6)+Communication

6) COMMUNICATION
There are many ways of communicating in Second Life and you need to be able to manage them quickly and well. However this requires quite a steep learning curve the first few times you are "in-world" - this does gets easier with time. We have included a number of video tutorials here showing you in some detail how to set up and use the communication facilities. Read this section over and over again and play the videos again and again then try out some of the skills for yourself. Thinking strategically - we have not put audio on the videos because:
 * 1) You can narrate over them in different languages when reusing them with learners whose English is not their mother tongue
 * 2) They play faster over a broadband connection without audio

**VOICE CHAT**
Voice chat is often quite problematic in Second Life and Immersive Worlds generally. It is often difficult to set up and set the audio levels. A lot of people still prefer text based chat in SL but voice does have many advantages.

Please look at the "Voice" setup below:

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There are several reasons why "Voice" might not work on your computer. Here are several trouble shooting topics you might like to try if the white "pearl" does not appear over your avatar's head:


 * 1) Reboot your machine
 * 2) Make sure you have full multimedia rights or permissions on your client machine.
 * 3) Make sure all the "ports" are opened for your school or institution
 * 4) Make sure you have your sound turned up
 * 5) Make sure you have clicked the "Speak" tab at the bottom of your screen.
 * 6) If all else fails use another computer - if after that it doesn't work check your internet connection - working on a "Dongle" or low bandwidth doesn't allow voice.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING TEXT
There are three main text chat modes in Second Life. The first is Public Chat.

PUBLIC CHAT
Public chat is the main way most people communicate in Second Life - it is easy and quick; just type in the box in the lower left hand corner and hit enter. Everyone can see your typing - it appears on the screen. The Second Life Client saves your chat conversations to a text file on your computer for later as well.



VIDEO OF HOW TO IM IN SECOND LIFE
Instant Messaging ( IM )in Second Life is used private messaging between friends or private messages between individuals in a public meeting. Look at the video below and please click on the icon to see the film full screen. (*Tip - press the space bar on your computer to stop the film at any point. Press the ESC key to get out of full screen.)

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NOTECARDS

 * Notecards are very simple notes you can write and send to people in Second Life. But unlike notes in the "Real World" they have specific "Permissions" attached to them. Like everything you make in Second Life objects have "Permissions" attached to them. You need to be careful when setting these as people will not be able to read your notes if you haven't set the permissions or "perms" properly. See the video below for details of how to do that.

HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF WATCHING MOVIE TUTORIALS
To get the best out of the video click on the TV icon to see it full screen and use your space bar to stop the video by hitting it once to stop the video and once to start it again. If you want to see part of a video again simply put your cursor over the video and "click" on the "timeline" to "scrub" back and forth to see sections again once it has played. Look at this video two or more times and try to create your own notecard after you have seen it. Keep going back to the video and watch it again if you forget.



"HOW TO MAKE A NOTECARD" VIDEO
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MULTIMEDIA

 * audio

Setting up your sound in the Second Life Client - (**Please turn your sound on for this movie - it has sound...)** To get the best out of the video click on the TV icon to see it full screen and use your space bar to stop the video by hitting it once to stop the video and once to start it again. If you want to see part of a video again simply put your cursor over the video and "click" on the "timeline" to "scrub" back and forth to see sections again once it has played. Look at this video two or more times and try to create your own notecard after you have seen it. Keep going back to the video and watch it again if you forget.

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WEB PAGES AND FLASH MULTIMEDIA
Please see the tutorials here

MORE ADVANCED WAYS OF COMMUNICATING - REAL TIME VIDEO STREAMING
Please see the tutorials here