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18 Years and counting...Got SL News? Get it Published! Contact Lanai Jarrico at lanaijarrico@gmail.com
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts

Monday, September 19, 2016

SILVER LEAF COLLEGE: NOW OPEN FOR CLASSES - Luc Fray Reporting...







A few weeks ago, a notice popped up in the Seeking RP group teasing a sim that would soon be coming to Second Life. Its theme was college role-play, a genre I’ve not yet tried in SL. Naturally, it piqued my interest and I couldn’t help but check out the link that came along with it.


The website was blank.


Thinking that it must be experiencing some bug or what, I contacted the person who posted the notice up, Aria Kenden, and she was kind enough to answer my questions regarding her role-play sim, Silver Leaf College. I ended up applying as one of the professors before the conversation ended.


Luc Fray: Ok, so how did you come up with the name Silver Leaf College, Ms. Kenden?


Aria Kenden: Well, My friend Devin and I pictured what type of atmosphere we wanted for the school, and we wanted a name to reflect that. We imagined a comfortable woodland feel and Silver Leaf College stuck.


Luc Fray: Devin is one of the co-creators of SLC, correct? Who else are the brains and hands behind the creation of the sim, and how hard was it putting the dream into action?


Aria Kenden: Yes, he is! Devin has been the biggest asset to SLC really. And his daughter, Lily, has helped with the landscaping. I wouldn’t say it was hard, but I will say a lot of time and money has been invested into the school already to make it what it is.



Devin Kazagumi at the Dorm’s pool area.


Luc Fray: Seems a lot of heart was poured into it. What made you guys decide to create this sim? Or rather, what gave you guys the inspiration?


Aria Kenden: We have a passion for teen role-play, in particular, the school setting. Most schools come and go or the ones that stay offer the same experiences. We wanted to create a safe but fun space for teens that is a bit out of the ordinary.


Luc Fray: Yeah, I saw on the website that Silver Leaf is a PG sim. Does that mean you guys won’t be tackling themes such as booze, drugs, sex, frat hazing, etc. as is usually prevalent in RL universities and colleges? *laughs*


Aria Kenden: Hmmm, not necessarily that they won’t be addressed, but rather we don’t encourage it. In the end, we know rules will be broken, and, from an OOC standpoint, as long as sexual RP is not performed, we are pretty lenient.



One of the classrooms.


Luc Fray: Understood. I imagine that would be a problem since the students would be in the 16 to 18 age bracket….


So you guys are already open for enrollment and classes will start on the 19th. Is there a cut-off date for enrollment like in RL? And if so, when is that?


Aria Kenden: We’ve thought about it but decided to not have a cut-off date. As we grow, we want to welcome more students and don’t want to set a restriction. So even after classes begin, we will still accept students.


Luc Fray: What are some of the classes you guys offer?


Aria Kenden: We aren’t revealing the full list yet until classes begin, but, so far, we have the potential to start with sixteen. They include Art, Creative Writing, Drama, Health and Wellness, Norse Mythology: The Gods of the Vikings, Law, Media Ethics, Japanese, and South Park & Contemporary Issues.


Luc Fray: Wow, that’s a lot! Do you guys let the students choose the classes or do you enroll them all in them?


Aria Kenden: There are no sign-ups for classes, so there is no limit of attendants. Students can come and go as they please.



Gym.


Luc Fray: Ah, so you guys are focusing the RP on story than actual classroom interaction and education. I may have gotten a little bit confused on that….


Does Silver Leaf have a main central plot to which individual characters’ stories would gravitate around?


Aria Kenden: No, not really. The only plot we have set in place is we are based on UK schools. Meaning, it’s called sixth form or college, for ages 16 to 18.


Luc Fray: At the core of it all, what basically is Silver Leaf College?


Aria Kenden: I’d have to say, it’s a place for teens to come together for RP and to make new friends. Yeah, there are classes and learning, but the interaction between all participants, students and teachers, is what makes it special.


Luc Fray: On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you for this?


Aria Kenden: Ha! Oh my God, it’s off the charts! Every day, since beginning plans, I've been telling Devin how excited I am about it. So I’d say, at least a 12!


Luc Fray: *laughs* Aside from being Admin, you are playing a student here too, right? Tell us a little about your character.


Aria Kenden: Yes, I am playing a student. My character is of legal UK drinking age... eighteen. She typically grabs the seats in the back of the classroom, unless she is crushing on the teacher. She sticks to the same people she is familiar with, but she is all-around nice. Other than my character, I'd have to say the principal and counselor are the ones to watch out for. They are anything but typical, and I'll leave it at that.


Luc Fray: She sounds lovely. I look forward to interacting with you in campus then. *laughs* Would you like to invite our readers to Silver Leaf College?


Aria Kenden: Me too! And yes! To any reader who wants more information or wants to apply, the first step is visiting our website at: http://silverleafcollegesl.wixsite.com/silverleaf


Luc Fray: Thank you for that, Ms. Kenden, and here’s hoping SLC will be a huge success!




Silver Leaf College.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

SL’s Best Schools! -LillyLacewing Reporting.


This is a hard one, ladies and gents; I won’t lie to you. I have to pick only 5 institutions to list here, and many well-known universities have a presence in Second Life. So instead, I’m going to highlight a couple of schools relevant to things you need to know in SL, and a couple of University presences. First up?


Caledon’s Oxbridge University.
This place is interesting; it has a ‘lecture hall’ where you can learn the ins and outs of Second Life, or if you’re big into Steam Punk, then I highly recommend checking out their library where they host a treasure trove of books on everything from 19th Century Politics and sciences to art history and children’s books. The whole university is appropriately Steam Punk, and I love it! There’s lots of informative stuff here for newcomers to SL as well, such as simple things like interacting with a new currency marketplace, how to build things (very basic of course) and how to earn Lindens, interact with others, and everything else someone new to SL would need to know--or even someone not so new, but in need of new information. They host both free, and paid classes on a wide variety of SL important activities such as building items, clothing, working with mesh, etc. It’s a great, fun, large, and informative school beyond worth the TP in!

Stanford University’s SL Location
Now, I don’t have to tell you about Stanford. It’s a Real Life, Ivy League University. It has links to their libraries online. Once you land, there’s a bright red line that you follow to large billboard that lists the SL physical locations of their libraries, and there are a handful of video screens that link you to the online libraries.  The Second Life installation is very detailed, large, and beautiful.  It’s great for students of the physical university, as well as curious SL’ers who’d like to learn things they might not otherwise. Go check it out!


Rockcliffe University Library and Reference Center.

Ok, so admittedly, this one’s more of a library than a school, but it taught me how to make clothing! Something I’ve always kind of struggled with was creating here in SL, but a book quite literally out in the open taught me, in a matter of minutes, how to make basic, simple clothing. It’s filled with books both informative and fictional, as well as books on how to make things in SL that are basic, easy to understand, and won’t intimidate the new user! I was happy to find this place, and now I can’t wait to give my new clothing making skills a try. Who knows, maybe this time next year, I’ll be pimping my own product line in an upcoming article! Go get your learn on!

SOMA: Learn Photoshop, gimp,etc…
This is a great resource sim for those who want to learn to fine tune those clothing-making skills they picked up at Rockcliffe! This ‘school’ teaches users how to use image manipulation and graphics software such as Gimp, Photoshop, and even more I’ve never heard of. As anyone who’s made, or purchased, an item off the marketplace, can attest to how important those graphics programs are for builders, SL ‘tailors’ (clothing makers,) and those who build entire sims. This is a place I plan on returning on my off time to learn, on my own time and at my own pace (how rad is that?!?) how to make textures to attach to that shirt I just learned how to make.


University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
This is another Real-Life University brought to life here in the grid! This one serves students of UWM, both in teaching them how to use Second Life in order to take classes on its online campus, and in other SL relevant information. It serves the public the same, and teaches new users how to orient to life in SL. I was surprised and happy to see that this campus seemed up to date, the Halloween colors of black and orange popping up in cheery balloons welcoming you to the campus.

All in all, it was hard to pick the 5 best schools of in Second Life, mostly because A.) There are SO many, and B.) They’re all incredibly informative, most even have their own libraries, either with old classics in notecard form, or online links to places where you can read and experience classic literature for free. Also, for those who want to further their educations but cannot afford to attend places like MIT, some schools offer access to their textbooks online for free. For MIT’s curriculum: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/online-textbooks/ .  A Google search can also bring you lots of free textbook resources as well as other e-books for both learning, and pleasure!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Into the Cauldron- Luc Fray Reporting...


[Hera and Zeus devotional]

 
Some weeks ago, I had accidentally come across the school Sacred Cauldron on SL search. The description interested me as it stated that it is a virtual pagan academy. Curious, I asked my editor if I could cover a story on it. When I finally got the go signal, I went on to request a short interview on Sacred Cauldron's Dean, Dean Belladonna Laveau, and two of the school's students,  Tea Tephi and Sapphire Chaosus. 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Willowdale High School - An Education Experience -- Amanda432 Cheviot Reporting


“School + Students = Education” – Rose Kramoloc

When I tell people that I teach high school in Second Life, there is shock and disbelief. The expression says “My goodness, why???” After all, when one thinks of Second Life, there is clubbing, chatting with friends, and exploring. If there is any roleplaying (RP’ing), it is either of the adult variety or something to do with dragons, zombies or vampires. And if there is education, there are building classes and maybe some college classes. High school is another story though. Why high school?

For me, I had the same reservations. Strangely, teaching high school in Second Life is too close to my real life experience and a lot of us in Second Life are trying to separate the two. And even stranger, I teach High School Algebra. When making your dream in Second Life come true, the last thing I thought that would be is being a high school Algebra teacher.

Willowdale High School (WHS) is my first SL high school (yes, there are actually others out there!) and I’ve been there for almost a year. Why do I stay? Well, because it’s fun. But not only is WHS an education environment, it is also an RP. People role play as teachers, students, and WHS staff. This was a new experience for me because I’m not a general RP’er. There are times I’ve found myself having to role play as a teacher with the students and times I’ve actually taught something in class. Then again, isn’t this the same in real life?

 
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