A Visit to Campus: Teen Second Life

Tiplife Eggplant and Hector Something are the staff for a Real Life educational non-profit based in Los Angeles called EdBoost. EdBoost is the first group to participate in the fall session of the Campus: TSL program. Campus: TSL gives K-12 educators an opportunity to "test their wings." EdBoost was selected for the Campus program after Tiplife and Hector delivered an incredible proposal for how they intended to use TSL to teach programming skills to teens in their after-school learning center.

I met Tiplife and Hector on Campus: TSL at the model of their RL learning center, a detailed build by one of the teens. I was curious to hear how TSL was meeting their expectations. Typically, educators doing projects on Teen Grid create their avatars on the Main Grid and get transferred by Linden Lab to their Teen Grid estate when they have their background checks completed. Most other educator groups I've met have made the transfer from the MG to their private estates on the TG with their inventories full of items like interactive white boards and pre-fab houses.

In an initial email, Tiplife told me that she and Hector wanted to arrive on Campus TSL with nothing and see what the teens could create from the ground up. I was impressed with their Zen minimalist style. And I was there in the teens' first hour to watch them fill the landscape with free form buildings testing the limits of the Z axis, wildly rotating flexi-prims, and mysterious monoliths.

To begin our interview, I asked Tiplife how she discovered Second Life. She told me one of the EdBoost students came in one day and asked her to teach him to script--he was using Second Life.

Tiplife Eggplant: So, we thought it would be the perfect platform for the programming class we've been trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get off of the ground.

Claudia Linden (CL): How were you teaching programming before Second Life?

Tiplife Eggplant (TE): We were teaching them in Python. Ed was putting together little assignments and projects -- for a class…

CL: So what's the most significant difference between Python programming and Second Life's LSL scripting language?

TE: The most significant difference is that the tiny, silly programs they write are embedded in these great graphics and this very cool world....so, although one of our students just wrote a simple if-then program in order to make his joking hat (which is very cool), the fact that it's in a hat makes it infinitely more interesting than a blank DOS screen that tells a joke. One thing I've learned about teaching is that context is HUGE... and this context is really great. It's also been really easy to draw kids into the class (homework and everything)…

CL: What are they loving and what are they finding challenging?

TE: They LOVE the flexibility. I think that they could sit for hours and just build (obviously). And I love that I think that it improves their computer skills overall (and some have very few)…

CL: Do they get frustrated, or are they pretty good with hanging in there to learn? It can be a steep learning curve at times.

TE: The scripting is tricky. They vary a lot. It's a little steep -- mostly in the details -- the whole "if one letter is wrong, it doesn't work." But, it's so much better than in Python. I think the fact that they can do SOMETHING (i.e. construct the vehicle) gives them more patience about getting it to actually move. No one has given up yet…Interestingly enough, they all want to make stuff that "does stuff" like shoots or moves or explodes. So, the scripting is key. That's the best part about keeping them into it.

CL: What would be the advice you would give to other educators who want to work with teens in TSL?

TE: I think to make sure that they have enough time to get to play around…We give them really open ended assignments--and a whole week to get them done. They can go elaborate and spend all of their time on the assignment, or they can get it done and do other things that interest them more. For assignments they love, they go all out. For the ones that interest them less, they get them done and move on. It's worked well for this particular program. It's by far their favorite thing to do once they finish homework…the other kids are really good about helping the newbies. Ed leaves little signs and presents around for them. So it's always an adventure when they come back in.

CL: What do you see as the strengths of Second Life in teaching kids programming skills?

Hector Something: The things they can do with the scripts are so much more tangible and immediate than in other programming settings. It's like you don't need the electrical engineers to do the robotics. It's all provided here--that is a huge motivator for the kids...they can immediately see things they want to do...I am learning surprising things about what they like to do. I should have anticipated the interest in vehicles and animation but they were not really there in the Python class so I am quickly trying to adjust. With Python, we could play with sounds and images but not vehicles or animations! It will not be too hard to adjust the teaching materials, but the first time through, I have a lot to learn! They are super motivated! I've never seen them so motivated about anything!

Read more about EdBoost in Second Life on their blog