Philip Rosedale, founder of Linden Lab (Second Life)

It was a very good experience for me that I presented at SLCC this year. There are some things I would like to record, and share.

1. The first thing I would like to share is, at SLCC, most people use their SL name ONLY. It is not normal for me because I always tell everyone my real name no matter in SL or in RL.
2. The participants’ average age was about 45 to 50. I think this is a really special thing that can be studied. I guess most of them are not gamer when they were young. Therefore, if we could know how they go though the learning curve and  become  familiar with the virtual environment or even become content builders, might help us to know how can we teach and motivate our students in the virtual world.
3. There were participants from around the world, but there were few Asians. I know there are more Asian in SL, what will be the reason that only very few of them present in the convention?
4. My topic was: What can SL give? What can art education take? What can art education give to SL? I didn’t specifically submit it to “Education Track,” and this topic been classified into “Art, theatre, poetry, performance and community track.” It is interesting that where should “art education” belong? (I did explain in my presentation that art education is a profession, is a field of study.,,)
5. Besides education and arts, there were also business, health and support, nonprofit, music, fashion, tracks. Because of the diverse track, there are people from different profession in SL and in RL. Many participants apply their RL profession into SL.
6. Bettina Tizzy, one of my favorite bloggers.
   Many participants in SL have their own position, such as builder, scripter, designer, organizer, educator… … I think, those people who really successful in SL, they know general knowledge about SL, and work hard on their position. In this way, they can really work into their professional. (Some important SL users are also important and successful in their RL! )
7. SL can foster users’ creativity, and it might also help with our health. At one session, we were talking about the health issue in SL. One group member states that because he can create in SL, it helps his disability in RL. I agree, since I start my dissertation, I don’t really have time to create RL art, which was one of necessities for me, and I start to create in SL. Without preparing material and clean up in RL, SL creation process really satisfied my creation needs.
8.   Party! 
   The SLCC party was interesting. Some people did dress up (like cosplay). We were all from SL. In SL, we were all “dressed up.” This was a convention that we can know the real people, but people were still using their SL name, and hide their RL face. I don’t know do they dress like what they look like in SL. But I think this is another phenomenon could be studied.
9. After meet and talk with people from different field, I think art education might need to have more communication and connection with other fields. Art education is the foundation for our visual world, without communication and collaboration, people outside art education will not be able to get benefit and understand the importance of art education.

If you miss the the SLCC this year, and really interested in SL, try it next year! SLCC is a totally different experience than other academic conventions!

(By the way, San Francisco was really pretty and nice city. The visual culture of San Francisco is very different from other cities I have been to. Maybe next time I can write something about that~ 🙂 )