TeaZers U.

The following post is an addendum that I had written some time ago to a couple of the posts that JohnnyRS had written regarding TeaZers U. that addresses some of the accessibility issues/difficulties that I encountered. Since I have heard a number others voice similar experiences, I thought that the following may help VTOR readers avoid similar circumstances in the future.

Update:
Prior to posting this, I returned to TeaZers Island just to see how things were. Now when I had taken my first course at TeaZers U., I had been given a notecard that was called “Optional Class Survey For TeaZers University” to fill out & return to someone associated with the university. I had taken the time to fill out this survey & voiced the difficulties & concerns regarding the accessibility issues that I had encountered, as well as offering some suggestions that might remedy these issues. Well to my amazement, upon my return this morning, I find that someone did indeed read my survey & the opinions that I offered, but not only had they read them, they had instituted at least some of my recommendations. This just goes to show that if you will use existing channels to point out any problems & offer solutions in a dignified manner, you may very well indeed affect a change that will benefit everyone. It is important that when you point out a problem, that you provide some type of solution so that you do not come off like someone that is just nit-picking or complaining. I am still offering this post here as there are still a few pertinent pieces of information present & I shall note where some of the changes had been made.

I have attended a few courses at Teazers U. and only had a few concerns, but this is a great way to start to learn many topics related to things in SL. The level one classes are short - 30 minutes, so they only cover a smaller subset of info in any subject area. However, they are structured in such a way that these mini courses cover the basic general concepts & provide no real meat or foundational information explaining the how’s & whys behind doing things. The courses are generally along the lines of completing a specific task by following the steps provided. Each course provides you with the materials and tools that are necessary to complete the course  and reach your objectives. This includes things like textures, scripts, notecards, etc., so all that is needed is you! Now learning by doing is a good way to learn, but it does help to understand why certain choices are made or a certain order is followed as this gives you some foundational knowledge to work from when developing your own ideas & concepts. Perhaps the higher level courses fill in this gap, but there are many who never follow through with these higher level courses & proceed to build from a poor understanding of base principles & end up contributing to the degradation of the sims performance. (This last comment will be addressed fully in a later VTOR post as it is beyond the scope of the current post.)

Now if you are not at all familiar with TeaZers Island, it is a good idea to go early in order to navigate your way to the appropriate class area in plenty of time. Since these classes are short, they can move rather quickly & if you miss anything in the beginning, you may be lost for the remainder of the course. Though there are some instructors that will help you cover what was missed, there are those that will not. I find that it is best to avoid this situation & becoming a disruptive influence in a class.

When I attended my first course, I found it to be rather confusing to find my way as things were not clearly marked. Add to this a number of other individuals who are entering the area, many of whom are also unsure of where to go or what to do. Then there is the increase in both the rez and lag time that is associated with the increased number of avatars & movement. The whole ordeal can become a bit of a nerve racking experience. So in order to save you the hassle and a headache or two, I shall provide you some helpful directions and tips.

When you first teleport to TeaZers, you end up flying right above a teleport pad in the middle of the islands shopping center. This teleport pad has a hoverboard floating nearby which is the mechanism used to transport visitors to their island destination. You need to mount the hoverboard and once on board, a dialog window opens asking you to select your destination, but the destination points are not very clear. Once you select your destination, you are instantly transported to the TeaZers U. welcome area. Once in the welcome area you will be presented with a course survey notecard, there will be someone who can answer questions or help you, and there are directions to each of the classrooms/course areas.

***Now upon teleporting to Teazers Island, you land upon the teleport pad facing two signs. There is also a dialog in the open chat channel welcoming you to the area & providing you with concise instructions. Here you simply click upon the left sign & you are instantly teleported to the TeaZers U. welcome area, which is now more open & navigable.***

Now it is very simple for you to find the current and upcoming courses that are presently scheduled rather quickly by either pressing ctrl-f or clicking upon the find button along the bottom of your hud. In the window that opens up just click upon the events tab - second from the left. Along the top of the events panel you have some filtering options such as the date, category, name/description, & a check box to toggle mature content on or off. Just select the time period that is of interest to you, either today, a specific date, or all upcoming. Then you must select educational as the category from the drop-down list box. If you know the name of a course or would like to use keywords in your search, then just simply enter them in the name/desc text box. Select your mature preference & then click search. You will be presented with a list of results rather quickly along the left column of the window. When you click upon a course name in the left column, details of your selection shall appear on the right. Simply read through this & find the course or courses that are of interest to  you.

Now along the bottom section of the course description there is a set of buttons offering a variety of functions. One teleports you to the teleport hub nearest to the course location. Another provides you a map view of the course location. Notify is to request a course reminder & teleport to the course. Then the last one is for those who wish to create a new event listing. Though the notify is a rather nice feature, it is not a wise choice for your first course as there is not enough lead time allowed if you are going into unfamiliar area. So I suggest that you do not use this option unless you have spent a little time to familiarize yourself with the area first.  Now there are other places that offer educational opportunities, but at the present time I am only familiar with TeaZers. I do suggest that everyone take a little time to educate yourself on any of the subjects that interest you. It shall save you some time & energy in the long run. Happy Learning!