the prototype shop has gone and has been replaced by a DVD wall which takes you to the school's DVD web page when you click on it.

The SHSS ‘board room’

 

The presentation room has been turned into a board room and the circular seating has been moved out into the main top floor area.

Also the websites that were on show at the back of the top floor have been updated and now show the school’s main page, YouTube page, Facebook & the Second Life orientation site - when you click on each the actual website will load up.

 

The updated top floor of the visitors centre

 

International Centre

The top floor now has images taken from our International school overview video so that people considering studying with us overseas can learn more about the school.

The top floor of the international centre

 

In addition you can watch the video itself via the presentation screen that’s in the International building, you can also see it below:

Click here if you cannot see the above video, or wish to view it in high quality

 

That’s all for now  -feel free to drop in sometime and take a look around for yourself.

 

Cheers!

 

Paul.

Greeting from the Dean of the school now playing in the Visitors Centre

A recorded Welcome message from Amelia Lyons, Dean of the School of Health & Social Sciences is now playing in the Visitors Centre on the school's Second Life Island.

To hear it, please ensure your Second Life client is configured to pay streaming music, if you are not sure how to do this then please watch the following video:

Please click here to watch in HD

Virtual camera now available from within Second Life

Hello.

We have added the ability for lecturers using the School's Second Life Island to broadcast events taking place in second life outside to the rest of the world via the following web page:

http://sites.google.com/site/secondlifeuwnshss/view-our-in-world-camera

When the camera is not broadcasting we will be looping videos from our YouTube channel.

A ticker at the bottom of the screen also broadcasts the latest news from the school.

If you would like a demo of the camera & how it can be used to widen participation in Second Life events then please get in touch.

Many thanks.

Paul.