Ha, your avatar looks just like you (at least from behind). I don't remember Geoff towering over you like that in real life, but I'll fall back on an old-timey internet saying and simply remind myself that in cyberspace nobody knows you're a dog.

Anyway, seeing as I've never been in SL (damned lousy computers), I was wondering how this sort of 'lecture' works. Do you just get a stream of text from the 'speaker'? Is it rapid, or is it at their regular typing speed? Or is there an audio feed and you just listen to the person speak regularly? If it's just a text stream, is there really any benefit to being there in person? I guess that question stands just as well if you're hearing it via audio... what's the benefit of being in a virtual room for a SL lecture as opposed to simply downloading the audio or text of the presentation at a later time from an ordinary website? Is there interaction (via audio or text)? I'm intrigued by the whole thing and wish I could simply answer the questions myself by TRYING it...

In Second Life, you see the text of all conversations happening within a certain radius from where your avatar is located. So in that sense the lecture was like being in an IRC chatroom, except within a virtual 3D environment. Also, since it's a virtual world, residents can make objects and include images/video/audio, making it closer to the way one interacts in the real world. In this particular lecture, the panelists were playing mp3s of music as they were analyzing the structure and elements of said music -- i.e., Second Life worked great for this situation. There were, of course, problems with the etiquette of audience interaction, Q&A, etc., but as in IRC, those things I assume will be worked out (if at all) over time.

Was there a cat in your classroom too? I'm confused as to if all the avatars actual reflect what people look like.

when are you going to shave that beard?!

Nice one, but it's spelled with a "c."

Slater, you can make your avatar look like whatever you want. Some people replicate themselves, others are far more creative.

the fact that people actually pay for something like this is depressing and extremely disturbing. it's one thing if it's some stupid free internet waste of time, but this has gotten out of control. it's called LIFE, you dumbshits. live it.

now i'm going to watch "grease: you're the one that i want."

It is free.

Is watching "grease: you're the one that i want" really living?

What I did was completely free. While Second Life does have in-world currency, I get the impression that most people who've tried it out hardly spend a dime. Then again, there are those who spend quite a bit on virtual clothing and real estate.

I can't count the number of stories on SL use in education. I bet Becca is tired of all the media attention. Still, I think it is pretty innovative for HLS to open all of their class materials to the public, and to have a paid teaching fellow lead online class discussions (I might be filling that position for a Harvard class this spring, too, so I'll keep you posted on how things go from the other side of the classroom).