Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

It seems like like every other day in New York City we have been encountering a new season. I now carry my flip fops, winter boats, rain coat and sun cream in a bag with me at all times. Last time I advertise spring was finally here on the blog, but I failed to remember our great friend Global Warming. I wonder if there's Global Warming in Second Life? We at the Online Leadership Program are not letting the erratic weather change our moods. Our minds are still on the treadmill coming up with ideas, observations and reflecting about our world in the digital media and education landscape. Enjoy rummaging through our thought process.

Rafi reflects on the implications of voice for online group facilitation.
Changing the Facilitation Game in Second Life

Rik learns why Global Kids staff make poor blood donors but interesting people.
Global Kids: why our blood is unacceptable

Shawna explores a whole new set of bad words we teach today's youth.
Teaching Bad Words

Tabitha writes about Second Life not being for everyone.
Second Life - not for everyone.

Posted by Leslie Ann at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently received a very interesting email:

I am the Games in Learning project officer for Education Queensland which is part of the Department of Education, Training and the Arts (Queensland, Australia). We currently have a Machinima pilot project operating in three schools.

Our local newspaper, The Courier Mail, is creating a double page spread about Machinima and has asked me to assist with developing content for the page.

They'd like to feature information about work students are doing with Machinima internationally. Could we have permission to use a screenshot from the video A Child's War for the double-page spread?

Well, of course! Below is the part of our student's film and click here if you'd like to download the entire page about teen machinima.

Posted by joyce at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids is offering a fellowship to focus on event management for the International Justice Center (click here to teleport). The fellow will be expected to work with Global Kids staff to organize regular in-world events in that sim for SL residents, human rights groups, and the general public.

Since 2005, Global Kids has leveraged the educational potential of virtual worlds to inform and involve people in pressing international and public policy issues. The International Justice Center builds on Global Kids’ groundbreaking work by establishing an online hub supporting the ICC and the global justice concerns it addresses. Developed and administered by Global Kids with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, this innovative online learning center will provide resources for people to learn about the ICC, connect with ICC officials and advocates, and take action in support of human rights and international justice. For more information, see the IJC website at http://justicecenter.net .

The Justice Center Fellow will work in close coordination with Global Kids staff to organize regular gatherings in the Justice Commons sim as a means of promoting ongoing education, dialogue, news and information sharing on issues related to global justice and the ICC.

Continue reading "[ijc] Fellowship Available for International Justice Center" »

Posted by Rik at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Coverage from the First Annual Joan Ganz Cooney Center Symposium focusing on the Impact of Digital Media in educating children event "Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media are Shaping Children’s Learning".

We encouraged viewers to interact with the panelists during question and answer times by asking questions here, within Second Life and leaving comments to this post. You can download the transcript from some of that chat here.

Conference Supplemental Materials:

Conference Info sheet
Press Release
D is for Digital Press Release
D is for Digital
The Power of Pop! Wham!
Symposium Agenda
List of Tech Demos
Pre-K to 4th Grade Exemplary Podcasts.

Audio & Video Resources:

Video coverage of the event will be posted soon.

Thanks to the wonderful overview of the event by Scott Traylor from 360Kid, there is a good amount of the audio and some transcripts available from the event. You can check out Scott's great coverage and insight of the event and all of the accompanying files on his blog post here and can download a zipped file of all the audio he has available.

Posted by joyce at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Spring 2008 policy brief entitled Using the Media to Promote Adolescent Well-Being from the Princeton Brookings Institute series on The Future of Children spotlights the wave of youth focused media in today's society.

Adolescent media use has exploded. Parents are worried that teens are drowning in messages about sex, smoking, drinking, consumer goods, and a host of other behaviors and products that threaten their health and well-being. This brief advocates fighting fire with fire by creative use of media to provide youth with positive messages that counteract the negative and potentially damaging messages to which they are so frequently exposed.

The brief goes on to mention our work and our ways of engaging youth.

Global Kids, a youth development organization, takes a preventive approach, using new media to engage urban youth and inspire them to become global citizens, community leaders, and successful citizens. To do this, the Global Kids Online Leadership Program, www.globalkids.org, infiltrates online youth spaces with substantive, issue-oriented experiences, from online dialogues about current events, to a game about poverty and education in rural Haiti, to supporting virtual-world-based training to promote youth social entrepreneurial activity around such issues as preventing bullying and raising self-esteem.

Download the full policy brief here.

Posted by joyce at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The month of May continues the RezEd focus on educational virtual worlds, to be followed by a month exploring education in or through commercial virtual worlds. http://www.RezEd.org

This week on RezEd:

-- Podcast: Sasha Barab, Associate Professor at Indiana University and developer of Quest Atlantis, discusses “Narratizing Academic Content through Videogames”

-- Best Practice: Dr. Chris Dede, Professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard University and developer of River City, submitted the Best Practice, “Using Virtual Worlds for Sophisticated Assessment”

-- Featured Discussion: In response to Sasha Barab’s interview, Adam Ingram-Goble, a Learning Sciences PhD student at Indiana University who has worked on the Quest Atlantis project since August 2005, poses these three questions for this week’s discussion:

What aspects of game designs make them so compelling, and how would we translate those into curricula?

How do we balance educational and gameplay goals of showing vs. telling?;

and Imperialism and Virtual Worlds: What is a reasonable balance for education?

Most Active Member-Created Groups:
Over 230 members have participated in the BETA of REZED since it launched two weeks ago, creating new discussions and groups for K-8 educators, language learning, gender in virtual worlds, and more.

Language Learning in Virtual Worlds
K-8 Educators in Virtual Worlds
Virtual World Librarians
Gender in Virtual Worlds
Create one for your own interest or community.

This is the May 7, 2008 RezEd Update to let you know what is new on the Hub for Learning in Virtual Worlds.
RezEd: The Hub for Learning and Virtual Worlds provides practitioners using virtual worlds access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning. It is produced by Global Kids, Inc. through the generous support of HASTAC and the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

www.rezed.org

Posted by Amira at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our partners at the USC Network Culture Project are opening today a Community Challenge entitled Second Life and the Public Good, slated to begin Tuesday, May 6th from International Island (teleport slurl). A special opening session will be held on May 6, 2008 at 11AM with Cory Ondrejka, former CTO of Linden Lab and current visiting professor at USC.
:

We hope you will join us Tuesday, May 6 at 11:00 am PST as we consider the potential impact of virtual worlds like Second Life to address real world issues and better the public good of commuities around the world. This conversation will launch a community challenge to create projects (and fund the top three as voted by the community) that best address critical issues.

Continue reading "USC Network Culture Project announces Second Life Community Challenge Today" »

Posted by Rik at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As part of the ISTE Speaker Series Sessions, Cathy Arreguin will be presenting her paper on the SLCC 2007 Education Track entitled Reports from the Field: Second Life Community Convention 2007 Education Track Summary.

The event will be taking place Tuesday, May 6, 6 PM PST, within Second Life on ISTE's main sim, teleport to the event here.

You can also download a pdf of Cathy's paper directly here.

More details of the event below from ISTE's calendar of events page:

Lessons for Educators from the Second Life Community Convention 2007 - Looking Forward to SLCC2008! Cathy Arrequin & Ross Perkins

Join author/educator Cathy Arreguin (SL: Mari Asturias) of San Diego State University, as she discusses her paper for Global Kids summarizing the SLCC 2007 Education Track proceedings, emphasizing important concepts and examples especially useful for K12 educators and others wanting to incorporate best practices into their Second Life instruction. Joining her will be Dr. Ross Perkins (SL: Milosun Czervik) of Virginia Tech, who will provide additional insights into effective MUVE-based instruction NOT covered during the SLCC 2007 Education Track. This fast paced hour will also highlight practical examples and activities designed to inspire K12 educators new to virtual worlds. Cathy and Ross co-authored Real-Life Migrants on the MUVE: Stories of Virtual Transitions, published May 2007 in Learning & Leading with Technology. As former classroom teachers, they share a passion for equipping teachers in effective and creative uses of technology for instruction and learning.

Posted by joyce at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There has been quite a buzz since the launch of our RezEd social network. Below are some of the things people have been saying in recent blog posts. We are overjoyed it has been so well received and encourage others to check our RezEd!

RezEd: A Resource for all things Virtual and Educational! The incredible folks over at Global Kids have just launched a new network dedicated to education in virtual worlds. RezEd should be useful to K-12 practitioners as well as higher ed folks. The site promises lively discussions, monthly themes, interviews and podcasts with experts as well as an innovative community of like minded people all sharing the goal of improving education for all. For the site’s launch, RezEd features an insightful interview with Larry Johnson of the New Media Consortium regarding his congressional testimony. Go check it out!!

Dispatch from vBusiness Expo
On Day 2 of the Expo, Barry Joseph (SL: GlobalKids Bixby) of Global Kids discussed “Doing Well by Doing Good: Supporting Non-Profits and Philanthropies in Virtual Worlds” and how Global Kids has been able to successfully create experiences that engage Global Kids teens in discussing and learning about real world social justice issues, while also bringing in such groups as the International Criminal Court into Second Life. They recently launched the International Justice Center in Second Life and will continue to foster collaboration between students and non-profits. He also announced the new RezEd Hub for Learning & Virtual Worlds and encouraged educators to get connected.

Connecting with educators in RezEd
Already I belong to a few ning groups, like Classroom 2.0, but I’m really excited about the latest group I’ve joined: RezEd, the MacArthur funded network for educators interested in using virtual worlds in education.

I blogged about RezEd a few months ago and have been waiting for their launch ever since. They went into a live beta earlier this week and the place is beginning to fill up nicely now (I think they’re close to 200 members at the moment.)

Posted by joyce at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How are YOU changing your community?

Please show us by entering in the DIDI Creativity for a Cause Contest:
Entries can include, but are not limited to:
Posters, poems, short-stories, machinima, statues, small builds.

All entries should address two questions:
What problem do you see in your community?
What is something YOU can do or are doing to help change that problem?

What: Contest Award Ceremony & Celebration
When: Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Where: D.I.D.I. Main Stage (SLURL: tinyurl.com/5dsh4d)
Time: 2:00 pm PDT/SLT
Contact: Daniel Voyager, Totem Gufler or Meghan GKid in TSL
Entries Due: All entries due Wednesday, May 14th

Posted by Meghan at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Below is a reposting of an article from MacArthur's Digital Media and Learning, in which Connie Yowell asks: What can we learn from young people about why they find virtual worlds so appealing?

An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action. This term came to mind as I read through Barry Joseph’s post—Comparing apples and oranges in virtual worlds. The recent simulcasting of an extraordinary speech by Kofi Annan into four different virtual worlds certainly provided an opportunity to think about virtual worlds and how young people use them. I came away from the event most struck, perhaps, by the size and quality of the discussion held in Whyville. Over 180 young people attended the event in Whyville, creating streams and streams of thoughtful chat discussion. Quite extraordinary really. What is it about the norms, practices, adult roles and other such affordances of this space that is so appealing and engaging for young people? More importantly perhaps, is if we cast aside our adult expectations and standards, what it is we can learn from young people about why they find this virtual world such an engaging learning space?

These are the kind of questions that form the basis of MacArthur’s grantmaking in Digital Media and Learning. What can we learn from young people about how to use digital media to support learning? What do young people have to tell us about the shape and future of learning environments in the 21st century? As research begins to emerge and as we observe the extraordinary engagement of young people in virtual worlds such as Whyville, Quest Atlantis and others, we have begun to form a tentative list of the kinds of affordances we see in environments that support learning. So far, we see the greatest engagement in those environments that allow young people to pursue a need to know, to share, to produce, to make their thoughts and productions public, and to develop a specialized language.

These are just a few tentative ideas that are emerging and are offered here simply to stimulate discussion. We think they are useful because they focus on the experience of young people in these environments rather than on the technology. In the posts that follow, I have invited a few of our colleagues to share their thoughts on the affordances of virtual worlds.

Posted by joyce at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On April 23, 2008, 39 youth in Teen Second Life participated in the 2.5 hour public forum, "From Myspace to Hip Hop: New Media In the Everyday Lives of Youth." It addressed how digital technologies and new media are changing the way that young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life, presented by Common Sense Media, the MacArthur Foundation and the Stanford University School of Education.

As is common in Teen Second Life, Global Kids facilitated processing questions during the live video stream, encouraging youth to respond to the content of the video and relate it back to their own lives. The following are some of the highlights, addressing such topics as:

• On MySpace, Facebook and Parental Restrictions
• On Socializing in Teen Second Life
• On Second Life and Homophobia
• On “Kiddy” Virtual Worlds
• On Showing Their Second Life Avatars To Friends and Family
• “Hip Hop is the Web 2.0 of the Streets”

Continue reading "[conf] Teen Residents on the From Myspace to Hip Hop Symposium" »

Posted by Barry at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On March 20, 2008, Global Kids brought a live simulcast of Kofi Annan receiving an award from the MacArthur Foundation into a variety of virtual worlds.

One of the highlights was working in Whyville for the first time. We had no idea what we would fine and were thrilled with the results. 181 kids visited the Greek Theater in Whvyille during the event, and 87 of them chatted at least 1 phrase. Jen, from Numedeon, and her tech team worked with Amira and myself to facilitate the event, using a combination of scaffolded questions and polls we had prepared in advance. While we facilitated the text conversation the tweens watched the live streamed video on the same Web page they used for viewing Whyville.

The staff at Global Kids were pretty inspired by the level of engagement and awareness the event generated amongst the youth.

Continue reading "[why] Global Kids Brings Kofi Annan into Whyville" »

Posted by Barry at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Below is a post from the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning blog in which Barry Joseph writes about Comparing Apples and Oranges in Virtual Worlds.

Global Kids reflects on lessons learned from a massively multiworld simulcast of Kofi Annan’s receipt of the MacArthur Award for International Justice.

Not all virtual worlds are created equally, even those with the greatest potential to host educational content. On March 20th, Global Kids hosted the first massively multiworld simulcast across four virtual worlds, bringing a live speech by Kofi Annan after receiving the first ever MacArthur Foundation ‘s International Justice Award to Second Life, Teen Second Life, Whyville, and There.com, not to mention the web.

To see what I am talking about, please watch the brief video below:

Continue reading "[In the Media] Comparing Apples and Oranges in Virtual Worlds" »

Posted by joyce at 1:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids, the International Human Rights Law Institute and the Institute for War Peace Reporting invite you to participate in a virtual discussion "ICC101 -- a basic orientation to the International Criminal Court" on Thursday, April 24, 2008 from 4-6:30PM PST. Held at the International Justice Center in Second Life (click here to teleport), the event will feature a video simulcast and Q&A from an “Introduction to the ICC” event at DePaul University, in Chicago.

Head to Justicecenter.net to view the live stream or come participate in-world!

The full event description follows...

Continue reading "[ijc] Live Simulcast of "ICC101" event from DePaul University TODAY from 4-6:30pm PST" »

Posted by Rik at 1:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry, as Dumbledore, speaks with GK's Barry Joseph

This past weekend we were able to bring back to TSL one of our favorite people here at GK, Henry Jenkins. Two years ago Henry outlined 11 skills, what he called New Media Literacies, that he thought would be essential for teens in the 21st century, and Global Kids has since then been thinking about and framing our work in terms of the skills and challenges to their acquisition that he talked about.

We've also thought that it would be fun to bring Henry directly into our work, and so that was the impetus for his second visit to the residents of Teen Second Life. Cosplaying Dumbledore and talking to a dragon version of our own Barry Joseph, Henry participated in what we called the Hogwarts Dance Party of Good and Evil.

Continue reading "[tsl] Henry Jenkins and the Hogwarts Dance Party of Good and Evil" »

Posted by Rafi at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)