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May 31, 2007

[Teen/VVP] Pre Production

Last Thursday we continued our work on the Pre-Production. I guess it was hard for me Thursday because I couldn't see with my left eye... so I had either hold it shut or keep it open and squint a lot. So I was really really agitated and I guess I let that get to me and took it out on Joe and Jack. Also, I'm having finals, SAT's this weekend, and regular homework and papers due everyday. Then again, I'm not saying that getting angry at them was not well deserved either though...especially since the two of them together were working on minor details to one hut (that no one will probably even notice when, or things we can hide with the use of the camera angles well...) for the last couple of sessions. I guess I got angry because...we are technically on something similar to a deadline...and there is no way we can get everything done if we continue to work at the pace we are working on at the moment. Overall, however, I think the all the groups are doing pretty well considering that we are trying to do a very complex story in such a short time. So, I guess, in general its going well...and we are one step closer to getting something done. I don't think we would exactly be done by the end of the mid-June like we are supposed to be done... but I am sure we will get it done!

[VVP/Teens]

Last session we were divided into groups and we worked on props again. We finally finished the village huts, and we finished the closet where the younger brother hides in. We also finished a broom and are in the process of finding or making a army truck. Hopefully today we shall finish the truck ^__^

[sl] James Paul Gee arrives on Global Kids Island

Global Kids was thrilled to invite Professor Gee to Global Kids Island today. Professor Gee spoke on a live audio stream while trying on different avatars created by teens. At the same time, we invited adults within SL or outside SL to listen in on the audio stream and participate in the live chat via Sloodle (a first for the teen grid - it worked great!).


Group shot with Jim, as Wolf

For those of us in the field of games and learning, you might have heard of Professor Gee from the University of Wisconsin or read one of his books.

Jim pretended to be a special alien visiting from a planet unknown. This friendly alien was looking for an appropriate avatar outfit to "fit into" as he explored Second Life for the first time. He was offered all sorts of avatars designed by the teens through an avatar design contest.

The avatars and designers were:

While trying on the avatars, he commented on his experience of being in SL, on the nature of a projected identity, took comments from both teens and adults (through Sloodle), and addressed a number of issues relating to games & learning and games & society.

We have a number of things to show off from the day:


[VVP/teen] Tuesday's worshop

On tuesday we (the audio group) continued working on our sounds for the scenes. We have all the sounds except the native Uganda music which we have to buy from iTunes. We also need to put all the sounds together in the file we created. Also we found out Tabitha will be leaving for vacation. As part of the Aviation kids we will like to thank her for going to our school and introducing the gk machinima program, also for her great effort and work. We also have few meetings left therefore we must continue working hard.biggrin.gif

May 30, 2007

[VVP/Teen] Tuesday

Hey everybody, during Tuesday's workshop me and my audio group finished up on looking for all the sound effects. We just encountered a minor setback. We had trouble dragging the audio sounds onto a folder on our desktop so everytime we would drag it, the link/file wouldnt play. So hopefully we'll figure out on Thursday. Tabitha is also leaving for vacation and won't be back for 2 weeks i think? So i just wanted to think Tabitha for her leadership and the fact that she always keeps us on track with everything. So I'd like to thank her for her time and effort she put in our work and the time she put in to help us with our machinima projects. Hopefully we can finish putting everything together by Thursday's workshop so Tuesday, we're able to start filming. I'm part of the actor's crew. So I have alot to do after pre-production. Hopefully we'll finish in time so we can screen it. See everyone on Thursday!

[nc] Newz Crew Program Visits DC!

Every year, GK's Newz Crew afterschool program visits its partners at the Newshour with Jim Lehrer in an annual DC trip. This year, one of the teens, Anthony, was so inspired by the trip that he decided he wanted to blog about it here on the GK blog. Enjoy!

Newz Crew on the famous Newshour set

On Monday 10, 2007 my GK trainers, my fellow monitors and I took a trip to Washington D.C. Our main goal was to visit the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, who help us run NewzCrew.org, and to interview one of their senior correspondents, Ray Suarez.
We also had plans to visit several other places. We arrived in Washington D.C at approximately 9:00 PM, we all went to a restaurant for dinner and after we made our way to the hostel where we stayed. The next day was a very busy one because we had to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the News hour.

When we went to the Museum, they broke us into small groups and we all got a special tour of the Museum. The things we saw were really sad but one thing that I really appreciated was learning about the many unknown people who tried hard to save as many Jews as possible. An example was a Japanese diplomat in Germany, who handed out a bunch of visas to Jews so they would not get exterminated.

One of our fantastic guides at the Holocaust museum speaks about the meaning of the remembrance room
One of our fantastic guides at the Holocaust museum speaks about the meaning of the remembrance room

We then took the train which looked very beautiful and the bus to get to the News Hour. At the news hour we got another special tour and had the chance to interview Mr. Suarez. I must say, everything about the News Hour was amazing. I had the chance to see how the news was made and I think it is really cool.

Meghan from the Newshour points to the lights above, which when on raise the temperature in the studio by 40 degrees in ten minutes.  Watch out for melting makeup...
Meghan from the Newshour points to the lights above, which when on raise the temperature in the studio by 40 degrees in ten minutes. Watch out for melting makeup...

The students interview Ray about his experience with book writing, reporting on the end of apartheid, and more.
The students interview Ray about his experience with book writing, reporting on the end of apartheid, and more.

After the News Hour, we visited the Washington mall and had the chance to learn a lot about the Vietnam war. But during our visit to the Vietnam Memorial, there was a statue of three American soldiers, one was African American, that had a strong effect on me. The looks on their faces showed desperation and that brought a lot of things to mind like how do they feel being survivors of the war when so many people died? Do they value life more than others now? What kind of dreams do they have still about the war? These questions still bother me up to this day.

The next day, we went spent time together in front of the White House for a few, then we took the bus back to New York. Washington D.C was great, I learned a lot of important information like the fact that there were groups of Jews who started to fight the Germans back. I also learned that the there are specific people who decide what the top stories are going to be at the News Hour, I always thought that they just went about what happened first to what happened last. Washington to me was a great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.


[SL] GK Presents at the SL Best Practices Conferences

This past Friday was the 24 hour long conference focusing on Best Practices in Education within Second Life. Barry Joseph as his main grid avatar globalkids bixby presented a 'Choose your own adventure' styled talk on the history of the teen grid and Global Kids activities and programs that have taken place in the last year and a half. Global Kids was also a sponsor of the event and even gave out digital copies of their comic books and the GK lightbulbs which until the presentation had only existed in the Teen Grid.

The event was covered by SLCN who were also providing the video and audio streaming. You can view the video below or on the SLCN site here or download the video directly here.

The main presentation room was packed full at 80 avatars and there were several overflow areas in other sims that people were spilling out into. We even hosted a viewing of the live video stream on GK Island.

Here are some comments from the teens at the end of the event:

[13:02] Mariel Voyunicef: Bravo Barry
[13:02] Reallife Orca: wow. amazing
[13:02] Gruff Enfield: indeed, bravo.
[13:02] Tabitha GKid: yay!!!
[13:02] Tabitha GKid: that was so much fun
[13:02] Botnix Andric: lol
[13:02] Sploosh Ribble: i didn't see anything
[13:03] David Hultcrantz: Neither did I
[13:03] Sploosh Ribble: that was boring

Resources:

You can download the entire Powerpoint presentation.

Press:

We were also mentioned in SLNN's article about the Best Practices in Education Conference.

[press] Global Kids' Digital Leadership for the Real World

Global Kids' work online was featured in this Cable in the Classroom article regarding "sites to excite leadership potential in and beyond the classroom.".

Digital Leadership for the Real World
Through after-school programs and web resources—from youth-led dialogues to virtual worlds—Global Kids’ online leadership director Barry Joseph works to create experiential models with global issues to help develop youth leadership. Here, he gives tips for finding, using, and expanding on digital media for youth-engagement lessons.

What skills are you trying to encourage?
We want youth to be able to learn that education isn’t something that other people give to them, but is something they get to be in charge of. It’s not a burden, but it’s actually something that opens opportunities in their life and can be fun.

What should educators look for in Internet resources for lessons in leadership?
Look for something that truly engages young people—something [they] would want to do if you weren’t there making them do it. At the same time, make sure the thing that is engaging them is truly educational. That means looking at things that are explicitly developed for education and making sure they’re something that a young person would truly be engaged around, and at the same time, considering things that were not created explicitly for educational purposes and seeing how they can be used to teach.

How can educators promote these skills in their everyday lessons?
Give youth opportunities to create things, to work in groups... Create an environment that understands, for example, that with traditional education, if you ask somebody for help while you’re taking a test, that’s called cheating, but in the workplace— or playing a massively multiplayer game— collaboration is the name of the game. Talk about who took on leadership skills, who did not, and what that process was like.

Download the document here.

May 29, 2007

[podcast] Two GK Regulars from TSL Speak About GK Island on SL Insider Podcast

Mercury Metropolitan, the TSL resident intern, and Brooke Barmy, a participant in the current GK Intern Program and GK regular, were the featured interviewees of the most recent Second Life Insider podcast. It is an excellent overview of life in the teen grid. Throughout the episode they refer to a number of things about Global Kids Island - Moo Money's machinima classes, our Virtual Video Project, the simulcast with Mia Farrow on Darfur, our plans for the upcoming SLCC, and more. Check it out!

Read the post here.

Download the podcast here.

[VVP/Teens] Propping for PSA2

Last session we got into groups once more to work on our own parts for the final virtual video project. My group (props on Second Life) worked on making huts for the village again, and I think we've achieved the perfect huts with textures that match what we want. Now we just have to build the slightly smaller things on the list of props we need.

[P4K] Games for Change Conference

Global Kids will be running a teen panel including youth from both our P4K and VVP programs and we invite people to join us. Details are below!

Please join us for the 2007 4th Annual Games for Change Festival, taking place on June 11 - 12 at Parsons the New School for Design in NYC. Called "an early Sundance of video games" for "socially-minded game-makers" the festival will bring together leading non-profit organizations, game scholars, and industry experts to explore real world games with real-world impact. Participants include MoveOn, the MacArthur Foundation, MTV, and the UN, as well as artists and activists of all stripes. This new trend in gaming includes games about poverty, global warming, and Middle East peace. You'll get a chance to learn how these games are made during the daytime panels and presentations, and you can play and vote on the top games during the festival Expo Night, sponsored by Microsoft.

Please find the festival site here: http://www.gamesforchange.org/conference/2007/index.php

And press highlights here: http://www.gamesforchange.org/conference/2007/press.php


We hope to see you there!

[VVP/Teens] Thursday's workshop

On Thursday the first thing we did was what we usually do – run to get snacks. After we had them we heard the bad news that NBC was not coming. Then we had split up into our groups and continue working on the topic at hand. My group was working on audio and that's what we did. We finished writing out the sounds we needed and then started downloading them.

May 28, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Thursday's Workshop

Hey guys, I’m just here to blog about what we did in Thursday's workshop. Basically, our group has completed most of the simple tasks of our virtual video project on child soldiers. My group and I have finished mostly everything together and all we have to do is put everything together and we should be good! We've looked up most of our audio and sound effects for each scene and decided on where and how they're going to sound. We still have not decided if we're going to use the sound effects we found on Limewire because most of the songs have copyrights, and we don’t have the permission to use them yet. But we'll see how all that turns out. Miguel was also helping our group out deciding what kind of music to look for. He recommended we use some Ugandan music but so far we have not had much luck finding any to fit the right mood for the video. We only have a few sessions left so everybody should pitch in and pick up the pace!!! See everybody on Tuesday.

May 25, 2007

[sl] First TSL Youth Advocates meeting

In Kenzo from Amoration studios, Kelly from Eye4You Alliance, and Barry from Global Kids met for the first in-world meeting of the TSL Youth Advocates. The TSLYA is a new group of adults who islands in TSL accessible to all TSL residents. A small group, but destined to grow.

We shared about our work, best practices, common challenges and began efforts towards creating a Teen Seal of Approval for islands like our own, to be created and run by TSL residents. More as that develops.

[sl] Digital Refinery introduces McKniley students to jail demo

The teen teen-run SL development company, Digital Refinery, gave the students in the McKinley program a tour of the Playing 4 Keeps game currently in production.

The McKinley students will now turn from the SL curriculum missions to the game process. But first let's look at a chart showing who has completed which missions:

May 24, 2007

[VVP/TEENS] Pause on progress

Today in the Global Kids workshop there was a slight pause in the progress. Somehow there was a need to do an overview of the work we had done. Changes were done to the project. The same idea was applied but the group decided to go more in depth with the scriptwriting. We hope that the new format will be better for our final virtual video project.

[VVP/Teens] Thursday's workshop

On Thursday we continued working in our groups. We have few weeks left therefore we must work very hard and in a fast pace. We the sound and effects group had to make new files and a folder in which we can organize our collection better, so that such folders could be shared with the other people in other groups. We were kind of sad because NBC didn't come, but hopefully they would come and interview us. We are very very excited to start filming and editing the scenes in which the sounds would be used in. tongue.gif

[VVP/Teens] Still working on child soldiers movie

Hey,
This is Brandon, I haven't blogged in a while. Well my group is doing audio and sound effects, and we almost finished finding out the songs that fits in with the movie parts. Sam wasn't here today but Tabitha and Barry was and they were a lot of help. They both helped us (everybody that was there during the session) figuring out how to get stuff we need and how to find it. Well I'll talk to you next time (next Tuesday).
Bye :)

[Teen/VVP] Tuesday's Workshop ^.^

On Tuesday we continued our work on our group roles. My group, since we are the "Second Life" group, we continued to list some of the props we needed. We figured out that we needed a scar on the main character’s face so the viewers can identify easily who is who. Then we decided that since we finished listing the items we needed we would move on to building some of the things. So we went into Second Life and started to build huts. Of course, we could build a hut, it but was hard to get the right texture for the huts. Also, we had some trouble deciding on how many prims should go into the hut. Personally, I thought two prims were fine because although it did not look exactly right, it would be believable from afar. Also less prims mean less lag, which would work to our advantage. So I look forward to what we are going to do today, and continue our work in our groups.

[VVP/TEENS] Prop building

Last session we split up into groups again. My group (Second Life props and sets) started off to building the props for the movie in Second Life. Our computer was experiencing technical difficulties but I eventually overcame it. At the end of the day we finished building the layout of the huts needed for the village that we will use for the attack of the rebels, and we had all the weapons and explosives provided. We also wrote our final copy of the list of props needed for the movie and sent it to Tabitha, and which she sent out to people to help us build the rest. biggrin.gif

May 23, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Tuesday's workshop

On Tuesday we continued working in our groups in order to continue to make progress on our final project on the topic of child soldiers. We are also very excited to know that NBC is interested in our work in Second Life. It's good to know that other teens would have the opportunity that I had to actually learn and hear about machinima and Second Life. Hopefully we will be the ones to make this possible.

[VVP/Teens] Tuesday's workshop

In Tuesday’s workshop we continued working on the different roles each of us is assigned to in the process of our virtual project on the issue of child soldiers. Some of us are researchers, others are in the audio/sound effects group, some are in Second Life, and some are in script writing. We also found out that we only have a few weeks left. We have made a lot of progress. In my group, we are assigned to do audio/sound effects. Each of us is responsible to look for the different sounds we will need for the story. Some of the sounds we have collected so far are the jingle for news broadcasting, the music for the jungle scenes, gunshots, and others. We are very excited to start using these sounds in the film! All ready! img src="/mt/mt-static/smilies/biggrin.gif" width="20" height="20" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" title="big grin!" />

[VVP/TEENS] Continuation of our project

Last Tuesday we continued on our final virtual video project. Progress was going steady and we were able to accomplish a few scenes. My group had to depict the setting for each scene and add a dialogue. We are hoping to get our props ready soon and we also plan to continue our progress and be done with fixing the scenes as soon as possible. The workshop next class might be exciting because there might be a chance to be caught on camera by NBC. Nothing is guaranteed so we shouldn't get our hopes too high.

May 22, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Sunday's festival

Joe, Nafiza, Griffin, and I went to the museum's festival on Sunday and we saw tons of interesting things! My personal favorite was the stunt back and show. I asked them if I could participate and they kept saying yes until eventually I got sick of waiting because in the end they were just brushing me off. Another intresting thing were the trailors. There were so many trailors with so much stuff inside. I found the entire festival pretty intresting. It was an okay day.

May 21, 2007

[Teen/VVP] Groups and Festival!

Well on Thursday we broke off into groups varying on personal liking and skills. Joe, Jack, Gerson and I are all in the "Second Life" group, which meant we were responsible for finding out what props we needed for each scene. It was pretty easy when it came down to actually just listing the things we needed--but those items will be harder to find. I went into my inventory and looked for things I had and only found that I had a MIC but it wasn't the type you hold out, it was more of the type that goes around your ears and to your mouth. But yeah, we might have some difficulties gathering those props, which is my only fear. I guess that is what I would call it. But overall, I think Thursday was pretty productive; we got some things out on what we felt about the things that were going on in the program and how the program was and how we interact with one and another; we did this to start off the workshop.

Anyways, onto the festival! Well first of all, I have to thank Joe for calling me and telling me about the festival because otherwise I would have never known that it was even going on, and I would have really missed out. The festival was great, well content wise it was anyway. We got to see some great stuff, like people jumping off into mid-air (haha a little exaggerated), and dropping onto a giant inflatable balloon/air-bag that blows out enough air to make your hair fly in ten different directions each time a person jumps onto it. Oh, and then we got to watch the choreography of fight scenes and how important it is to get the right camera angle when filming that scene. Umm what else...well I thought the decoration was great! I loved the balloons ^.^ they looked so pretty especially since they looked like they were floating on thin air since the string was very invisible-like. Oh yeah, and we all modeled in front of the cop-car and Joe and Idan went in and used the radio or walkie-talkie thing. Oh and Joe grabbed a free pen -.-;~ and then there was a point in which he thought he lost it...but he didn't! So basically, Joe was once more reunited with his free pen and he was very happy. Idan on the other hand, I felt so bad for! The evil people kept telling him that they might give some people a chance to go up and jump off (which was probably meant to make us stop bothering/talking to them -.-) but that didn't happen...and he was so excited about it too! Look: (my cell phone does not take the best pictures I know >.<)


So overall, it was a great festival! I wish they did it again so I could invite my friends to come and see!~

[vvp/teens] Props and Festival!

Last session we were divided into the groups of our specialities or choices to work on the movie. I was put into Second Life and we went over which props we will need for the middle of the movie. We made great progress and are about finished with pre- production.

Yesterday on 5/20 there was a movie festival at the Museum of Moving Images! Nafiza, Idan a friend of mine and I went to see it. They had fake snow/blizzards, fake rain, and stuntmen! It was tons of fun biggrin.gif. Here are some pics I took

Nafiza, Idan, Griffen standing in the supposed "snow"

some stunt actors showing off the stunt bag

jump from approximately 4 stories high

stuntmen coreographing a fight on the stunt bag

Nafiza testing the stuntbag by throwing me (I'm in mid air but it's hard to tell)

[VVP/TEENS] progress

Last Thursday in Global Kids we were put into our own groups depending on what we chose to be a part of. I chose to be in the script writing group and I was working with Idan. Progress was good. What we did was we were deciding the time limits of each scene of our video. We were also able to resolve the problem in which we were able to determine the battle field.

[sl] Latest Comic Released: UNICEF's A World Fit for Children

The Latest issue of the Global Kids comic features UNICEF's A World Fit for Children program in Teen Second Life.

You can access the comic in a variety of formats below:

You can view:


  • Download the pdf file here.

  • Click through the pages on the web




May 17, 2007

[vvp/teens] Scripting+storyboarding for Child Soldiers PSA

Last session we went over what we wrote in groups the session before, and we divided into groups once more and wrote scripts and threw storyboards to the scenes we depicted. We got in a bit of an argument about the end of the movie (the last few scenes) but we fixed them in the end.

[VVP/Teens] Tuesday's scripting

Tuesday was the day we further developed our scripts in our groups and then we all spoke together and presented our work. I guess today is gonna involve more of that as well as storyboarding. It should be intresting, although there is much frustration and in some cases hostility but we are progressing and will do better.

May 16, 2007

[VVP/TEENS] Storyboarding

This Past Tuesday on the workshop we continued on our major project. The next step that had to be taken was storyboarding. In my group we had to figure out how many scenes had to take place and what kind of camera shot that had to be taken. What the group also had to do was figure out the props that were needed such as a small house for the cabin, a school, and necklace as a symblol, etc. The progress was going great for the group since we had a little scare earlier about losing some information. In the end we were able to organize most of our ideas so now we are very close to filming.

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: Tragedy in a Digital World - The Virginia Tech Shootings

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:Tragedy in a Digital World - The Virginia Tech Shootings.


FaerieGirl 06:25pm Apr 17, 2007 EST
I think that this is one of the good things about digital media. Many of the ones in there were able to communicate with news agencies to spread the word about it and also to find out what was happening. Also, and most importantly, many of them had the opportunity to speak to their families -which is good for support, I guess- and tell them they were okay. I guess this will represent a risk when more things like this one happen for political reasons ('cause I assume that there will be more deaths out of the fear of the attackers, but I'm plain fatalistic here), but in this case I think it helped a lot.

About the authorities using only e-mail to tell people about the gunman... Well, that can be subject to debate, but yeah.

With or without digital media involved, I hope they all find the strength to overcome this happening =(

AZERT 09:41am Apr 19, 2007 EST
As if things could not get worse, the shooter has sent a video to NBC... Has anyone seen it?

AZERT

Nafiza 05:28pm Apr 19, 2007 EST
Well...I think that digital media was used for a good purpose in this case not only because it warned the rest of the world about what was going on within the building and alerting everyone of the gunman...but also because they were able to write down some eye-witness facts down. I know... if it was me in that situation...I would want people to find the truth, so that way, my death would not be in vain. It's never enough just to say, "So-and-so died on blah blah date"--that is a statistic...not a death. I would not want to be remembered like a casualty number....So I would want to leave everyone with something that was truth. And most of all...I would want the chance to say goodbye to whoever it is that I need to say goodbye to...because that's one thing a lot of people regret not being able to say.

I think blogging in general is a good way to remember all those people that died. Although we may not be directly showing our respects to them... we are at least showing that we are aware of the tragedy and that they did have an impact in the nation.

Nafiza 10:49pm Apr 19, 2007 EST
Oh yeah...the NBC thing.. too bad I did not see it yet...but I did hear it on the news...it upset a lot of people I guess. I don't know...I think the news has a right to put it up though, it is technically their first amendment right to freedom of press and speech >.>. If people don't want to see it, they can close their eyes...no one will ever force you to see that stuff anyway.

Cyric 05:40am Apr 20, 2007 EST
Meh this is reason people try and think up stuff or problems that really aren't problems.

One shooting, whole word knows instantlly. What happens, people over react...

Not to mention media seems to be glorifing the killer, his name is now known through out states, as the one who has killed more than anyone else in a shooting rampage.

dark me 07:20am Apr 20, 2007 EST
so what if people over-react? its better than them over-reacting on a news like 'anglina is thinking about adopting a new kid'... or those things but this thing rily matters.... people have to talk about it, have to be aware of it and so on.

this is a true problem....

FaerieGirl 07:13pm Apr 20, 2007 EST EST
I think that having his video on TV can be rather educational. I don't know how they are showing it (honestly, I am not really following the case on TV), but perhaps they should warn the audience before they broadcast it. Why educational? Well - I think that it's time we learn from our mistakes as society, and this video perhaps will make it a real life lesson. Of course it's doing what the guy wanted media to do, but I think it's fair. Who knows? This might prevent other people from falling into the same event.

Cyric - I think that people deserve information on the massacre as it was something big indeed, but definitely I am against the fact that a lot of equally relevant information is being forgot because of this, like the blast in Iraq where only(?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!) 190 people died.

Anu30March 08:00am Apr 25, 2007 EST
I feel it is good that through digital media like cell phones and internet, students could spread the news about this incident.That cell phone video which was being repeatedly telecast across all news channels, served as a first hand account of the ongoing of that horrific incident.

Digital media can play a vital role in informing and connecting people during times of distress and danger.

This was indeed a shocking incident and I feel really sorry for all the victims and their families.

I don't understand why no precaution measures were taken if there had already been two bomb threats on the campus that too, recently.If there were threats of any kind of possible dangers then the authorities should have taken full precautions in advance to combat any kind of dangers.

[VVP] Machinima students visit CFR and meet Ishmael Beah

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of taking two of the VVP students, Ting and Nafiza, to the Council on Foreign Relations to hear Ishmael Beah, author of "A Long Way Gone," speak to youth about his experience as a former child soldier in Sierra Leone. During his conversation with former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, Ishmael talked about life before, during and after his time as a child soldier, his thoughts on the differences between the United States and Sierra Leone and the importance of being a global citizen, and even about his love of hip-hop music.

At the end of the talk we met Ishmael, and Ting and Nafiza were even able to describe their child soldiers machinima project and ask for his advice on what would be important to include in the film. We're looking forward to sharing our experience and Ishmael's feedback with the rest of the VVP GK leaders in our next workshop!

ishmael_VVP_1.jpg

ishmael-VVP2.jpg

[blog] Haitian Myspace page promotes Ayiti

The MySpace blog by Haiti Nation makes mention of our program Playing for Keeps and our game Ayiti: The Cost of Life.

Read the post here.

[media] Engaging Youth with a New Medium: The Potentials of Virtual Worlds

Our very own Rafi Santo has a new article published entitled Engaging Youth with a New Medium: The Potentials of Virtual Worlds, that is part of the online journal Youth Media Reporter's month long showcase on ways youth media professionals can use blogs, virtual communities, and Second Life.

Engaging Youth with a New Medium: The Potentials of Virtual Worlds
By: Rafi Santo
Published: May 14, 2007
Category: Trends

Part of what makes working in the field of youth media so interesting and engaging is the process of exploring different media. Observing how youth act and react in relation to different media and supporting their investigation into the possibilities of new expressive media forms has been a rewarding experience as a youth media professional at Global Kids. For the past five years, Global Kids (GK) has been exploring what it means to bring youth media projects into the online world—with fascinating finds.

GK began with online dialogues and helped produce and run a website where youth around the globe could dialogue and share opinions on current events. Soon after, GK began working on a serious gaming initiative, giving teens the opportunity to produce issue-based online video games. We soon discovered the virtual world of Second Life, which brought together the strengths of so many different online technologies impossible for us to ignore. Second Life (SL) is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by approximately 6,240,600 people from around the globe. SL provides a rich virtual environment for teens across the globe to commune (Teen Second Life), which rolls together 3-D object creation, programming, social networking, gaming, chat and multimedia. For educators and media practitioners, Second Life is a playground with limitless possibilities.

Looking to understand where these possibilities could lead, we launched Camp GK, our pilot program in Teen Second Life, in the summer of 2006. Over four weeks, 15 teens from around the world spent three hours a day, five days a week, participating in interactive, experiential workshops about pressing global issues—all in a virtual space. Over the course of the program, the teens picked a topic of concern—in this case, child sex trafficking—and built a maze to educate their online community to inspire them to take action on this issue. In its first eight weeks, the content-rich maze was visited by 2,500 teens, of which 450 donated money to an international organization committed to eradicating this global crime against children.

After Camp GK’s success, we felt we had learned a good deal about virtual media and using Second Life and wanted to share this knowledge with other educators entering this space.

When wrapping up the project, we spent time documenting what we thought were best practices in various areas, from general program structure to workshop design and everything in between. We’ve since distributed these practices to those in the Second Life educational community and beyond, and continue to spread these practices to youth media professionals through publication and outreach opportunities (download a PDF here: http://www.holymeatballs.org/pdfs/GKguidetoSLpresenting.pdf). The practices that follow outlines ways youth media professionals (especially those from a distance education perspective) can use virtual spaces such as Second Life in their work.

Best practices for working in Second Life
General tips that apply to work in the space

- What happens in Second Life stays in Second Life
Especially in the non-profit arena, it is critical to show your work to other programs and funders. Unless you document your virtual work, no one outside of Second Life will ever know your program even existed. However, SL offers a myriad of methods for digital documentation. You can capture chat logs, blog, take photos, and record video and audio. If you’re working with teens, in Teen Second Life (the dedicated 13-17 year old space), this becomes even more important as other adults can not visit your online space because it is restricted to background checked adults and teens.

- Create multiple places of meaning
In the real world, a Global Kids program always meets in the same classroom and the setting does not vary. Second Life, if you have the space, allows you to create a myriad of locations each with their own purposes. A workshop in SL can start in the GK Clubhouse, move to the factory, shift to the cloud platform, transfer to the dance club, and conclude at the campfire. Each location can be associated with different types of activities, norms and behaviors. For example, in the Global Kids second life program, youth start at the GK Clubhouse. Teen visitors expect interactive activities in the factory section, fun and interaction in the dance club arena, and processing and closure around the campfire. Establishing an association between each modality and a specific location offers both structure and signs for work, activism, and play.

Best practices for bringing a youth development model into Teen Second Life
Global Kids employs an asset based youth development model in the real world, and found that Second Life allow this kind of progressive pedagogy to manifest in new ways

- Build, build, build!
Create as many opportunities as possible for teens to express themselves through building. Second Life is all about building so it is almost hard not to do this. Encourage youth to “build” the facilities and material required for the program (the meeting rooms, the workshop materials, t-shirts for the program, for example). Incorporate youth to build the activities (e.g. build and act out a scene in a life-size diorama, create a billboard about injustice)—since forming items they can use creates a sense of ownership, which increases retention. Use these “builds” as a way for teens to centralize and demonstrate what they are learning, and as a way to share their knowledge and skills with the wider community around them.

- Don’t just build; design and manipulate avatars
Create opportunities for identity play and self-expression through avatar creation and manipulation. Avatars are an internet user’s representation of oneself, whether in the form of a 3-D model (easily made in Second Life) or a 2-D picture used on internet forums and on-line communities. Explore existing avatar choices in SL to bring up issues of gender and racial representation, or use non-human avatars to address issues of discrimination.

- Think globally, act locally
If you’re structuring your program as a distance education model that draws from the larger Teen Second Life (TSL) community, the teens will be from diverse global locations. However, they experience TSL as their shared community. Strategizing approaches for effective education and advocacy will challenge teens to think creatively and critically. It will appeal to their desire to have their voices heard, make a difference, and develop their leadership abilities. Doing this also means the programmatic impact moves outside the scope of just the participants to a larger community.

Best practices in workshop design and facilitation in Second Life
No matter what kind of pedagogical approach you’re taking, there are a number of things that can be done to strengthen session-based learning in the virtual environment

- Use real world content when addressing real world issues
Discussing substantive issues in a place that feels surreal can make these issues feel distant. Use photos or a guest speaker, anything “from the other side,” that feels real to give real issues weight in the virtual community.

- Don’t fear multiple communication channels
In a distance learning program structure, multiple channels can be used to add social nuance, organize various modes of communication in a more manageable form, and leverage teen abilities to multi-task. Use a public IM chat for group conversation and private IMs to communicate one-on-one with participants in SL.

- Make your space have its own culture
Just like the Web, Second Life—in both its teen and adult versions—tends to be shaped by a libertarian, anarchic culture which cuts against the grain of Global Kids’ organized, substantive, and deliberative activities. In essence, we challenge this larger culture by creating a counter culture. We establish clear guidelines, boundaries and expectations in SL, which has led to a very high retention rate and a strong sense of ownership in the virtual community.

- Be flexible!
Flexibility is the name of the game in the SL environment. Be prepared to change directions or adjust goals by paying attention to what works. As the tools, social practices and creative uses in a space like this rapidly evolves, it becomes more critical to be reflective and realistic with goals.

The above list of best practices is a result of reflections from Global Kids’ first extended project in Second Life. Since then, we had another year of holding two full scale in-person after-school programs that utilize SL to create machinima (animated film made using a video game engine) and other socially conscious games, as well as additional distance education programs and youth led workshops and events. All of these experiences are important learning processes and as youth media professionals, we must continue to share best practices as our project experiences grow and develop.

There’s no doubt that the learning curve for working with Second Life is a steep one. But so much groundbreaking work is already being done, and there’s a lot that can be learned from using virtual on-line communities such as Second Life.

I encourage anyone interested in experimenting with this new, exciting and powerful medium to sign up for a free Second Life account (http://secondlife.com), attend some of the educational and arts related events, and engage the incredibly dynamic individuals that work in the space.

Rafi Santo is the Online Leadership Program Associate for Global Kids. To learn more about Global Kids’ work in Second Life, please visit www.HolyMeatballs.org or contact info@globalkids.org.

May 15, 2007

[VVP/Teen] Meeting Ishmael Beah

Today, Sam, Nafiza, and I went to meet the author of the a memoir A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah. It was a conversation between Beah and Tom Brokaw, a journalist. Tom Brokaw was asking questions about Ishmael's experience of being a child soldier, and how did he get out of it. The audience also got the chance to ask questions during the conversation. After the conversation, Nafiza and I lined up to wait for Ishmael to sign on my copy of A Long Way Gone. Fortunately, Nafiza got chance to ask for advice from him on something that he thinks should be in our film. However, he didn't really answer our question. He said it's going to depend on us. Despite the disappointment of his answer, it was a great time to be there to meet him and to hear about his experience. He is a very nice and gentle person, and humorous too. One thing that I like lot about what he was saying is that many people in this country are always looking for more, and not caring about what they've have already, but in contrast, people who live in Sierra Leone, they are happy about what they have; even though what they have are very little. A lot of time, I felt the same way. In my school, we are so lucky that to have so many new books and laptops each year, and yet, I still heard people complaining. Sometimes, I saw books were being ripped and drawn on. I felt very angry about that, I was thinking all these kids need a lesson, they need to learn to appreciate things happen and given in their life. Kids here who own so many things like Ipod, cell phones, computer, PSP, Xbox, all these things are extremely lucky! We are living in haven comparing to kids who live in a third world country. I think every single thing in this world that is given to us deserves our appreciation.

Maybe, I'm kind of off topic, it should be child soldier, but any way, another thing that I remember he talked about was about trust. It took him 8 months to heal, and start to trusting people again. I also remember that he wrote in the book about the normal civilians, how they were not trusting people because of the war. People stop trusting people including little kids, since the tragedy of the war begins. It all because of the child soldiers, the sharpest weapon of both union army and rebels. The entire community collapsed. People were running around with blood on them, rivers dried up because of too much blood flooding. People avoiding or capturing kids who wandered around. All kids without their families are suspicious. What a traumatic situation! The war killed people mentally and physically at the same time. Their weapon was the only thing that they can trust. They completed relied on their AK-47. They either kill or be killed. In order to survive in their world, the only way is to have other people bleeding and die. It is a hell comparing to the "peace" here and other countries. Aren't we living in the same world? Isn't the land that we live on spinning with the same globe around the sun? People, comparing to the distance between earth and sun, the tragedies are much much closer to us! Why is there no voice about what had happen at the beginning of everything? If only everybody shared some part of their love, and cared, the world would be much more beautiful. Maybe the world is really sick, and the problem is we can't find the right doctor for it.

[Teen/VVP] Machinima and then Ishmael Beah

Today at Machinima we worked on both scripting and storyboarding, and it was pretty...chaotic. However, I did not get to stay until the end to see how everything turned out because I went to see Ishmael Beah with Ting at the Council on Foreign Relations. It was really great to get a chance to see him and talk to him. But what made the trip especially funny was that people kept mistaking Kevin from GK for Ishmael. Anyway, the place was beautiful and very well organized and we got to meet Carole Artigiani from Global Kids, along with more staff/global kids trainers. So overall, it was a good experience, I got to take some great notes on what Ishmael Beah had to say about his experiences. I think it was really useful information and I think we can really put it to use in our Machinima on Child Soldiers. I asked him what would be the one thing he could suggest to us to put in our film on Machinima and he said that he would want to show that there is hope and that they can go through rehab and IN TIME they can improve and come out of it. So I guess, we are showing that or we are suggesting it through showing him in front of the I.C.C. at the end. So, hopefully we can start filming soon!--and hopefully, we got the script and storyboard done today!

[vvp/teens] outlining child soldiers

Last class we divided into groups and wrote/outlined scripts for the beginning middle and end of the movie. I was in the middle group and we had a fun time describing what plans we had in mind for the movie. We gave a pretty detailed description of each scene for the middle of the movie, which basically contained the storyline from when the two children are kidnapped to a descripition of their training, and ending on them going to war.

[VVP/TEENS] Scripting!

Last class we started scripting/outlines for the different parts of the short based on the guidelines that we established over the last few days. I got put into the beginning section so we outlined the opening of the machinima. After the work was done we saved what we wrote and so far everything is going ok. The only thing that bothers me is how the end group plans to film the ending scene, in specific the killing of the brother scene. They want the two brothers to flee the battlefield and have a short dialogue leading to the older brother saying kill me. I think this takes away from the effect that the battlefield has and is unneccessary to the scene. The camera angles they plan to use were long shots and alot of zooms. In my opinion zooming to much gives the effect of a home made film and about the long shots I dont think that long shots will give the intimacy needed for the brother to brother scene. I think close ups and mid shots would be better suited.

Global Kids present at Innovate 2007, Virginia

The Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology and Virginia Tech’s Institute for Connecting Science Research to the Classroom hosted "Innovate 2007" at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on May 8, 2007. The event is Virginia’s first exposition devoted to new and emerging technologies for education and is modeled after the nationally acclaimed WIRED NextFest.

"Innovate 2007, modeled after the WIRED NextFest expo, will showcase the innovative technologies and products that could transform education. The expo is organized around the five major components of Virginia's long-range technology plan: integration, professional development, connectivity, educational applications and accountability."

Innovate 2007 featured:

* 65 plus interactive exhibits located in five pavilions
* Hands-on opportunities to use new and emerging technologies
* Lively discussions—led by prominent thought leaders and
futurists—about the promises and limitations of the technologies and products

The expo is said to be an invaluable experience for educational leaders, policymakers and community members charged with planning the future of education in Virginia. Global Kids was invited to talk about our work in Teen Second Life by Professor Rich Ingram, James Madison University.

Major sponsors of this event include Cisco Systems, Dell, and the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE). Other exhibitors include Microsoft Research, Celestron, Vantage Learning, identiMetrics, AnthroTronix, and many others. The event also provide an opportunity to see the latest technologies from founding sponsors Cisco Systems and Dell, unfortunately, I was too busy talking to people that I barely got a chance to leave my booth.

All presentations and exhibits focus on the five major components of Virginia’s long-range technology plan: technology integration, professional development, connectivity, educational applications, and accountability. This was a unique opportunity for all educators to try out cutting-edge technology that could be commonplace within the next few years.

I hope to see more classrooms from Virginia in Teen Second Life, private or public.

For more information on the expo, go to www.innovate2007.org

Photos!

Our booth space with James Madison University

Spectators at our booth

Tabitha riding the segway!

Tabitha with Professor Richard Ingram, James Madison University

[sl] The James Paul Gee Avatar Contest

This just in!
For 2 weeks, Nik385 Doesburg along with Jay Clostermann, two of our GK TSL intern, will be hosting an avatar contest for a special guest who is expected to come on GK Island for the first time on May 31, 2007. The rumor is that the special guest - who is actually an alien from another planet - is looking for an avatar outfit to "put on" so he can "fit in" on Tee Second Life. Something suitable for earth and will not scare human beings away. So now, teens are busy creating avatars for this special alien guest, and everyone is wondering who the mysterious guest is. Here is a hint: His name is James Paul Gee. That's all we can tell you!

As the contest draws closer to his arrival date, we have all the avatar outfits displayed in a line, each with their own voting box, and each cube contains image of the avatar front, back, left, right, top and bottom (or in some case, more angle than others). Participants are encouraged to spread the word out and get their friends to come and vote for their favourite avatar! At the end of the contest, the avatars with the highest votes will be selected to get "tried on" by the visiting alien - and get this - not only will the alien walk around in the new outfits selected, he will be talking on an audio stream so teens can listen to his embodied experience live! What's more is that we will invite adults to particiate to listen in and chat in Q&A along with teens on Sloodle! So stay tuned on how you can chat along and listen in on the event, it will be on May 31st, 2007, 2pm SL time (5pm EST). Good luck to all the avatar contest participants! wink.gif

I will announce the audio stream and the sloodle link in a few days, be sure to check back next week so you can participate without being in Teen Second Life.


Here is a picture of avatars submitted thus far on our island, more to come!

May 14, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Thursday's Workshop

ON THRUSDAY WE STARTED TO LOOK OVER THE SCRIPT OR STORY BOARD IN WHICH WE HAD TO AGREE ON THE PARTS WE WOUL LIKE TO ADD TO OUR STORY IN WHICH WOULD LEAD TO OUR VIDEO PROJECT ON CHILD SOLDIERS. WE WERE DIVIDED IN TO 3 GROUPS. EACH GROUP HAD THE RESPONSABILITY TO TAKE EACH PART OF THE MOVIE: LIKE THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END. IN THE GROUPS WE HAD TO CREATE DIFFERENT SCENES, AND THE IMAGE. HOPEULLY BY THE END OF THE WEEK WE MAY START FILMING IN SECOND LIFE.. I HOPEtongue.gif

[Teen/VVP] "Today is the day we will finish the story!"

I thought that on Tabitha's behalf I would put that as my title; before beginning the workshop we were asked to repeat "today is the day we will finish the story!". I guess it's one of those things that help build enthusiasm and we did get most of the story done, although we did have some blanks left that we need to fill in. Anyway, we got divided into 3 groups, each one represented either the beginning, middle, or end of the story. My group was the middle and we had some difficulties with it; the problem we had was that our content was so vague that we really did not know where to take it, I guess in the world there are people who like the freedom of choice and then there are people who like specific directions, and we just happened to be those that liked the specifications.
Nonetheless, we came through at the end and we got together three scenes for the middle. The first scene would be when the younger brother is taken away along with other kids in an army vehicle, and the next was the two of them in training, and the last is when the younger brother gets a flashback to when the two brothers were together and happy. Of course, the scenes were a little more in detail than when we wrote it out and broke the scenes into "Image" and "Action". But yeah, overall it was a fun class, and I learned some new things about the people in machinima (for example, Joe and I both have horrible vision, Alex likes to say "listen", and Jack just gets really nervous when he’s supposed to present). I hope we make some more progress tomorrow! It's strange, but we only have a couple of days of machinima left, the year went by all-too-quickly, but everything good must come to an end eventually, no? Oh and I would like to clear something up for Sam's sake, a couple of posts ago I noted that "Sam left early...again" or something similar to that--I just wanted to set the record straight and say that he has been leaving for a class =) We were not told this until I posted that little side note to my blog!

[blog] Blogosphere takes note of release of Virtual Video Project's PSAs

The TSL PSA's have been spotlighted on various blogs lately.

The PSA's were picked up on Rik Panganiban's blog, Rikomatic, here.

Also on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's blog (who knew they had one?) here.

Research paper published on SL donating

A recent document entitled 'Play: Second and First Life'. Which outlines research about the meaning of playing, Second Life and donations.


Project target | Play: Second and First Life

Based on the game/environment “Second Life“ the participants had developed enhancements, additions, applications, services or products. Those were developed for Second Life itself, for the real world or for references and connections between those worlds.

For a better understandingf of the aspects of communities and the Social Web, an elaborated analysis phase took place at the beginning of this project with a closer look on the meaning and importance of playing.




The paper also spotlights the UNICEF ambassadors work in Second Life and some of the combined events that Global Kids and UNICEF have hosted in TSL. Excerpts from the paper on that are below.


Some UNICEF ambassadors already created some buildings and a surrounding on Second Live. The community organizes workshops, inform other Avatars about their work and the organisation itself. There is also a Global Kids institution which cares also about the kids, their needs and they also try to help to get people interested into children problems all over the world — give them another platform to discuss some things and in the best to do also something in real.


Competition by Global Kids and UNICEF on Second Life Global Kids and UNICEF teamed up to host the „World Fit for Children“ contest on the island. Groups of teens met up on the online island to attend a workshop covering a diverse array of global issues that UNICEF addresses, such as hunger, education, child sex trafficking, and genocide in Darfur. Then Global Kids teams each built an exhibit in Second Life that addresses one or more of the issues. Entries were judged by a group of teens selected to represent UNICEF.

This contest was just one way that Global Kids is engaging with teens in Second Life, and they are getting rave reviews from the participants. Teens who take part in programs on Global Kids Island are encouraged to blog about their experiences and provide feedback through online surveys. Many participants express real excitement about exploring social issues, a sense of empowerment, and a realization that they can affect social change. One teen wrote, „I am going to make a difference in the world, and I will have all of you to thank for giving me that big push!“

Download the pdf of the full paper here.

May 12, 2007

[sl/teen] An intern's report on a 'Human Barometer' debate on the subject of gun control.

On May 11th, I (Jay Clostermann) held a Human Barometer debate on gun control policys.

The debate was a simple thing to participate in. There were 3 platforms (shown above), one saying Agree, another saying Not sure, and another saying Disagree. I said a statement (this statement was not necessarily my direct opinion), then the teens went to the platform that suited their opinions best and pretyped their answer. When their name was called, they would answer with their opinion. This created a good debate.

Many views were discussed and debated, and statements coincidentally rolled on to the next statement.

The statements were thought provoking and on topic, which made the event go well. The statements which were said:

>1. It should be more difficult for people to obtain handguns in the United States.

>2. There would be fewer school shootings if gun control laws were stricter.

>3. There would be fewer school shootings if there were more efforts made to prevent bullying and other forms of abuse in schools.

>4. When a school shooting occurs, the parents of the guilty student
should be held criminally responsible.

>5. Colleges should be more careful not to admit students with a history
of threatening behavior or mental illness.

>6. Violent video games desensitize young people to violence IRL.

>7. Weapons should not be allowed in any part of TSL. (Or, weapons should be strictly limited to specific, clearly-designated areas for
"games" involving weapons).

>8. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was meant to allow all
citizens to own handguns.

>9. People need handguns for self-defense against criminals.

>10. A gun is a terrible gift for a parent to give to their child.

Many thoughts and views were expressed. On number 10, teens thought that it would depend on the maturity of the child. On number 5, most of the teens agreed. There was a good heated debate, but moderated to not go off the deep end.

The discussion of opinions, gun control, and alot of other safety issues went well. The entire event in my opinion was very well played out.

Thank you to Lucky Figtree for being a co-moderator for this event, and taking pictures of this event like the one at the top of this post.

You can see more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luckyfigtree/sets/72157600205689283/

Jay Clostermann.

May 10, 2007

[sl/teen] Grid Unification Debate


Across the battlefields the warriors prepared for batt- Alright, maybe not ‘quite’ that.

Imagine a world free of segregation, a world without discrimination – A world that we live in? Not quite, but the goal is within our reach. Grid Unification is the first step – one to remove unneeded censorship and age discrimination. A movement that benefits everybody. Not long ago, Saturday, April 28th, Grid Unification was discussed on Global Kids’ Teen Grid Island in a two-sided debate – Those Pro to the Unification, and those Con to it. Both sides stated their opinions and the debate was underway!

[Extended Entry]

Note: The views expressed in this article do not necessarily officially reflect those of Global Kids, including but not limited to Global Kids the title, those working at the Global Kids organizations, nor are these views shared (officially, of course) by the coffee-stained servers in the basement

My name is Alex Harbinger. I was recently accepted into the Teen Grid’s Global Kids intern program. A little background information – I’ve been on Teen Second Lift since late 2005 after being introduced to the idea of ‘do what you want’ by my older brother. It was not too long into my Second Life experience that I felt something was missing – Something crucial, something critical. That something was unity.

Imagine a world free of segregation, a world without discrimination – A world that we live in? Not quite, but the goal is within our reach. Grid Unification is the first step – one to remove unneeded censorship and age discrimination. A movement that benefits everybody. Not long ago, Saturday, April 28th, Grid Unification was discussed on Global Kids’ Teen Grid Island in a two-sided debate – Those Pro to the Unification, and those Con to it. Both sides stated their opinions and the debate was underway! Many residents showed up (~30-50), some staying the whole length of the debate, others just dropping in to ask a question or two, or just to listen.


An event everybody wanted a part of!

Many topics were covered during the course of the debate, for example: Mature Content on the Main Grid, Pedophiles, and its effect on Teens, how Adults feel about living with Teens, how Teens feel about living with Adults, the Teen Grid economy, et cetera. All the topics were intensely debated, like two battleships firing back and forth.


At first, those Con to the Unification were sorely out numbered, luckily, we all managed to scrounge our friends list until we found people with valid negative points!

Lucky Figtree: But what about the ones that are over the age of eighteen, and sneaking on this grid?
Innokentiy Umarov: A [malicious] adult who wants to harm children will gravitate towards the TG, because people here tend to have a false sense of security.
Alex Harbinger: E-mail Quotation: "An adult, a pedophile - for the sake of arguments, lets make this person a male. This adult decides he wants to ‘attack some teens’, so he makes a Teen Grid account. Fact - Teens are more likely to have open contact with their peers. The adult would be most quickly accepted as ‘part of the group’ under a Teen alias then had the adult tried to same thing on the Main Grid if teens were present there. The teens would most likely instantly report a ‘freaky old guy hitting on’ them then ‘a possibly cute boy from So-Cal’."

As you can see, there is a lot of debating regarding exposing Teens to mature content, but is that even a valid excuse, after all, Abuse Reports are here to help.

Telk Zelmanov: I have, in fact, been attacked by a giant flying penis on the TG. It was horrible.
Telk Zelmanov: Horrible, *and* proof that there is mature content here.
Innokentiy Umarov: Steven, teens can get porn elsewhere.
Jay Clostermann: The sex beds, the sex chairs, I've seen a far too large amount of mature content here.
Jay Clostermann: I've seen teens having sex virtually in homes they don't even own.

We pointed out the problems, and then sought fixes.

Steven Fermi: We should be able to see if the person is registered as an Adult.
Alex Harbinger: Agreed, Steven - In the profiles, there [should] be tags to deter Teens whom don't want to be near adults from [accidentally] venturing over, and vise-versa.
Steven Fermi: If Adults knew we were teens, then they could try to have sex with us.
Steven Fermi: That is a problem.
Andrew Montagne: The we report abuse and get their [butt’s] banned, Steven.
Alex Harbinger: Steven, since its obvious we are teens, one report would give them an insta-ban - They'd have no "I didn't know!" excuses.
Jay Clostermann: Yes, but remember teleporting, muting, and Report Abuse.
Lucky Figtree: So, you're all saying that the Liasions need to create a better system of security/
[Everybody agrees =-P]
Alex Harbinger: From the original Proposal: "It may be needed that Teens on MG would have a tag in their profile alerting others that they are, indeed, teenagers. In order to counter-balance the problems that may come with this, teenager abuse reports against adults should take top priority, or teens should have their own ‘support team’ (Ex – The current ‘Teen Grid Support’ team becomes ‘Teen Support’, working with all Teen reports, regardless of Grid."

Wicked Loudon brought up an excellent point which sparked quite a few new ideas.

Wicked Loudon: The only thing I [don’t] understand is: If anyone has seen a MG profile, it has a [gazillion] informational options, If LL cant even let us have the puny [privilege] of having advanced profile options, why would they let us to the land of [the tyranny] of weakness?
Steven Fermi: True Wicked.
Steven Fermi: But the 1st Life tab would allow us to give information.
Steven Fermi: RL information.
Andrew Montagne: How is a text box in our profile going to lead to us being raped?
Alex Harbinger: Having us on MG makes up no more [susceptible] to giving out -more- RL information then we do already


‘The Walk for Intergrid Commerce’ was also present at the debate, both in words and signs ^.^

Steven Fermi brings up a good point here – The fact that the Teen Grid is much smaller then the Main Grid: Grid Unification is a joint effort, adults and teens working towards a common goal.

Steven Fermi: Also, because we bring in so [little] money, we mean almost nothing to them.
Alex Harbinger: You need to remember - We're LL's future. They -HAVE- to pay attention to us.

We managed to find ourselves in a few moral implications.

Alex Harbinger: Teens would be unable to buy[/access] items from Mature sims/parcels
Wicked Loudon: Also, what if Mature sims change their status to PG to raise sales. Nothing LL can do about it, its the owner's sim
Steven Fermi: True Wicked.
Steven Fermi: But then they would be liable to banning because of the ToS.
Steven Fermi: Exposing Teens to Mature Objects is a bannable offense.
Merrc Harbinger: Lindens hardly monitor [what’s] mature and [what’s] not, so i doubt if a teen wanted to come in [possession] of a nicely scripted penis, an adult would get him one from a mature sim for the money.
Alex Harbinger: It would be residents' job as residents to report illegal activities.
Alex Harbinger: You must also remember that Teens on MG-PG sims would FORCE LL to step up their game
Alex Harbinger: Adults would be able to report it also - While there are a lot of immature adults out there, there are many that would not allow the illegalities to continue

And we have more ideas ~.^:

Wicked Loudon: Also, how come LL lets Adults come on to the TG? [Wouldn’t] it be way more [educationally] enriching if we got approved to go to the MG ? I mean, with all the [tools] the MG has

Shortly after, the event comes to an end, and everything gets packed up. The event comes to a close.

A wise man once said, “Nothing in this life that’s worth having comes easy” – Dr. Robert Kelso, M.D. Scrubs. Nobody said Grid Unification will come easily, but it’s definitely worth having.

Are you for Grid Unification? Keep your eyes peeled here and @ http://www.AlexHarbinger.com! More updates coming soon! (Know all the Pros and Cons – Knowledge is power; Be informed)

A special thank you to Global Kids for making this all possible, and Lucky Figtree for her dedication and hard work – Happy Rez day ^.^

[VVP/Teens] Tuesday's story plot argument

Tuesday's class was pretty frustrating, there was a lot of back and forth and finally after a long time we came to a consesus. Now we had to nominate ourselves for the positions that we feel we would be best at. I applied for Director and considering that it's what I do, it's what I'm going to do over the summer in film school. Hopefully I'll get that position.

[VVP/Teens] GRR PLANNNG

Last session we went over different ideas for the storyline. WE WERE VERY FRUSTRATED because we could not come to a common ground for the story. GRR! We also chose our roles for what we will work in. I chose to work in second life, and cinematography! Today we will find out what roles we will fall in.

May 9, 2007

[sl] GK uses Second Life to Present at NTEN

Global Kids was invited to present on a Games 4 Change panel at this year's Non-Profit Technology Network (NTEN) conference. However, we could not attend in person. Luckily they were game (pun intended) to have me present via Skype and Second Life. We are told it went really well and the audience of 45 received it well. Maybe if other venues are up for it, this can be a new way for Global Kids to present at more conferences.

Below, Benjamin Stokes from MacArthur on the left showed his SL screen at the conference, Moo Money on the left watched, and Susan from TechSoup (who was at the conference) stood by my side.

Update April 19, 2006
What nice feedback from the conference organizers to me and the others on my panel! "Thank you for the outstanding job you did at the NTC! We have honestly never heard such positive feedback from attendees about sessions. It seems that you've all done an outstanding job of teaching and inspiring, and we hope that you got as much out of the experience as the attendees did."

Update May 9, 2006
Okay, the strange keeps getting stranger. As Woody Allen said, "80 percent of success is just showing up." Well, apparently not any more.

The NTEN conference released all the evaluation results from the conference, not just the one for the panel I was on. This included "Speakers with the highest rankings and at least 10 evaluations." Recognize anyone we know?

  • Barry Joseph / Global Kids / Video Games for Social Change: a New Movement / 4.96
  • Mark Bolgiano / XBRL US, Inc. / The Great Open API Debate: Should we or shouldn’t we? / 4.93
  • Madeline Stanionis / The Watershed Company / Email...Still the Best Way to Raise money Online / 4.92
  • Steve Daigneault / Amnesty International / The Age of YouTube: Using Video Online to Reach the Masses / 4.89
  • Ben Stokes / MacArthur Foundation / Video Games for Social Change: a New Movement / 4.88
  • Charles Best / Donors Choose / New Approach to Social Change / 4.86
  • Laura Quinn / Idealware / Branding Through Websites: Building Your Brand From the First Click / 4.85
  • John Wall / M Show Productions / Podcasting: Nonprofit Applications and Practical How-to’s / 4.85
  • Deborah Strauss / Lumity / Wireless Everywhere: How will it change the way you create social change / 4.83
  • Tim Fullerton / OxFam America / The Age of YouTube: Using Video Online to Reach the Masses / 4.83
  • Jamey Frank / STOP AIDS Project / Wireless Everywhere: How will it change the way you create social change / 4.83

Yup. I didn't even show up at the conference and I received the top ratings. What are we to make of that? Is this a next step in the old Nixon vs. Kennedy debate? Did the audience only experience an idealized form of me, through Second Life, and thus were not distracted by my warts and all? I feel honored to get such high ratings but what about the next time I am asked to appear at a conference - will I feel insecure doing it in person?

Benjamin Stokes from the MacArthur Foundation - who played a key role in "showing" me in Second Life at the conference, has this to say about it:

    Funny stuff – at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in DC last month attended by Craig and I, there was a games panel convened by Suzanne. Barry wanted to stay home with his kids, so instead he and I did a joint effort to showcase his work using a combination of Skype, his Second Life avatar, a slideshow in Second Life, and videos in Second Life (all with my impressive in-world camera work, of course).

    The survey results are now posted… and Barry ranked out as the #1 speaker for the whole conference (see below)!!! I can’t stop laughing. Their #1 speaker was never there in person. (Looks like my presentation also made the top 10, but I used no visuals at all, so either our audience was strangely friendly, or I don’t know what.) I’m going to tell Barry to blog about his success. Not sure what this proves, exactly, but it’s amusing...

Maybe Ben, who came in fifth overall, would have beaten me in the ratings if he had not been so distracted helping me out. wink.gif

May 8, 2007

[Teen/VVP] Names...

Today in Machinima, we spent most of the time discussing the plot, and I spent most of the time looking for names. Of course, we had not yet decided on a place or location so looking for names went back and forth because the country kept on changing. But yep, I think everyone (including myself) liked the name Akiki (isn't the sound "kiki" adorable? ^-^) but the problem is that Uganda has 43 different languages! So, the only name in Ankole (also called Nkole) was Akiki, and as Sam pointed out - if we want it to seem authentic we should get both brother's names to be in the same language. So yes, I decided that I would put together all the male names that are used in the East African region of Uganda.



I found the names on http://www.namesite.com. But yeah, I don't think we can use Akiki, but the second name I gave Sam was Balondemu--which means "the chosen one" which made perfect sense for the little brother and that is in Musoga and the only other name in that language was Mulogo, which means "wizard". I guess we do not have to choose a name in Musoda...many of the names are in Ganda (Luganda) so we can pick from those names. But yep, I hope these names are helpful - and keep in mind that the names on the chart are all male names from Uganda.

I went There

Today, with the generous support of Betsy and Frank, I went today, for the first time, into a formal presentation setting within There, the virtual world. I am the fellow on the right:

After sharing details about Global Kids programs, I asked them what they like about There and the educational potential they see within that environment. It was a nice start exploring if Global Kids can move beyond Second Life to have a presence in other virtual worlds.

[p4k] Combining the McKinley and P4k Students

Yesterday the students in Brooklyn in the Playing 4 Keeps program met with the students in Washington, D.C. at McKinley High School. Using TSL and Skype, The P4K students shared their plans for the upcoming game with the McKinley students and together they brainstormed about how to take it into Second Life.

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[vvp/teens] Scripts for child soldiers

Last session we split up into groups to focus on different parts of the script. I was very enthusiastic but it seems everyone else wasn't. I just "love!" the fact that everyone else spent the class visiting Myspace and taking pictures in Photobooth. I won't state names because I dislike squealing. I would rather have Barry or Sam pay attention to the kids when we are using computers next time.

[VVP/Teens] Disappointing classwork

Last Thursday's class was cool because we divided up and began working on different sections of the script, what wasn't cool was the lack of work that occurred. I will not say names but several people and not only in my group did not work whatsoever. To me this is no big problem because if these people do not want to have an input on this project then I'll gladly do all the work with the few who decide to work. What I do know is that Sam and Tabitha would not like to see that so I guess something will have to be done.

May 7, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Narration

Last Thursday in the Global Kids workshop we continued with making ideas for the grand video on child soldiers. It was good to see that there are still many considerations for how the video is to be presented. We were also divided into groups so we can work on the specific part. I got to work on the middle part, which mostly is about how life is in the camps in which the child soldiers are to stay in. Idan got some good ideas such as the representation of lunch in the camps and lunch within the homes in which the child soldiers would be in. The flashbacks will play an epic role because it shows the audience what the child soldiers went through as compared to back in their former prosperous homes.

[SL] SecondCast talks about Teen Grid Unification

The lastest podcast, Episode 59, from the Second Life focused show SecondCast features interviews with TSL resident and GK Leader Lucky Figtree discussing her work with Alex Harbinger on the Teen Grid Unification Project. The interview begins at 18:50 and continues until the end of the episode. There are also some great comments posted in response to the episode.

Download the episode or listen to the entire podcast below.


powered by ODEO

May 4, 2007

[vvp] GK Leaders release first social issue machinima

After spend the school year learning the basics of creating machinima in Second Life, this week the youth leaders have completed their five 30-second long Public Service Announcements.

Each of the five teams selected a different issue related to digital media around which to create their PSA. Working on their own and with other teen residents of Second Life, they created their avatars, costumes, sets and props. Post-production was done on computers provided by the Museum of the Moving Image, who helped develop and teach some of the program.

The videos below are the students first attempt to create Second Life-based machinima around important social issues.

View it on YouTube here.

Also available for download and to be podcast:

UPDATE:

We have also been getting in some great comments on the PSA's read some below.

All of you keep up the great work. We look forward to your future input on the Main Grid. :) - KorbinKing

YAY! Well done, guys!!
Great PSAs!
And the DDR thingy is amazing, hehe.
- FaerieDevilish

Great work guys! Can't wait to see more from you!
- BlueLinden

Absolutely inspirational! I plan to take the first few minutes of each class in SL today to view these with my 8th grade students, and to pass the URl on to all the other teachers in my district!! Kudos!
- Peggy, Ramapo Junior High

I watched it this afternoon. Really great. Tell the teens I love what they're creating.
- Claudia Linden, Teen Grid Manager

[Press| Global Kids featured in ISTE's Learning and Leading with Technology magazine

The latest issue of ISTE's Learning & Leading with Technology features an article, entitled Real-Life Migrants on the Muve: Stories of Virtual Transitions which includes interviews from both Peg Sheehan from the Teen Grid Ramapo Islands project and our own Barry Joseph of Global Kids. Below is an excerpt.

As director of online leadership for Global Kids, a non-profit organization located in New York City, Barry Joseph works with teenagers in various public schools to provide them with opportunities for civic and global engagement. Joseph describes an “Aha!” moment from the summer Camp GK 2006:

Mercury Metropolitan was our summer intern. He was a member of Teen [Second Life] like anyone else, we just put him in a different role. He actually helped us run the camp. What he did was take what he learned about using the development model in [Second Life] from us and applied it in the setting, then took it in [directions] we never would have imagined … he knew how to use digital media. And it was a great experience for us to see that not only could he have such a powerful learning experience as an intern, and learn to do what we do, but then he, as a young person, who is native to this digital world could then leverage to use it as a medium for education in ways that only natives would identify.

Six months after the end of camp,Joseph and his team asked the participants to reflect on what they learned. “Lucky Figtree” wrote, “Since the first Camp GK in Teen Second Life, I can say with confidence that I have gained many social skills. I can hold out a meaningful debate, and I learned tons about important world causes ... I think I can type A LOT faster!” Another student wrote, “During my time in Camp GK, I learned so much about the world around me that I never knew about. Using the knowledge given to me, I was able to educate my peers and even teachers about issues around the world.”

Download the full article here.

May 3, 2007

[sl] Farewell, for now...

Hey everyone! I had a wonderful time being interviewed on Friday and reflecting on some of the memorable times I had as a Global Kids Intern. You can read the chat transcript from my exit interview here: http://www.holymeatballs.org/2007/05/sl_exitinterview_with_mercury.html

Currently, I am on vacation in Palm Springs, California, visiting my uncle for the entire month of May. Not to fret, though! I will still be around Global Kids Island often, and may even make a surprise appearance in terms of working for Global Kids again in the future. I look forward to it. Thanks to everyone who has made my time as an intern such a fulfilling experience. See you in Second Life!

Feel free to check out my Flickr page here and add me as a friend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercurymetropolitan/

Oh, and the same goes for my Twitter updates, which can be found here:
http://twitter.com/MercuryMetro

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[Teen/VVP] Beginning, Middle, and End!

Beginning, Middle and End. I think those basically tell the whole story. Tuesday in Machinima we as a group tried to come up with the beginning, middle and end of our story. Tabitha was sick so she couldn't be there, but Barry was there. We did not have many people come to Machinima though. We were missing a lot of people but it went fairly well anyway. We started off with one basic idea and expanded on that. First, we looked at whether we would end with a happy or sad ending. We decided that we had to do something that inspires hope in people, or rather, something that will make people feel as though they can do something about the issue at hand.

Machinima was a little different though - it was because I was distracted since my AP exam is coming up soon. But anyway...the whole workshop was basically people arguing over different storylines that would work best. I think that the narration part would be a good idea because it does add that touch of reality to it, but then again...there is the whole issue on not actually getting the right accent. I really did not know how to contribute to the storyline, especially without distracting ourselves from the actual storyline. I think we have a general idea on what the beginning, middle and end of the story will be, we just need to work out the details and make ends meet. Nonetheless, the story is pretty interesting, and I want to see how it turns out! (along with all the difficulties we will face!)

[VVP/Teens] Expanding the story

Last session we went over expanding our story. I really was interested in the story! We left off with a story line of having two brothers coming upon a conflict of killing each other, or making sacrifices to save each other which results in a death. So far the story is coming out really well and I can’t wait to finish it.

[VVP/Teens] Thursday's story discussion

Thursday's class involved deep discussion on the story that we wanted to show in our final videos. The group decided on the idea I had proposed as well as the idea of the setting contrasts between families and child soldiers. I think this project has great potential and I think to do this idea justice I really want to be a part of the team that writes and further develops this script and story. I feel very enthusiastic about the story that can be represented and I look forward to working on this project. When I presented this idea I had a vision of my desired outcome and I think that my classmates saw this vision as well and that is why they liked it. I hope that the script will come out well and that I’ll be able to contribute and help write it.

May 2, 2007

[SL] Secondlife.com Spotlights 3 Global Kids videos

Three of our favorite Global Kids videos are up on the Education section of SecondLife.com and that that makes us smile.
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SL-GKfocus.jpg

May 1, 2007

[VVP/Teens] Presentation on our research

We presented our research on child soldiers. My group did research on the percentages of child soldiers, like how many of them there are in what region, etc. We discovered a lot of startling information, and we had encounter a story of a woman who was a child soldier. (based on her interview). We learned a lot of shocking information.

[VVP/Teens] Our Talents

It is time we divide the class up and I really can’t begin to imagine what group I'm going to be in. I'm used to being on top of everything so now I got to get used to just doing my part and letting others do with it as they please. I can't imagine which job I'll be doing. I think it would be easier if I let others choose my job for me based on what they think is my strength. Hopefully maybe that is what will end up happening.

[sl] Exit-interview with Mercury Metropolitan

On April 27, 2007, I had the pleasure of hosting an informal exit-interview with Mercury Metropolitan, who has been a part-time Teen Second Life Remote Intern for the last five months on Global Kids Island, to talk about his experience and to allow him to share his thoughts with the residents in Teen Second Life and the public in general. Mercury provided many suggestions for the future and insightful tips for future interns. Below is a summary of the dialogue we had with Mercury.

Tabitha Gkid: Thank you Mercury for taking the time today and share about your role on Global Kids Island. To begin, please tell us about yourself and how you became a GK TSL intern…

Mercury Metropolitan: Okay, well, I am a male in real life for those of you who didn't know..haha, big shocker, I know! I'm 17 years old and live in the USA. I don't actually work in the GK Offices in New York. I work here in the comfort of my bedroom.

Mercury Metropolitan: I didn't know what to expect at first, other than what the initial application stated. It seemed to cover a number of diverse roles that I had to play. Most of them involved duties such as designing and executing the GK Camp program.

Mercury Metropolitan: At first, I had my concerns about Global Kids being on the Teen Grid. The idea of adults invading our teen space irked me to say the least. So, I wanted to confront the issue first hand..

Mercury Metropolitan: I wanted to learn what the purpose of Global Kids was about and what they were planning on doing here on the Teen Grid. After I was chosen to be the sole teen intern, I learned very quickly that Global Kids was not trying to encroach upon our personal slice of the metaverse.

Mercury Metropolitan: I came to the conclusion that GK is all about allowing teens to formulate their own ideas and opinions through interactive and immersive experiences.

Rafi GKid: Well, you were successful, especially in letting us know how little we really knew about the teen grid when we started out...

Mercury Metropolitan: Well, I expected to have some sort of positive impact on Global Kids, and I definitely feel I have. I really couldn't have asked for a better team to work with though. As Rafi said earlier, I did help to enlighten GK on aspects of the TG that were alien to them and helped to integrate them with the rest of the teen grid…I've acted as a liaison of sorts between teens outside the island, and the adults that are stuck here.

Tabitha Gkid: how did u feel being this "middle person" between GK and the rest of residents in TSL?

Mercury Metropolitan: It has been a pleasure really…In the earlier days however, when I was recruiting teens to sign up for camp GK, it did prove difficult though…Some people were uncomfortable with GK because they didn't trust them. This is partly why I made it a goal to reach out to my personal network of friends. They trusted me, so they did apply. The ones who were chosen to participate in that particular program trusted GK once it was over.

Mercury Metropolitan: Word of mouth definitely plays a role in the trust factor. So, once those teens trusted GK, they told their friends and so on. GK's reputation went up over time. =)

Tabitha Gkid: Absolutely =) Can you elaborate more on some of the highlights or challenges of being the manager/leader in many of our past events?

Mercury Metropolitan: One of my highlights was when I coordinated the Child Sex Trafficking Awareness and Activism Event as one of the final projects for Camp GK. I felt really proud after executing it successfully outside of GK Island with the help of many campers involved in the program.

Mercury Metropolitan: I thought that was the best event I've ever held here on the Teen Grid. It was excellent! We also raised a lot of Lindens for the Polaris Project that day.

Mercury Metropolitan: The most challenging was definitely the FINAL project for Camp Global Kids! THE MAZE.

Tabitha Gkid: Can you give some examples of your daily duties?

Mercury Metropolitan: Sure - my top responsibilities are probably event preparation, organization, and facilitation. I also am in charge of promoting anything happening on the island and managing various GK groups.

Tabitha Gkid: And how was your time management with everything?

Mercury Metropolitan: At times it can be difficult, but I've become a better multi-tasker and have juggled it all.

Tabitha Gkid: You sure have! Any advice for future interns/volunteers?

Mercury Metropolitan: Hmm, to them I would say - make sure you know your audience. This isn't hard, because you are a teen yourself. So, plan events that you yourself would like to attend.

Mercury Metropolitan: When I facilitated events in the past - the Child Sex Trafficking Awareness & Activism one as en example, I kept everyone engaged by making it FUN and rewarding teens. We had trivia throughout the entire event, so my fellow campers and myself would type a couple statements and then ask the audience a question about those statements. If they answered correctly, they would receive a freebie gift.

Mercury Metropolitan: I think they enjoyed that a lot.
Rafi GKid: Ah the freebie's... sooo essential!

Mercury Metropolitan: Also, on a more technical side of things - brush up on some building skills.

Rafi GKid: Merc, you'd said you thought it was important for teens that might want to intern to brush up on their building and graphic abilities, is there anything you made that you're particularly proud of?

Mercury Metropolitan: In terms of graphics - I was very proud of the advertisement I made for Camp GK…It was pretty popular on Tin Bling's ad server

Rafi GKid: For sure. It was one of the best methods we had of getting the word out, aside from just word of mouth of course.

Rafi GKid: What else do you enjoy doing most here in SL?

Mercury Metropolitan: I really enjoy helping other residents.. When I'm not here, I'm usually in the Freebie Bazaar or Welcome area. So, I volunteer on my spare time too.

Markorn Jun: Merc, do you see SL as a game or as a daily task?

Mercury Metropolitan: Markorn, Second Life is where I work and play. I don't see it as a task, because I'm not forced to be here

Rafi GKid: Mercury, what kinds of things do you want to see more of from GK in the future?

Mercury Metropolitan: I would like to see more programs similar to Camp GK that are open to the public.

Tabitha Gkid: We will work on that =)

Thank you Mercury for all that you've done for us, enjoy a happy vacation and see you when you come back!

As closing, Jay Clostermann, a new GK intern, gave Mercury Metropolitan a copy of an egg avatar, along with Rafi and myself, here's the four of us as eggs! Thanks Jay!

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: Credibility Flash - It’s on the Internet, It Must be True!!

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:Credibility Flash - It’s on the Internet, It Must be True!!.

Cyric 02:04pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Honestly, I don't see what's so good about them.You must be careful when you take information from internet, Always! I mean ALWAYS keep your sources, it isn't even a bad idea in a high stake paper or such to download copy of web page to a pc, cause you pages that will pop up for one day with content that is not true. They are used in attempt to misinform the masses. Then again agnecys like the CDC doesn't help against it as they never give out stats request by general populous and then people make up statics's.

But thats just my thoughts.

kc09 03:05pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Yes I have used many sources on the internet that were not credible, and I have been given F's on multiple occassions. It is really embarrasing, and it has made me mad and I have started using minimal website information. I have used some sources but for the most part I just Wikipedia. It is the most trustable source that I have found.

Cyric 03:10pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Kc wikapedia is about as trustworthy as asking a random friend. It can be edited by open public.

dark me 03:54pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
well, u see I don't believe stuff that easily! but sumtimes u can't help believing wat u read, I just tend to question stuff and ask and see if its true to make sure!

but as when it cums to school stuff then I use the stuff which um sure they're true.. I wudnt want my marks cut

FaerieGirl 04:00pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Hmmm, well - I guess that, when I was younger, I believed in what certain chain letters said - you know, the ones on petition letters because the trees in the Amazones would be cut, the whole bonsai kitten thing, the contraceptive drug used in rape... Now I see that those things are illogical, but at first I used to believe them.

I think also that another problem that's become part of Internet also is the lack of neutrality (which is impossible) when it comes to news or politics. There are articles on Wikipedia on certain wars or conflicts that were written obviously by people that belong to one side of the conflict. The good thing is that Internet itself provides the solution - you can look for another site where you can read about the other sides and reach your conclusions.

lokijki 04:02pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Everyone says Wikipedia is a horrible source for information but its really not... They monitor every edit that takes place on the website and change anything thats not true. And you really don't have to worry much about information not being credible, as long as your on a site you trust, unless its around April 1st.

Cyric 04:12pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
There is no reason to put your guard down because you think it might possibly be crediable. Meh, I find that best way to get credible information is pulling info from multiple sources and cross referencing them.

FaerieGirl 04:16pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Loki - Wikipedia is considered a bad source because there's no academic compromise behind it. Even if the content is checked, everyone still has the capability to put in it whatever he pleases (I know someone who edited the page of a Brit journalist and invented his cause and date of death, hah). I do think that there are some articles that are great in Wikipedia, but I've also seen others that even I could have made in a way better way.

itrat 05:08pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
I was searching for the scholarship on my computer, the advertisement about scholarship came to my screen that was about write your name, address, and phone number and get $500. I wrote all the information,after one month when I got the internet bill they charged me $40. Then I knew that was not the right side. Now I never see any advertisement I just cancel that.

itrat fatima

Aotearoa 06:38pm Apr 11, 2007 EST
Wikipedia is good for background knowledge or quick searches and stuff, but I wouldn't trust it... I like to use government and college sites and cross reference (like Cyric said). It just works well. If it has a basis in education, I like to think it is true...

RyanBartz 06:45am Apr 12, 2007 EST
I can't say I haven't got the right answer from the internet, but on Google, which I always use, I do some some different answers along the list. I always go for the most common and General knowledge.

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: Are you a major media snacker?!

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:Are you a major media snacker?!.

lokijki 09:22pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
HI wanted to ask how many of you think you are major media snackers. Not like "I own an iPod" but "I spen about 95% of my time listening to music on my iPod." Maybe not that extreme but, yeah. I spend most of my free time playing games or looking at news about games, so I guess I'd be one.

rockerlizz 11:28pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I wouldn't say I'm not so much as a media snacker as I use to be. Two years ago I was about 95% of a mediasnacker. Online all day[Even when at school]. But, now.. Hmn, I'd say 65%? It get's less everyday thanks to homework, japanese, and other scheduled things. but, being off the computer is healthy.

j_r 12:53am Apr 4, 2007 EST
Since the day i go a hold on a cell i became the biggest media snacker because i would spend the whole day on the phone and when i wasn't on the phone I would be on the computer or watching T.V.

Atte 01:01am Apr 4, 2007 EST
Yes. On the computer 24/7.

EJ - Supreme Torturer of West NewzCrew 03:18am Apr 4, 2007 EST
Wow. No. I play a game where it's helpful to be on a lot and I used to be connected to ICQ and mIRC 24/7 (literally, I would shut down maybe once a week for a couple of hours) but of course I didn't spend all that time at the computer, just when my highlight was set off. Now that I've moved to a house that is not broadband compatible I spend considerably less time around a computer. I don't however watch much TV (maybe two hours a week) and I rarely make more than 150 text messages a month.

RyanBartz 07:19am Apr 4, 2007 EST
I would say I am a major Media Snacker.

I am always on the computer, considering I have my own in my room, and get interested into these sort of stuff.

Obviously I do go out with my mates or go to Martial Arts 3 times a week, but I am still on the computer quite a few hours a day.

dark me/B> 10:49am Apr 4, 2007 EST
well, I wud say I'm not much of a media snacker but I sped a considerable time online... from 1-2 hours a day. I don't watch TV that much.

so using the media probably takes 40% of my time... I think

castnuri 02:49pm Apr 4, 2007 EST
I'm online one to two hours a day; sometimes longer if I'm multi-tasking at the same time by writing an essay or doing an assignment. But there are days I just don't feel like switching on the computer. I call it the internet slump, during which even the sight of my inbox is enough to make me nauseas.

Video games I only play two times a week because I prefer helping my sister and brother play their own games instead of completing my back-log of RPGs. Television's usually switched on but I only see a handful of shows a week (Prison Break, CSI). As for the ominious cell phone...I think it's a 'neccesity' of sorts, but I keep misplacing it, which says a lot about my messaging tendencies.

VERDICT: I'd say that I'm media savvy-- not addicted, though a few months without any form of digital media would be challenging. It's good to have other hobbies; I myself take yoga, do a lot of reading, sketching and writing.

Orissa 09:52pm Apr 9, 2007 EST
i think that the video is correct since more technology has been discovered today there are less use for things. and more teens are into the modern technology. it is mostly on the go items such as i pods you can download music from the computer and take it where ever you go. there is also the cellular phones where as in the eailer days it was a cord so you couldntt go anywhere with it. it aslo has features today that you can not do on a house phone. and there is also the internet. everything you can think of is on the internet. thee is no usegae of books if you can go on line and get watever it is you want from ofline.

AZERT

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: Life without 'internet'....!

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:Life without 'internet'....!.

dark me 10:16am Apr 5, 2007 EST
Some of my friends don't have a computer, and much more neither do they have an internet.

Some of them have an internet access at home but do not know how to use it. sometimes I can't help feeling that they are missing out alot. internet has open up my eyes and made me realize so many things. it has helped me to keep myself updated on wats going on in the world.

if u dunno how to use the internet or you r in a place where u never heard of a thing called 'internet' how can you imagine ur life to be, do u think it can be a good thing that u'd be able to find out other interests and maybe talents in urself? or do u think u'd be missing out and u'd have nothing to do in ur life and ur life wud've been empty?

give us a look on how u imagine urself without ever having heard of the 'internet'

castnuri 02:12pm Apr 5, 2007 EST
I've actually met a lot of people who don't have/use the internet but are more enlightened about the world and life than I would be if I wasn't familiar to the web. Some of them are elders who've lived more than thrice my life time; they're very admirable people and have done a great deal more without the internet than most of our generation has done with it. Others are teens or youths from slightly (not very) rural areas, unexpectedly. =P

As for me? I probably wouldn't write as well and would have a slightly limited knowledge of overseas personas. The internet has done a lot of bad and good things for me, but without it I don't think I would've been *completely different*. Maybe my passion for certain interests would be milder, but that would only mean that I'd prolly be more zealous about the other interests. For example, the internet greatly enchanced my video gaming habits...but without it, my reading or sketching habits would've grown stronger.

What I'd really miss out without the internet is the good friends though. In school and other IRL venues, it's hard to befriend people from dramatically different age or interest groups, yet on the internet I'm friends with mothers twice my age and quirky Uni students across the globe. Without these people, I'd view other individuals with a lesser understanding of their lives which is horrible, because I believe that understanding diversity is an important part of diplomacy and getting along.

RyanBartz 02:27pm Apr 5, 2007 EST
Now I have adapted to use the internet for alot of the things, it would be hell to not have it now.

But if I never had it, I think I would survive easily by finding a way around it.

rockerlizz 01:13pm Apr 6, 2007 EST
Wow, this is a question for me to think about. Personally, beofre I was introduced to the internet, my views on life were one sided. I was never able to dig deep into my thoughts, or even say them. But, after I recieved the internet my eyes have been open to so much more. From the morals of life, to relationships, deceit, depression, happiness.. With the internet, I was able to see the world for what it is, per say. I've become more philosophical and appreciative over the small things in life. This probably makes no sense to any of you, but the internet changed me drastically, and I wouldn't take it back for anything.

FaerieGirl 03:22pm Apr 6, 2007 EST
I'd like to ask the same question to someone around the age of 30. I began using computers for more than school work at age 10, and more or less since then Internet has pretty much determined what I've learned in the last years. I do think that, if we didn't have Internet, life still would go on (it always does), and people would consult books and other media more... But yeah, I can't really give a concrete answer. o.o

T.Wedderburn 07:42pm Apr 6, 2007 EST
Well I am previously living the life without internet. The only thing that is wrong with it is that whenever I have homework or just feel like browsing the net I have to go to a friends house or go to the library and wait on line for the next available computer. Other than that It's all good.

rockerlizz 10:29pm Apr 6, 2007 EST
I agree that life would still go on if I ddin't have the internet, but.. >_> The internet has given me opportunity to meet all kinds of people, and if I never got into the internet world, I wouldn't have met the most important person in my life right now. And they have made the biggest impact and influence in my life. So, in a way.. The internet is the best thing that's happened in my life.

kera 05:12pm Apr 7, 2007 EST
Well to me, I think the internet is a blessing. Before, when I was much younger.. I didn't care about life or anything like that.. all I did was play outside with my friends. I am now 17 years old, the internet opened my mind up to different things, like this discussion. However there are things on the internet that is unacceptable.. but that is another story. Because of the internet, and my 'fetish' for computers, I now have passion to work with computers, and be something in life. With out the internet in my present lifetime, I would not know what to do with my life. The internet is here for a reason. Dictionary, Google (Lol), Interesting debates/chatrooms ect. Thank God for man & thank man for the internet!

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: Are you Mobile/cell phone crazy?!

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:Are you Mobile/cell phone crazy?!.

RyanBartz 08:01pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
Honestly, I don't see what's so good about them.

Yes I do have my own, and yes I do like to have a top notch one with camera and all sorts, but I see people with their phone out nearly 24/7.

Their phone is out, texting away a message, or are they just trying to be 'cool'?

Tell me. Do you text 500 miles an hour on your phone, never off it at night?

AZERT 01:44pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
I text a lot, but also use a lot of other features... Calling (Yes, calling)... Pictures, IM, stuff like that Kevin

rockerlizz 10:43pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
I'm not cellphone crazy, but I also don't have a cellphone. I use to have one over the summer and used it everyday only because I had no internet. I used it to keep in touch with friends and take my mind off of issues I was experiencing. I admit I was a little off balance the first few days of not having it, but I later became accustomed. Now that I have the internet, it's much easier to communicate[Without massive charges..]. Even now, I'm making sure not to get too attached to the internet. I'm not on it as much and instead find constructive things to do[Such as studying Japanese, drawing, or the likes of that.] No desires = No suffering. Simply, people just THINK they need something, when they really don't.

Atte 12:41am Apr 3, 2007 EST
I usualy have my phone with me 24/7. I like to be able to contact anyone, anywhere, anytime. And be contacted myself. It's also useful for searching information.

I don't call people as much as I text. I also use IM and check my email with it when I'm gone.

lokijki 07:24am Apr 3, 2007 EST
I don't have a cell phone. I don't really need one either... I either call people from home or contact them over the internet.

dark me 12:36pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I do have a cell phone but um not that crazy about it. however I like to have it with me all the time, I text msgs but not that often!

I think its important nowadays to have a cell phone but one shudnt be that much obssesed with it... it might get out of control.

technologies r made 2 make our lives easier so we shud know how to deal with them the best!

Gractree 02:51pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I always have my phone turned on, and with me [not counting class, as I really don't care for detentions.] I really like to talk to some of my friends through text messaging, because I can't always be at my computer; and I feel that I should always have a way to communicate with them should something ever happen to me, or them.

Lanmanna 06:28pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I don't have a cell phone, I don't even want one. I don't talk on the phone that much.

AZERT 07:13pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I find cell phones very good to use... it's also helpful if you are in a party and get separated. Even the little things... such as when I waited for rides (I drive now), and it was cold out, I'd simply have my ride call my cell instead of having to wait out in the cold.

AZERT

j_r 12:29pm Apr 4, 2007 EST
Cell phones are really important because you are always in need of one, even for the simplest phone call. But i have to admit that i have become cell phone crazy because I feel like I can't live without my phone. When i leave my house I must alwayz have my phone and if I dont I feel like I need to get it before going anywhere.

kmonjaras 10:21pm Apr 4, 2007 EST
Cell phone are really importante for emergency, but I think is good to used when is really necessary to do it, but not crazy.

[DMI] FOCUS Featured Discussion: E-Friends vs. Friends

As part of work exploring the role that digital media plays in the lives of young people today, Global Kids has launched FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society, where teens from around the world are sounding off their perspectives on a range of issues related to digital media.

Below is a featured discussion from current dialogues happening on the site. Check it out!

This feature is taken from FOCUS: Teen Voices on Digital Media and Society:E-Friends vs. Friends.

rockerlizz 01:21pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
Are friends from the internet less valuable than those in real life? A lot of people question this, but as for my opinion I don't think there's anything to compare. The location, time, or place you meet a person shouldn't matter in a friendship, or in any other relationship. I, for one have experienced many internet friends, and from what I observe it's all the same. We go through struggles, disagreements, pain.. But, we also experience happiness, comfort, and fun.

Yes, the internet can count as a 'danger zone', but to some point, anything can be dangerous. Somebody might lie and say who they are, but people can also lie to your face. Somebody can never come online to talk to you anymore, but in real life we all lose someone, too. You see, the point is that just because a friend might be through a screen.. Doesn't mean the relationship shouldn't exist. As a matter of fact, most of the best friends I've ever had are from the internet. We've gone through so much together, and know external and internal conflicts of our lives, etc. We learn from each other and each other's experiences, and I admit I have learned more than I ever have in real life.

So, no matter how you feel about having friends on the internet, appreciate the friendship you're in, because what most people don't seem to realize is what they actually have. Besides, this is the internet right now. And I don't see why me, or any of you on this site couldn't be friends. =]

-Lizz.

Cyric 01:44pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
My Expereince with E-Friends.

Since about 5-6th grade, I've really been into internet. Specifically in chats from time Msn chat was free (yeah back in '00) To sites like TIDNI to Yahoo and Myspace chats. I must say, compared to my real life, If it wasn't for these services I wouldn't of known a 100th of what I do about different walks of life.

What has my E-friends done for me in over years.

*Well many were ladies, and I've always been kind of guy to listen, so it's given me ample amount of knowledge on womens issues, to make me be a better friend for those in real life and over internet. Yes, I say Real Life, I say this because, that unless I really talk to some alot like i do with a few of my friends, i don't honeslty acknowledge their existance much more then screen name.

*It's given me a way to Vent to these people i honestly don't know.

As far as considering these people real people. yeah there all real people, but i'm sure, it would take more of a hit to ya, if your friend that you've been talking to for a year that lived in town that you hanged out in RL, would be more devastating than friend you talked to every night over the net.

Thats just my 2 cents.

rockerlizz 02:22pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
Mm.. For me, losing a friend could go both ways. I can know someone in real life, and I can know someone from the internet.. But, losing one of them could effect me the same way. From my experience, I've been hurt both ways.. But, with relationships over the net I think it effected me the most because over the internet it's so much easier to type out your problems, and explain them. And it's so much easier to listen to, too. And the point your brought out is really an important factor in my life because after experiencing probably the most traumatic days of my life, I met yet another person online who gave me a reason to live. Some might say a 'Hero', but it's much more than that.

Sure, I met them from the internet, but because I met them makes my life 10x better than before. Friendship isn't about quantity, it's about quality and whether it's from a screen or not shouldn't make a difference to how well it goes. But, I respect your opinion.

Atte 04:48pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
Personaly I have lots of online friends. More than real life ones. I only spend time with my real life friends in school and spend all my evenings chatting and playing with the online ones.

I don't think they can be compared, because the set up is so different. And online friends can become real life friends too.

Fran 05:33pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
I've too a lot of online friends, but I think you can't replace your friends from the Real Life. It's a complete friend relationship, it's not only words, you can share the moments with them.

FaerieGirl 05:47pm Apr 2, 2007 EST
I don't think we should avoid comparing offline and online friends, to be honest. Even if we interact with them in different contexts, it all comes down to the 'friend' part. Getting all technical, this is Merriam-Webster's attempt to define "friend":

1. one attached to another by affection or esteem

In my opinion, the criteria to know whether someone is your friend or not are the same in any type of context. It all comes down to affection, I guess. The question is personal to me, then - do you need to see the person physically to feel affection towards him or her? I don't.

lokijki 07:26am Apr 3, 2007 EST
I'd consider all my Second Life friends to be real friends. Its no different then offline ones.

dark me 12:45pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
that's a gr8 topic!

I rily love my online friends cuz u sumtimes get 2 tell them more than u can tell ur offline ones, and they'd b able 2 help! as far as if they're telling the truth or not I guess it rily depends on u and how much do u get ur self attached... no matter wat we shud b careful but not 2 way that we get parinoed and think every1 is lying!

so online friends ROCK! but I can't have a category of both offline and online friends! I keep them separated

MizzSugarCity 03:27pm Apr 3, 2007 EST
I think both E-Friends and Friends can be good at times and bad at times. They can both be dangerous, but that is life. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you don't really hang out with face to face than talking to someone you do hang out with. You wouldn't have to worry about everyone knowing your business. It's a good experience.

AZERT 12:29pm Apr 4, 2007 EST
Any person who believes that E-Friends are "better" or even 'equal" to real friends must not have alot of real friends... There's no comparison.

Online, you only talk. In person, there are so many other interactions besides just a chat, or even a webcam/computer "Second Life"

AZERT

RyanBartz 12:55pm Apr 4, 2007 EST
Azert, friends and E-friends are the same. On games, you can spend time with them, and talk, and get to know each other, just like real life.

Ok, you can't play a sport with them or anything, but can play online games against each other. And that's what I think is what friendship, spending time together and talking, and having fun.

You don't need to play football (soccer) with someone to be friends with them.

And yes, I do have alot of real friends, and the people talking back to you online are real.

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