I take this one personally

Nearly 8 years ago I finally did what I had been dreading for 29 years: I stopped smoking. The journey to cessation was amazing and life-altering, entailing lots of learning. I didn't just learn about what smoking does to bodies, but about my own fears and anxieties around cessation, and how important a community of support is in change.

You could say that this class was more than 8 years in the making. I will be telling (briefly!) my own story, but also asking for your own experience. Without pressure, I'll also share a few good resources so when you're ready, you'll know where to find good info on medications, community support, and more (and who knows, we may even begin our own smoking cessation support group).

Second Life is a community. Let's come together for health!

Carolina Keats

Looking for Health : a workshop on finding good health information

Class is in session!

This great image, kind courtesy of Ewa Dobrogowska
thanks so much!

I'm pleased with the number of people who showed up to this first class on the brand new Virtual Ability Island! Today was also the first time I have tried using voice AND a serial chat feeder AND slides, along with typed chat, for teaching. Let me just say that it's clear to me that I am no teenager, multitasking with ease and grace.

One idea that has resulted from this class is that we need to have a group (oh no, another group!) for Healthinfo Island and Virtual Ability Island classes, workshops and events. I'm trying to find a script that I can insert into a poster ('touch here to be notified about classes') or other object.

Upon request, I am also linking here to the class transcript. Note that because I didn't get permission, I have 'anonymized' everyone except me, calling all class participants 'A'. As I did this, I thought it was probably a good practice even if people do give permission.