Joe Essid directs the Writing Center at the University of Richmond, where he teaches courses in writing and literature. He is a Richmond native who attended the University of Virginia and earned a Master's and PhD at Indiana University. His research interests include technology in the classroom and Southern literary humor. His academic writing has appeared in Computers and Humanities, The Writing Lab Newsletter, and anthologies about technology and writing. He is a contributor to Style Weekly and has appeared in Eighty One and RVA. Ignatius Onomatopoeia is the "avatar" who represents Joe in the game-world Second Life. Ignatius will be wandering the virtual terrain of Second Life while his creator writes here about what may be either "the next big thing" for the Internet or the latest darling of the cyber-hip... the reader can decide.
E-mail contact: jessid@mac.com | Web address: writing2.richmond.edu/jessid

Location: Real-Life Desk, Pondering Syllabus for Fall

College teachers often ask me where to begin in Second Life®.  I say “Sarah Nerd’s Freebie Paradise,” then realize that they have no avatar yet and consider me insane.

Then, with my teacher’s hat jammed firmly on my head again, we discuss lesson plans and a general philosophy for a class using SL™. Those will vary by the subject and students’ ability. 

Still, most classes can begin with a principle given to me by Tenchi Morigi, who served as a mentor for my last class, “Invented Worlds.”  She wants to get 18-22 year olds past their initial loathing for the metaverse. She and I, over virtual tea, have discussed this common problem. In this installment of Iggy’s Syllabus, Tenchi rides to the rescue, and I provide a first lesson plan…Read the expanded entry.

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