Second Life: an introduction for educators
Next course dates: 15 March 2009 - 30 March 2009
Term: 10 hours over 2 weeks
Fee: € 195

Future course dates:
15 July 2009 - 30 July 2009
15 October 2009 - 30 October 2009

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CONTENT
Second Life is an online virtual world which educators are increasingly using for teaching and training purposes, in a wide range of disciplines. This short online course consists of four timetabled synchronous (real time) sessions held on EduNation, The Consultants-E’s own virtual educational island in Second Life, as well as asynchronous discussion and reflection on Second Life as an educational tool. The course covers the following areas in Second Life:

• designing your Second Life avatar and the basics of movement
• inventory, archiving possibilities and working with basic objects in Second Life.
• teaching and training in Second Life, considering tools and approaches.
• issues and possibilities for learners in Second Life

NOTES BEFORE SIGNING UP FOR THE SECOND LIFE COURSE

• 6 hours of the Second Life course are carried out synchronously in Second Life itself, with the rest of the course done asynchronously in Moodle. The provisional dates and times for the next course are as follows:
  
  TO BE CONFIRMED
  Note that sessions are usually early evening CET (approximately 19:00 - 20:30, which equates to 10:00 - 11:30 Second Life time, just for your reference)
  
  Please check your availability (and the exact time in your time zone) before signing up for the course.
• You will need to check that your computer and Internet connection can handle Second Life and voice. To do this, please get a free account from the Second Life website at www.secondlife.com, download and install the software and complete the Second Life orientation. If you are happy that Second Life works for you, please continue with the registration for this course. No refunds will be given for those not following these guidelines before paying.

AUDIENCE
The course is aimed at educators from any discipline interested in learning how to use Second Life for educational purposes. No previous experience of Second Life is necessary, but you will need to download and install Second Life on your computer before the course (from www.secondlife.com) and to create a free account and avatar (see also What you need below).

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TIMETABLE
This course covers two weeks (see dates above). You are expected to spend approx. 5 hours per week (a total of 10 hours per course) on online individual and collaborative group work, including offline reading and reflection. Deadlines for task completion are weekly. The Second Life course includes four timetabled synchronous (real time) training sessions held on EduNation in Second Life. You will receive a detailed course timetable and information for the course, to help you organise your workload effectively, once you have enrolled.

WHAT YOU NEED
The Second Life course has the following technical specification requirements:

• reliable broadband Internet connection
• headset & microphone
• Computer Processor: 2GHz Pentium 4 or better
• Computer Memory: 1024MB (1GB RAM) or better
• Video/Graphics Card:
            nVidia GeForce FX 5600, GeForce 6600, or better
            OR ATI Radeon X600, or better
            Minimum 128MB graphics card memory, 256MB recommended.

SKILLS
The course is taught entirely online, using the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle for asynchronous work, and EduNation in Second Life for real time sessions. You won’t need any prior experience or knowledge of Second Life, but basic computer literacy - such as using browsers and email - is expected. Technical and pedagogical support is available for the entire duration of the course.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Competence in written and spoken English, whether English is the applicants’ first, second or foreign language: successful applicants’ levels of competence in English must be of a standard sufficient to enable them to fully understand and complete the course work.

CERTIFICATION
The Consultants-E will issue participants with a Certificate on successful completion of the course. Successful completion of the course is defined as completing 80% of the course work to an acceptable standard.

ENROLMENT/FEES
You can enrol online by following this link. The course fee of 195€ covers the synchronous sessions which form the basis of the course,  all tutorials, guest speaker sessions (where appropriate), ongoing tutor support and feedback, and certification from The Consultants-E.