SL Certification

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SL Certification Project

Introduction

In Second Life, education exists already in the form of many SL Schools. But certification does not yet exist in the form of SL Certifiers. The goal of the SL Certification Project is to create these certifiers.

SL Certification is a task-based approach to identifying those who have attained a given level of proficiency in world in a given knowledge and skills area. To become a SL Certification project participant, contact Orange Planer (Leader) or Glenn Linden (Linden Lab Sponsor).

Action Plan

Test

Phase One - Develop Skills Lists

  1. SLCERT team uses VOLUNTEER MODERATORS to maintain:
    • A single SCHOOLS LIST on the PUBLIC WIKI with links to their information locations showing what they teach
    • Multiple SKILLS LISTS on the PUBLIC WIKI of what people need to know how to do in multiple categories of SL skills
  2. The VOLUNTEER MODERATORS keep the lists current
  3. The SCHOOLS continue to:
    • Teach their classes
    • Remain responsible for their own existing certification programs for now
  4. RESIDENTS have a choice of where to go to learn the skills
  5. EVERYONE has the benefit of a shared set of SKILLS LISTS for reference:
    • Individuals have:
      • A checklist for managing their own skills education program
    • Schools have:
      • The opportunity to be known for the classes they already make available
      • The opportunity to offer new classes not yet available
    • Solution Providers have:
      • A checklist for managing their employee skills education programs or checking skills levels of their contractors

Phase Two - Develop Skills Tests

  1. SL CERT team uses VOLUNTEER MODERATORS to develop, test, and document:
    • Multiple SKILLS TESTS on the PUBLIC WIKI of what people need to know, and know how to do, in multiple categories of SL skills
    • BEST BLENDS of test methods including: Written (True/False; Multiple Choice), Performance (Build; Texture; Plan), and Other.

Phase Three - Identify Third Party Certification Companies

  1. SLCERT team identifies CANDIDATE THIRD PARTY SKILLS CERTIFICATION COMPANIES
    • Including criteria for ranking and selecting
    • Present their results and recommendations to Linden Lab Sponsor

Phase Four - Hire Recommended Certification Company

  • SL Certification Developers identify and prioritize selection criteria
  • Make recommendation to Linden Lab
  • Target identifying recommended SL Certifier 2H09

Phase Five - Certification in Operation

  • Linden Lab Sponsor reviews SL Certification Developer recommendations
  • Presents plan for Executive Committee discussion, approval, budgeting
  • Target 2010 to begin

Process Guides

SL Certification Process

Roles Guide

Certification Guide

Wiki Guide

Skills List Template

Company Lists

Education Companies / Schools

Moderator: Lady Hathaway

Testing Companies / Certifiers

Moderator: Orange Planer

Skills Lists

  • In PHASE ONE ACTION PLAN these lists are sorted in the order they were first created.
  • In PHASE TWO ACTION PLAN a logical grouping will be added to make subjects easier to find.

Land Management

Moderator: Starglazer Blazer

Texturing

Moderator: Alice Klinger

Terraforming

Moderator: Patrice Cournoyer

Scripting

Moderator: Louise Rumpler

Rotations and Positions in LSL

Moderator: Grandma Bates

SL Cert Rotations and Position in LSL

Event Hosting

Moderator: Linda Sautereau

Machinima

Moderator: Allison Selene

Building

Moderator: Aquarius Paravane

Marketing

Moderator: Ppmediadev Blinker

SL Mentoring

Moderator: Orange Planer

Skills Tests

Scripting

Moderator: Louise Rumpler

Meetings and Notes

Certification discussions, hosted by Orange Planer (2009) and Emily Darrow (2008)

4th Quarter 2008 Accomplishments

  • Team Leader Emily Darrow
  • Developed Action Plan
  • Schools List Up on Wiki

First Quarter 2009 Accomplishments

  • Team Leader Orange Planer
  • Additional Participation Generated by Post on XStreet
  • Ten Skills Lists Up on Wiki

Second Quarter 2009 Goals

  • Team Leader Orange Planer
  • Continue and Deepen Generation of Skills Lists
  • Begin Generation of Skills Tests
  • Identify 3rd Party testing companies to be used for certification process

Overarching Goal

SL Certification is a Resident-Managed Project with Linden Lab Sponsorship and Support.

The purpose of the SL Certification Project is to allow individuals to have their Second-Life skills recognized as meeting a set criteria, at various levels of "Basic", "Intermediate," and "Advanced"

A list of certified people will then be maintained and made available to those requesting a service.

To assist residents in achieving these levels, schools will educate those interested. They will create learning content based on the certification criteria.

Once the process is complete, a list of certified individuals will then be made publically available.

Immediate Goal

  • Develop certification criteria for modeling and scripting
    • We are looking for members of the Developer, Instructor, and Volunteer communities to work with Lindens in creating the skills list and certification tasks for those skills in Modeling and in Scripting.

Description

Linden Lab is supporting the development of certification for the use of key Second Life tools. We’ll begin with in-world building tools and LSL. We believe this will benefit Residents, Developers, and anyone who wishes to use Second Life by clearly identifying both key skills and the holders of those skills. This will also enable the creation of training to build the skills required for certification. It is Linden Lab's intent to work with an external certification provider to offer certification testing and maintain a list of those Residents who have been certified.

Linden Participants

Resident Participants

To list yourself as participating in the development of Linden Lab's SL Certification Project, add [[Category:SL Certification Participant|{{PAGENAME}}]] to your user page.


Certification Mailing List

https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/slcertification

SL Certification Group

SL Certification Devs - request membership from Glenn Linden or Orange Planer in world. Membership is open to anyone who requests it. Meetings are announced here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the value of Certification?

The primary value of certification is to those hiring people to create content for them in SL. Certification is one indication that someone has at least a minimum set of skills. Certification is only one of many ways to demonstrate competency. Certification also clarifies skills and helps instructors develop instruction.

Certification also provides a set of skills against which anyone in Second Life, whether they build for fun or for hire, can measure their accomplishments.

By more clearly defining skills related to Second Life tools, certification may improve the quality of construction in Second Life, and may encourage a broader range of instruction about the Second Life tools.

Portfolios already show if someone is competent; why do we need certification?

Portfolios have a valuable role in demonstrating accomplishment, both in RL and SL. In Second Life, many projects are done collaboratively. Builds can incorporate content that is bought and created, and many people can be involved. It can be hard to look at a project and understand what a particular person has contributed. Certification provides one method of demonstrating your own skill set. It should be only one of many potential ways to evaluate a candidate.

Is Linden Lab mandating certification?

You can chose to be certified if you want, or not. Linden Lab has no intent to monitor or mandate that Second Life content be created only by Residents with certification, or to mandate certification in any way. Nor will Certification (or non-certification) be tied by Linden Lab in any way to land ownership, group membership, membership level, or any other attribute of a Second Life account. While Linden Lab may provide a way for those listed in the Developer Directory to identify certification, it will not require it for the Developer Directory, Classifieds, Events, or any other Linden Lab-operated listing service.

Is Linden Lab mandating content of certification?

Linden Lab has engaged the Residents in defining the skills involved in competency, and in developing the appropriate demonstration of those skills. Linden Lab is not defining the skills nor the demonstration of them, it is simply supporting the process.

Will it cost money? Does Linden Lab intend to profit by Certification?

Linden Lab was looking to have a third party organization manage certification; we don't want the administrative hassle of doing it, nor the potential for anyone to claim that we would have influence on who gets certified. We intend to make certification as widely available as possible. We will work with Residents, Instructors and Developers to find the best way to enable certification.

Who will be providing the Certification service?

At this time, the only answer we can give is "Not Linden Lab." We will work with the Residents who participate in developing certification to find the best provider - whether a Resident, an external third party, or some other provider. Ironically, our original reason for only considering an external provider was to prevent any concern that one group of Residents might use Certification against other Residents. Linden Lab has no intent of operating the Certification service - we don't have the expertise or resources, nor do we want the inevitable accusations of bias.

Will certification make it harder to become competent in using Second Life tools?

Certification is a way to more clearly communicate skills. Without certification, everyone has their own idea of what competency is. Some classes will teach one set of skills, others another, and outcomes aren't comparable. That's why we're involving SL instructors in this project. Learning to use SL Tools will still take the same amount of effort. Certification will help guide builders and scripters in what they ought to learn in order to achieve particular measurable standards.

How will information on who is certified by made available?

The Residents involved in developing certification will help us determine the most effective way to list who is certified.

Can we do certification in Second Life?

At least one Resident has started building a set of in-world tasks that could become part of a certification system. This seems preferable to having external tests/tasks.

Certification Categories

Categories for certification will be varied, and will grow over time. The basic principal behind the certification process is to provide as wide an array of subjects as possible, and involve residents with skills in these areas.

Currently the following categories are being developed:

  • Graphic Design
  • Machinima
  • Client Interaction
  • Building
  • Land Management
  • Terraforming
  • Event Hosting
  • Scripting
  • Mentoring

By the end of February 09 we hope to have a framework of skill-sets which will then form the basis to develop learning materials.

Previous Attempt at Categorization

An initial attempt at the SL Certification project began in the second quarter of 2007. Included below is an initial attempt at categorizing Modelling and Scripting skills (further works and discussion can be seen on the List of Modeling Skills and Scripting pages). The current work on skill categorization can be found in Skills Lists above.

Modeling

List of Modeling Skills

  • Architecture
  • Furnishings/Interior Design
  • Objects
  • Weapons and Vehicles

Note: Includes using scripts to animate objects and textures but no writing of scripts

Scripting

  • Animation
    • Note: Animation includes object animation, texture animation and particle systems
  • Attachments
  • Movement
  • Physics & Collisions
  • Detection & Sensing
  • Asset Management
  • Setting Properties
  • Communications
  • Interacting with external data stores & web content
  • Media Management

Alternative Method:

  • Dynamic Objects - manipulation of objects
    • Subcategory: Physics and movement in 3-D space
    • Subcategory: Primitive Attributes
  • User interaction
    • Subcategory: User input and communication
    • Subcategory: Event handling
  • Web interface
    • HTML, XML/RPC, and any knowledge of web languages - Perl, Python, PHP, Java, etc
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