CAVE Island Exploration

Today was the first time logging on to Second Life since our initial class meeting. I chose to explore CAVE Island as outlined in a 3D GameLab quest. While searching for the correct island and actually teleporting there proved somewhat challenging, upon exploring this virtual island, it was certainly worth it.

CAVE is an acronym which stands for Community of Academic Virtual Educators. It is an online gathering place for people affiliated with various organizations interested in virtual education. Some of the organizations involved include iNACOL, AECT, and Boise State. Though no one from any of these member organizations were actively present in CAVE Island, that didn't mean that I wasn't able to learn about it.

After taking in the beautiful scenery of this virtual world, the first thing to catch my eye was this gigantic CAVE Layout map. This was your typical "You Are Here" display showing you where everything else was. After giving it a brief look over, I set about exploring CAVE Island on my own.

I was pleasantly surprised to find various outdoor meeting places with interactive slide-based presentations teaching SL users about the organizations who meet in CAVE Island. One presentation that really interested me was iNACOL's. I had heard of the organization before, and I learned a lot more about their focus and mission by perusing their presentation.

Another presentation that engaged me was xLearning in Virtual Worlds. While the slides that I saw require additional explanation to understand, what I saw caught my attention and intrigued me. There were frequent slides illustrating a relationship between experience, emotions, and virtual learning.

While continuing to explore the island, I cam across a swing hanging from a tree branch. This really caught my attention due to the nature of the activity being a recreational child's venture. Why would something like this be in a virtual world like Second Life? I am still not sure as to the answer, but I enjoyed putting my basic SL interaction skills to the test by sitting down on the swing and going for a short ride.

After walking seemed to limit the places that I could explore, I set about flying and found a meeting hut on stilts. Among the interesting artifacts which I found in this hut was a door to an alternate reality room. How curious? Naturally, I entered. Though what I experienced on the other side didn't make much practical sense to me, I look forward to learning more about it and how others use this alternate reality room for their benefit.

Due to my general curiosity and willingness to roam around, my trip to CAVE Island was very successful. Not only did it acquaint me to another island and community in SL, it also allowed me to practice my navigation skills and user interaction with the software. Now, if I can only figure out how to get back to Prometheus . . .