This is an introduction to get started in Second Life. From signing up to learning skills to getting ready to launch into the amazing world out there. Part 1 of 2.

1. Introduction to Second Life

2. Second Life is a free 3D virtual world owned by Linden Labs and uniquely created by its Residents. It is free to join at SecondLife.com. There you, as an avatar, can interact in a productive immersive environment with real people from all over the world. You can explore the educational environments, creative social networking, and discover the future of online existence through collaboration, economics, art, activism, and training. It is a place to express yourself with positive action. Sign up and download the Second life Second Life Viewer which isthe program you download to enter Second Life at http://www.secondlife.com Print off your Quick Start Guide at http://secondlife.com/support/quickstart/basic/all-in-one

3. Avatar - An avatar is a visual representation of yourself and a form of Personal Branding that must communicate your enthusiasm, openness, and mission to tap those productive emotional interactions and encouraging participation that online communities utilize. Resident - a user in Second Life. Newbie or Noob – new or inexperienced resident. Oldbie or Mentor – old or experienced resident. Pay It Forward – a movement in Second Life that encourages helpful behavior, understanding, and life long learning. Prim – short for primitive, the 3D objects that are the building blocks of everything in Second Life. Rez – comes from the 1982 movie Tron, to rez something means for it to appear inworld. Inworld – inside the virtual environment. Rez Day – the day your avatar is born into Second Life.

6. Choose your Avatar Username wisely. Remember your Avatar Name is your personal and professional brand in Second Life.

12. Every time you launch the Second Life Viewer, you will enter your Username and Password. To be safe, do not check “Remember password”. Please set your Mode to Advanced. Log In!

13. The first time you launch the Second Life Viewer, you must agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You retain any and all Intellectual Property Rights in Content you upload to Second Life that you already hold . You should not use copyrighted, trademarked, or celebrity material in Second Life, unless of course you are the intellectual property owner.

14. Second Life Welcome Island is your starting point to learn 6 basic steps to start exploring this virtual world. Take a moment to notice the different parts of the Viewer Interface. At the Top Menu Bar there are menu items, a location bar, a search box, and media controls.

15. Before we start the tutorial, check out your Preferences, it is under the Me Menu. If you make changes to any settings, be sure to apply them and click OK. This where you can customize your experience inworld.

16. Click on the Chat tap in your Preferences. Check you Email me IMs when I am offline. That way you can get messages from your friends or groups even when you are not inworld. Close this box.

18. At the Bottom Task Panel Bar, you can chat, speak, gesture, move, change your view, and take snapshots. You can use the movement controls or your keyboard to move your avatar. Practice! Practice! Practice! Everyone started out new, so don’t be embarassed if you walk into walls or other avatars. It takes time to get used to navigating.

19. You can use your camera controls or keyboard and mouse to see. The default view is behind your avatar, but you can change your perspective by moving and turning the camera to look at anything you want to. You must have good camera control to focus on avatars, create, photograph, and pan around to see yourself in Second Life.

21. Click on the ESC key to return your camera view to the default view of behind your avatar. A great way to practice camera control is by going shopping by zooming on the products you can buy.

22. Chat – Talking by typing in text. Local Chat – Public Communication that everyone within a 20 meter radius can see/read/hear this chat. IM (instant message) – Private chat avatar to avatar. Group Chat – Private chat that is only see to members of a group. Backchat – Local chat that is an additional running discussion while someone is lecturing in Chat or Voice. Voice – Talking with sound. Local Voice is public and a Call is private to an avatar or group.

24. Contextual Menus – The dropdown menu gives you choices to interact in world. Right-click on PC. Ctrl+click on Mac. Touch – right-click on an object. Sit – right-click to sit down and hit the Stand button when you want to get up. Animate – sit on pose balls (a prim with a script in it to animate your avatar) Dance – click on a dance ball or use a dance animation in your inventory. AO / Animation Override - a scripted attachment that replaces standard animations with ones that can express more personality or intent. To stop Stand or Me > Stop Animating Me.

25. It is fun to touch objects to see if they do something fun or tell you information.

26. Location and Destination – Where you are or want to be. Sims – short for simulation - 3D environments you can visit and interact in that are hosted on servers. Teleport - You can teleport to get from one location to another quickly. You can teleport a friend to you location as well. SLURL – an url address to a location on a sim that you can teleport to from a browser. Landmark – a shortcut to teleport you to a sim also called LM. Avatars share them. Home – a location that you can return to where you feel comfortable. Map – a way of seeing the sim from above.

27. Why teleport when you can fly!

28. While you are floating here, think about what will you do in this world? You will learn to create an unique avatar, navigate through immersive 3-D environments, engage in innovative learning, and research your personal interests. You will discover how to actively connect with friends, family, students, customers, and target audiences utilizing this communication tool and its power of participation, community building, professional marketing, and encouraging enthusiasm. What is your mission?