Friday, December 26, 2008

Presentation about the Teen Grid with Pia Klaar.


Christmas is over and I am finally writing to the blog!

Last Saturday the TNC has a wonderful presentation by Pia Klaar about the teen grid. There were many good questions and Pia talked about her experiences working on the teen grid. She started by providing us with some background on the teen grid explain that SL was developed by Linden Research Inc. and opened in 2003. It was followed by the Teen Second Life grid in 2005. The teen grid is open to teens ages 13 - 18

Pia explained that “Until February 2006, Teen Second Life was populated entirely by teens.
In response to requests from educators and non-profit organizations, Linden Lab agreed to allow for the first educator and non-profit owned private islands. In addition, Linden Lab went on to launch the Campus program which gives qualified educators the use of a free parcel of land for a semester. Since then, educator and non-profit run islands, owned and inhabited by non-Linden, background checked, "Approved Adults" have become a major part of the TSL landscape.



Pia explained that there are two types of islands. These are open and closed island. According to Pia “On the closed estate model, educators need to work with a TG-approved developer to set up the accounts. Adult and teen accounts are able to communicate. They can form groups. They can IM. They can exchange objects. All teens and adults are confined to that particular estate - This is an advantage for groups who want to control the student experience. This is a disadvantage for groups who would like teens to be able to roam freely in TSL. The avatars are created when you set up the accounts. They are set up for that estate only. They do not begin on the Main Grid and then transfer to the TG. The other type of estate that I will mention is the Open island model. Teens from the mainland of Teen Second Life can come to their island and participate in activities. Teens from the mainland of TSL can visit. Adults cannot IM or form groups with mainland TSL teens. Teens who have created their own TSL accounts are technically on a different estate. Avatars on different estates cannot form groups, IM or exchange objects. They will not be able to see each other in Search. The adults are locked onto these islands. The teens can come and go.”


Pia went on to explain that she “created an avatar on the Main Grid, then had a background check which was approved by Claudia Linden. The Lindens then transferred that avatar onto the teen grid to the Eye4You Island. I created a different avatar for Globalkids. Again this was created on the Main Grid. Again, I had to ask Claudia Linden to transfer that avatar to GlobalKids island. Some adult-owned projects are willing to sponsor guests and volunteers from time to time. Join the SLEDT list and announce that you are seeking a sponsor. You need a sponsor. Explain your purpose. The estate owner will be responsible for adding you to their staff list. I contacted the people on eye4you and on Globalkids many times before I finally got on them. You will be required to provide an Ascertain background check to the sponsor. The sponsor will send that to Linden Lab with their updated staff list.

You will make a new avatar at secondlife.com. When Linden Lab receives the updated staff list and a copy of the background check from your sponsor, your avatar will be moved from Second Life to Teen Second Life to your sponsor's estate. The avatar you are creating to be moved to the teen grid will be on the main grid until it is moved over to the teen grid.
After clearance has been obtained (an email is received by Ascertain indicating you have passed your background check) you are ready to be moved. Make sure you have PG supplies with you (textures, clothes, etc.-check your freebies so that they are PG) as your avatar does not get to move back and forth from the main grid to the teen grid. You will know that you have been moved if the next time you log in, you are on the teen grid estate you requested to be moved to. You will be confined to the island(s) of your sponsor. Make sure you bring stuff with you. You will not be able to get anymore items once you are there.”


We will be posting the slideshare of the presentation shortly. This was a very informative presentation and we plan on continuing our presentations after the first of the year. If you have something you would like to present at the TNC please let us know!