I had dreamed of joining the Second Life course in EVO for a couple of years. I had even signed up and chosen an avatar but no, it had been impossible, due to my engagement as a co-moderator in the eTextbooks course (thank you again, Shelly Terrell!)
THIS was the year, I thought at the beginning of January 2017, and what changes this decision has brought to my life!
EvoVillage 2017 started on Sunday January 8, and I was lost from the very first minute. People appeared to be emanating strange rays from their hands (building objects, I learnt later) and using a strange language beside their English (“rezzing prims”?!?). Every time I tried to move, it was complete disaster, with my avatar either moving too much, or too little, or going the wrong direction. Speaking was out of the questions!
I was kindly greeted, anyway, and nobody urged me to do anything. Luckily a recording of the meeting was produced, so that I could watch it closely at my own pace and learn.
The second meeting was not so shocking (we met every Sunday and Thursday in the evening, European time). My avatar uttered the first shy words and soon I was engaged creating my first 3D objects: a ball, a dice, a board… Time to play!
No theory, on the land of EduNation, except for an interesting presentation by Graham Stanley about Gamification. Authentic learning-by-doing style, so to speak. This is how I experienced the effects of gamification on my own doing. Difficult? Well, yes. Frustrating? No, thanks to the mentors’ assistance. Motivating? YEEEEESS!!!
I’ll be there next year, that’s for sure. Looking forward to it!
amentia verna 
I enjoyed reading this very much, an example of how sharing on EVO, both as a presenter and as a participant can lead slowly but surely to new collaborative projects and personal and professional development.Good that you started the blog so that people like me could read this account. Good luck for the future.
Thank you Osna. Much appreciated!