Using Second Life - a guide for learners/Communicating in learning groups

Working in and joining groups
Joining a Group - Leaving a group

Even though Second Life is a virtual world, the people using it and interacting with one another are ‘real’ people. Therefore, ‘real’ etiquette needs to be used when interacting, especially in more formal situations.

How to ask questions and share ideas
Mostly, asking questions and sharing ideas uses the same process as in real life. The biggest difference is that you can have voice chat and text chat going on at the same time. While someone is talking you can put questions and ideas into text chat so they can be discussed at an appropriate time without interrupting the speaker. Exact protocols will differ between groups.

How to network
The best way to network is to show interest in what people are doing, be polite, and join groups that have similar interests to yours. While many people won’t have the time or desire to chat, you will build up a group of people who you consider to be Second Life friends.

Join a group
You can easily join open groups by searching them and pressing the Join button in the group's Info tab. If there is no Join button on the Info tab of a group, the group is a closed one and you can only join when you get an invitation, or you are already a member of the group.

Leave a group
To leave a group:

•   Select Edit > Groups from the menus at the top of the Second Life window

•   Click on the name of the group you wish to leave

•   Click Leave

•   Confirm that you'd like to leave the group by clicking OK

Group Chat
Most groups only allow on-topic conversation. Some groups welcome random group IM. It's almost always bad form to spam a group, and not following the rules may get you ejected from the group. How can you find out? Open a group's profile: Communicate window > Groups tab, click a group and click Info. From there, read the Group Charter or contact a group owner in the list.

Communication in voice chat
Communication using the voice chat system requires the same care that you would have in your real life classroom. It would be useful to to have some hands up style gestures, or even to have a HUD that let you, for example, put your hand up. Here are descriptions of how to set up voice chat, voice set up 2,

Moderating a group chat
A video about how to moderate group chat, and how to give other people moderation rights.

Next - How to build, creating in Second Life
How to build.