If there is one place anyone who is interested in learning more about Second Life, such as scripting, texturing, working with prims, or just getting around in Second Life in general, then Technical User Interfacing, or TUi, is the place to see. I think this paragraph sums it up pretty good, “We feel it is important to provide basic knowledge to residents at little to know cost to them, as we want to make it very simple for them to function within Second Life. Providing a new resident the ability to learn how to function in Second Life on a basic level will give them the ability to know if SL is a good fit or not. By providing classes we hope they are able to see the potential here, thus growing a desire to stay and help expand the content within.” If there is one thing Second Life needs to be, it needs to be easier to get going, as someone said recently, it needs AOLified.

I spoke with a mentor when I visited their island, here, his name was Derrek Paine and he was one of the most helpful individuals I have met in Second Life. Not only did he answer my questions, he offered to send me landmarks for all kinds of stuff, skiiing, sky diving, he gave me a starter pack that someone gave him when he first started going inworld, IM Stone Culdesac and I’ll send it to you, it contains all kinds of information for the first timer, as well as links to freebie’s, fliptitle, powershield, notecards on how to join groups, find classes, notes for newbs, a list of amazing places and much more. It’s called Taku’s Newbie Starter Pack.

Anyway, he said they have 100 or so instructors, ranging from real life teachers with years of experience teaching, to student teachers, to people who just teach in Second Life. They have Student Teacher Training Courses, where they introduce them to teaching and set them through some self paced stations and tasks, and after they accomplish set requirements, including a practice class, they can start to teach. Each student teacher has a mentor who is there for the mock class and the first real class, they are also there for the first class if the teacher chooses a different lesson.

All of their classes are posted in the SL Community Events by the teachers, so just open up search while in Second Life, select events, make sure that date is selected, or doted, type in tui in Name/Desc and there you go. Sometimes they are posted a week in advance and sometimes just a few hours, depending on the teacher’s schedule. They say they do it for the love of teaching, and if they are all like Derreck, I believe it. He said they stay after class to help students who are having trouble and you can IM them at about any time. He’s had some classes last for an hour, and then last for two more hours afterwards because the students wanted to know more.

Most of the classes are done in chat, that way students can also go back through the session to re-read it, some are done in voice, plus, you get whatever class materials the instructor has prepared. Their website is here, they have forums on their website as well, here, and here is the Second Life URL. Below I have posted their “What is TUi NEO?” notecard. I have posted some events, TUi NEO Level 1 LSL for Beginners, TUI NEO Level 1 - Sculpty Prims Made Easy, TUi PRO Level 3 WhatTheFuxsThat?!? and many others. So, go learn, teach, discuss, or just listen here.

What is TUi NEO?

TUi Neophytes, aka: NEO, offers our students an opportunity to learn first hand from our quality instructors on a level basis. Level one are our basic beginner classes, level 2 intermediate classes for those who have the basic concepts of texturing and working with prims and level 3 for more advanced students who are confident in following along and know the jargon.

Our instructors are willing to go that extra mile and help you so if you’re not following or understanding, they are usually willing to work with you on more of a one on one basis at the end of your class. Just IM the instructor for help and you will get it.

Each instructor has put a lot of time and effort into preparing your class from writing the notes, packaging the materials used and teaching you how to make and understand what you are doing. So at the end of your class not only do you have something nice to show, but chances are you have learned something new! Also here at NEO you are not just a student, you’re family. We take pride in providing you excellent, courteous service and are willing to help you however we can, be it get you to that class you’re looking for or simply putting a smile on your face. We want you to leave your class thinking that was well worth your time. If for any reason it isn’t, our administration team wants to know. You can IM any TUi Instructor in-world or on our forums and we will make sure to correct any problem that you may have had. So come on out, take a class, what do you have to lose? You will walk away with more than you came with… you can bank on it!

TUi Dean - First Page

TUi Assistant Dean - Leeloo Dassin

TUi Head Mentors - Hempz Rebel & Lady Hathaway

TUi Mentors-
Amber Ur
Aurora Mushtarie
Calla Cela
Catherine Soderstrom
Catty Loon
Happyholly Grigges
Hellblazer5 Dagger
Kayak Kuu
Leem Hua
Sylvia Campbell
Taffy Allandale

STT (Student Teacher Training) - Tommy Tui
STT Support-
Catherine Soderstrom
Hempz Rebel
Lady Hathaway

TTT (TUi Teacher Training) - Katya Koolhaas
TTT Support-
Ima Mechanique
Shay Ellison
Somatika Xiao

TUi Master Clothing Designer - Katya Koolhaas

TUi Master Scripters - Ledanna Evans

Check In Thread - Kayak Kuu

Website/Forum Leads - Leeloo Dassin/Lady Hathaway
Support- Taffy Allandale

Marketing/Advertising - Jill MacKenzie

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