Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

Global Kids' Online Leadership Program has positions open in the fall of 2007.

PDFs for each position, along with a description and position status, can be viewed below. Information about applying can ONLY be found within the PDFs. Job-related questions may be asked in the comment box associated with this post.

If you wish to apply to more than one position, please respond to each position separately.

Online Leadership Program Assistant
Status: Position filled

More coming soon – watch this space. Keep watching. You still watching?

If you would like to receive job openings from Global Kids in the future, please join our job announcement-only listserv.

Posted by Barry at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Following the highly successful public screening of A Child's War on September 7, 2007 at the Museum of the Moving Image, Global Kids submitted the teen-made machinima video to the Machinima Festival 2007, which will be held in Europe for the first time in October, 2007. The seven-minute film has been viewed over 2,200 times on YouTube. Recently an article on the teens who created the film was published by Alaska Airlines. Click here to read the article.

It’s now official! A Child’s War was nominated as BEST STUDENT MACHINIMA in the Best Student category, among four other teen-made films from around the globe. The DeMontfort University in Leicester, UK, will host the award ceremony on October 13, 2007.

More details on the festival can be found by clicking here

Details on the public screening can be found by clicking here

If you have not seen A Child’s War, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Congratulations to all the teens in the after-school Virtual Video Project! Your dedication in raising awareness on the plight of child soldiers is much appreciated. Thank you all for sharing your voice.

Posted by tabitha at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

An article from the site New City Chicago covering the recent Second Life Community Convention, along with giving a brief history of SL and talking about some of the SLCC panels and speakers, spent time focusing on what they thought were some of the ways Second Life is being used as an educational platform which included Global Kids work within the Teen grid.

"Groups like Kids, who recently received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, are using Teen Second Life to increase adolescent awareness of social-justice organizations and the way teens around the world live."

To read the full article, click here.

Posted by joyce at 2:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Question/Answer session in the MMI VVP presentation
September 6, 2007

Question: Chris Wisniewski- I’m curious as to what was the most exciting part of this program, what really thrilled you about being here? What kept you coming two times a week for a whole year?

Answer. Miguel - The most exciting thing about this program was learning all about the film techniques and learning how to work in Second Life. I also enjoyed gaining new skills and meeting new people. I liked working on a project where we can express ourselves.

Answer. Angela- It was a great opportunity coming here twice a week. We got more than we expected. I never thought that I would actually get to go out of state. I went to Wisconsin and Chicago to talk about my experience with machinima. It was such a great experience… It was great to not only show my work but to show the work of the other team members as well.

Answer. Nafiza- I think … we wanted to stick to the program because we were representing the people that were facing these issues. We wanted to work for the children in Northern Uganda who were suffering, who were being held as child soldiers and were being abused. In Northern Uganda, they don’t have the same amount of media access that we have and that’s why we felt that we had to represent them and what better way to do it then [through the usage of ] media. Using Machinima was a great way of making movies because it is inexpensive. You don’t have to pay for a real movie set …so it was a great way for teens to make movies.

Comment 2. Joshua Wolff- I actually stumbled upon this film on youtube. I came back from Uganda actually two weeks ago. We’re filming a documentary about the same issue and for about a month I worked with youth who were abducted, so it’s amazing to see a story that was pretty accurate. I think you guys did a wonderful job.

Comment 3- Peggy Sheehy -I attended many presentations at the conference and not one moved me as much as these students presentation. I wanted to also mention that they were the only group at the presentation that received a standing ovation and it was well deserved. If these students don’t know at this point how much their work is trickling down to students all over the world, they need to know now. Thank you!

Comment 4 - Fran Silverberg- I just want to tell the students that you guys really did a great job! I work for UNICEF and the funny thing is that Ishmael Beah’s girlfiend ….sent me an email and said you have to go to this. I can’t wait to tell her because, well I’m also the adopted aunt of Ishmael Beah. He would of come out tonight but he was very busy. You really have done an amazing job and I can’t wait to go back and tell people. I work with the division of communication and I have to tell them to view it. This is very exciting. It’s a very good film. Thank you.

Question 5 Evie- I just wanted to know what [the students] may have learned through your participation in Global Kids and how this program may play out through their choices for their future career goals. …?

Answer. Armando- It had a big impact. I really wasn’t into the whole video production part. I had no knowledge about it and after this program I’ve been looking at some colleges that have similar programs. I am interested in NYU and other college programs. Hopefully I’ll have enough experience to help me get into these college programs…and I also hope this program will continue to impact students positively.

Comment 6- Jonathon Cubillos- I think she read my mind. Most of you are my students. I’m the educator at Aviation High School and I wanted to congratulate you all. [In our school] we have intensive courses and we finish roughly around 4:00 pm…. These students still made a great effort in coming out and working hard for this program… Thank you guys and congratulations.

Posted by joyce at 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The online site School Buyers Online recently featured an article entitled "13,000 Under-Served Students To Expand Their Worlds Through Global Kids Programs In New School Year."

To read the full article, click here.

Posted by joyce at 1:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Attention teachers, educators, and students!

After a successful conclusion of the after-school Virtual Video Project program last year, Global Kids will work with 20 students at the Center for Global Youth Leadership, Manhattan during the 2007-2008 school year, to continue to assist teens interested in understanding the role of digital media in their lives and creating socially-conscious films. Students will have the unique opportunity to learn a variety of skills that will empower them to become critical thinkers, media producers, and global citizens. Participants will create their own virtual films called "machinima" in a supervised, teen-only area of Second Life (www.secondlife.com), a three-dimensional, interactive, animated online community. Students will examine important social issues and create their own animated films about them. Working with recognized experts and leaders in the field of online virtual environments, students will participate in digital culture in a hands-on, thoughtful way. At the conclusion of the year-long program, students will distribute their films on the Internet, showcase them at a museum film festival, submit them to youth-media festivals and organizations, and screen them at their schools.

The program will take place at the Center for Global Youth Leadership, located inside the Global Kids office, every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30-6:00PM, beginning Thursday, November 1st, 2007. Participants will be awarded a stipend upon successful completion of the program.

To apply for the program:
Download an application below. Applications are due by Friday, October 16th. Space is limited!

For more information, contact Tabitha Tsai at 212-226-0130 extension 123, or email Tabitha at globalkids dot org

Virtual Video Project 2007-08 Flyer

Virtual Video Project 2007-08 Application

Posted by joyce at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you haven't recently flown to Alaska then you might have missed this article in Alaska Airways magazine, a fantastic and well-written overview of Global Kids Virtual Video Project within a larger analysis of Henry Jenkin's ideas about developing digital literacy (along with a mention of Camp GK in Second Life). Check it out!

Download PDF of article here

Posted by joyce at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were invited to attend the Microsoft Corporation's Research Group's Social Computing Symposium in Redmond, an invite-only event with around 80 or so folks from the for-profit, academic, and online world. There is an amazing collection of people here who have accomplished tremendous things in the online world over the past 20 years. It was great to meet a number of fellow MacArthur grantees whom I only know from MacArthur's Spotlight blog and exciting (intimidating?) to meet so many heroes from the field. For example, at lunch I had someone who made my favorite EPCOT rides on one side and on the other the fellow who created the Beast, the first ARP game back in 2000 that, more than anything else, indoctrinated me to the world of social computing.

Of most interest were the presentations - a combination of academic studies, web 2.0 product demos or reviews, and musings about the present and future of social computing. Presentations were short and, at the end of each day, we voted for those we most want to give back-to-back five minute "lightening round" presentations created on the spot. Very effective process.

One excellent source of notes on the event can be found at the blog of the Shifted Librarian as well as the flickr photos.

Posted by Barry at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... applications are open for second round!

For the past 5 months, we've been experimenting with a new internship program in Teen Second Life. In the program, teens were given the opportunity to create their own projects and events on GK island, and at the same time come together once a month as a group to reflect on their work and give feedback about what went well and what could be changed in the future.

We had some great events that came out of the program which displayed the incredible talent and leadership among the teens of TSL. Click the links below to check out posts from the interns themselves about various events they coordinated.

From August 24-26, 2007, in Chicago, Global Kids coordinated the Non-profit and Philanthropy Thread at the Third Annual Second Life Community Convention.

This serves to collect all of our posts, photos, videos, audio, and more in one location. We will be adding to it over time, so please watch this space.

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Main Schedule
  
• Speaker Bios
  

PHOTOS

• Images from the GK Best Practices in SL Education Trading Cards
  
• View all Global Kids' related photos and sets on Flickr
  
• All Flickr photos with the thread tag: slcc07gk.
  
• All Flickr photos posted to the the Second Life Community Convention pool
  

VIDEO

• MiniClips (low quality) from Day 1:
  
  

RELATED MACHINIMA TRACK MATERIAL

• View Angela's powerpoint.
  
• Angela's video demo of the first machinima demos done by the youth in her program.
  
• View Lucky's powerpoint.
  
• View Nafiza's powerpoint.
  
• All of the photos
  

RELATED BUSINESS (FUNDERS) TRACK MATERIAL

• Read the open discussion about Philanthropy in Virtual Worlds on MacArthur's Spotlight Blog
  
• Video shown by the Microsoft Corporation to demonstrate one project in Teen Second Life.
  
• Learn & Serve's PowerPoint presentation
  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's PowerPoint presentation, part 1
  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's PowerPoint presentation, part 2
  
• MacArthur Foundation's PowerPoint presentation, part 2
  
• All of the photos
  

RELATED SOCIAL (NON-PROFIT) TRACK MATERIAL

• UNICEF's PowerPoint presentation
  
• TechSoup's PowerPoint presentation
  
• All of the photos
  

RELATED EDUCATION TRACK MATERIAL

• The entire Best Practices For Education in Second Life document.
  
• Global Kids' slideshow on An Educational Non-profit's History of the Teen Grid: A Global Kids Adventure in Best Practices
  
• Read the text or watch the video of The Incomplete History of Education in Teen Second Life, developed for the Education Track presentation.
  
• Demographics of Education Track attendees
  
• Photos from Connie Yowell's keynote
  
• Photos from the Best Practices Using Second Life for Education workshop
  
• The SLCC 2007 Education Proceedings, at 188 pages!
  

GK STAFF & ASSOCIATES REFLECTIONS

• A summary and review of the SLCC from Global Kids Youth Intern Nafiza - "Second Life is a privilege that many of us have the opportunity of using; that is why I feel that it is necessary to use it to raise awareness about all the global issues that there are, and all those people who are being exploited—because they are the people who do not have the same privileges that we do." - along with some additional thoughts about her Machinima panel.
  
• Commentary and reflections from Barry Joseph, GK's Online Leadership Director: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
  
• Commentary and reflections from Rik: Thinking about the Non-profit Sector at SLCC, Building the International Criminal Court, SLCC Day 1: “Second Life has the killer app, which is community”, and SLCC Day 2: So Long and Thanks for All the Swag!
  
• Commentary and reflections from Tabitha Tsai, Second Life Education Specialist, GK staff.
  
• Commentary and reflections from Meghan Deana, Youth Venture Associate, GK staff.
  
• Commentary and reflections from Mercury Metropolitan, GK remote intern.

PRESS

• [blog] The SLCC post-mortem from Education Track co-chair Daniel Livingston: "Connie Yowell of the MacArthur foundation gave an inspirational keynote, during which I was too-often distracted with trips to the tech support to try and work out how we could get connected... Barry Joseph’s interactive session for Global Kids went down very well, and really gave a boost to the attendees. Special award to Barry for managing to squeeze the event into the very small amount of time we were able to allocate to him."
  
• [video] Life4U's machinima news coverage from "SLCC 2007 in Chicago"
  
• CNET's News.com's The promise and paradox
  
• Top Tech News's Second Life Avatars Hold Real-World Convention
  
• [blog] Young Adult Library Services Associations's A Safe Place to Fail
  
• NMC Campus Oveserver's SLCC - Can We Do Better? - "Look at the great documentation done by Global Kids. Those sessions were the exceptions, as the GK folks always get us up out of the chairs, moving around, doing activities. We need more of that!... if SLCC 08 stays to the traditional conference approach, I’d rather be home in my PJs inworld..."
  
• ABC News' Second Life Gets 'Real' at Conference
  
• [blog] Out to Pasture's Post-SLCC Thoughts
  
• [blog] My Story of My "Second Life"'s Head of the Class: Global Kids Deliver!"
  
• The Young Adult Library Services Association discusses the GK Youth Leaders role in the Machinima Track and the relevance of machinima to libraries.
  
• [blog] Rikomatic's "Global Kids create 'best practices in education' Moo cards"
  
• Virtual World New's "The MacArthur Foundation's Virtual World Plans"
  
• [blog] From Lucy Bernholz's "Live and (not) in person"
  
• Thank you to all who mentioned the thread: Beth Kantor, Eliane Alhadeff, AFP Fundraising Resource Center, Chris Smith, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Blog PIoneering Ideas
  
• Press Release: 8/10/07 "Virtual World Residents To Gather In Chicago; Macarthur Foundation To Fund First-Ever Non-Profit Thread"
  
• Press Release: 7/10/07 "Global Kids to Launch a Nonprofit and Philanthropic Thread for the Second Life Community Convention"
  

Please tag all videos and Flickr photos with "slcc07gk".

Posted by Barry at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hey guys It's Daniel Voyager here:

Last time I posted was back in August when the GK CRC Camp finished. The last day at camp was on a Monday where only like 8 or so turned up because of school starting again, on our last day we had to do surveys and plan for the premier party, planning for who will do what, etc.

Since then the SLCC came up so I took part in that on GK island listening to stations all day enjoying the live audio coming through and took some wonderful snaphots.

On the 10th of September 2007 we had our first CRC Camp Premiere from 4-5pm EST, which was great fun and loads of friends came to join us. So this is what happened, I went to the GK Machinima Isalnd really early to set up a row of big poster snapshots of this year’s program, this was because I wanted to show everyone a better view of what happened by seeing an image of it. Also I set up some freebies for the premier, for example I made popcorn for watching the movies, including a CRC Summary notecard to give to people to give them an idea of what it is they’re watching.

So just before the premier started we started to teleport loads of our friends over to watch the premier, I think we had around 30 to 60 people turned up throughout the party, which was excellent and we did not expect so many to join us! Then about 4:10pm EST we started to gather inside the Machinima Theatre where the campers’ movies were waiting to be shown. As the campers went into the theatre they brought free machinima t-shirts which one of the camper – BB – created and my pop corn including some other freebies outside. At 4:25pm EST we had a handful of special visitors who came to watch our movies including Amber Linden, Mia Linden and Claudia Linden.

Then all of us clicked on to streaming video so we watched all of the campers 1 minute machinimas which lasted about 14 minutes or so. We all enjoyed the machinimas, and had a little time for Q&A, where the audience asked the campers about their machinimas on how, why, and where they filmed. After that we gathered outside to have a big group photo of everyone, which was fun to get in row, haha. Then to finish off the experience for everyone we held a dance party with great music and everyone danced the evening away and celebrated.

I would just like to say this was an excellent experience for me and others. I am going to take part in future camps, events, programs etc. I had an interview about this summer’s CRC machinima camp so please check that out on SLNN. Also, my Flickr website with snaphots from the camp is to be found here

Also please watch on Blip TV where the collection is accessible online – my movie is titled “Better Conditions for Tomorrow”. Thanks everyone!

For the rest of the photos taken from the party, click here

Posted by Daniel Voyager - SL Intern at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to attend the first day of Interdependence Day V, a conference that’s taken place every year alter Sept. 11, 2001. This year, it’s taking place in Mexico City, which is where I live. =D

Why Interdependence Day? After the Sept. 11 happenings (in the US), a lot of people have focused on discussing terrorism, war and loss. This conference proposes to think about the consequences of it all on interdependence: the dependence of individuals, groups and countries of each other.

The reason why I was there yesterday is Second Life. There was a panel on the role of virtual worlds in this interdependence being streamed into the MG, and with participants both in-world and offline. It was very nice to see people that I’ve never spoken to but had actually heard of, like Mark Wallace (even if I didn’t recognize him right away). The presentations were brilliant. Sadly, a lot of the people in the audience, not getting to know the principles and practices in SL, were quick to openly classify virtual media as a set of banalities where all that 100% of the people care about is fashion and pornography.

The disagreement sparked a brief discussion (as there were severe time limitations); the bad thing is it prevented two of the virtual panelists from making their presentations, as the request for a time extension was denied.

I think that anyone who attended this panel has comments about it, including me, because it is an endless discussion; however, I have to admit I’m disappointed to see the refusal of major decision-makers and, above all things, people working in the academia of social science themselves refusing to listen to what people have to say just because it is based on a reality that they can not physically experience fully.

In my opinion, the problem is that virtual media are often seen by people who are unfamiliar with them not as media to get messages across, but as the proposal itself for as a solution to problems. I’d say that equals to saying, for example, that education is pointless because not 100% of the people who have formal education at some point in their lives take advantage of it or use it for the improvement of society. Still, that’s just my opinion, and this subject should be discussed and analyzed to death before drawing any strong personal conclusions. =P

To end, I just want to thank Global Kids and the USC, especially Rafi Santo and Tori Horton, for this wonderful opportunity. Now I hope I’ll be able to attend more SL and digital media-related conferences in the future. =D

Good luck to all the participants of the conference in the remaining days!

Posted by Mariel - SL Intern at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In his post entitled "Youth Engagement", Randal talks about his thoughts on the first TSL Relay for Life fundraising event.

Yesterday was the kick off event to our very first Teen Grid SL Relay For Life. Working with a fantastic organization called Global Kids we are empowering teens involved in SL to create their own Relay experience. I am so excited that the youth on the teen grid have the energy and the desire to put something together. When I was talking with them I head a lot of personal stories about grandparents passing away from Cancer and their desire to help others. It really made me excited to think that the teens are ready to advocate, and run awareness about cancer in their own world, in their own way. This should be very interesting!

Posted by joyce at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tecno Tiger published an entry on Teen SL News blog about his experiences during the GK summer camp. Read the excerpt below or view the original here.

CRC GK Machinima Camp
Published by
Tecno Tiger
at July 29, 2007 in Uncategorised.

Last year i spent a part of my summer working with Global Kids and other teen residents within second life. If you haven’t heard of Global Kids before, then heres there Mission statement which can also be seen on there homepage

Our goal is to transform urban youths into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences.

Last years camp, the first ever ‘Camp GK’ was great fun for everyone who took part. At the end of this all the teens made an educational maze, explaining about how child trafficking works. At the end people were able to donate to the organisation, and during the maze teens received a load of freebies that they can wear to help the cause. I wrote an article from a teens perspective going through the maze, for those that didn’t get a chance to go, and it can be seen here.

After the success of last years camp, there is now another, this time with a focus around Machinima. 40 teens applied, and 15 got in. I am one of those lucky 15, and I’ll now explain briefly whats happening in this years camp. Campers are expected to attend camp every day it’s on. It’s over the course of 5 weeks, and there are 2 hour sessions over the course of Monday to Friday.

Over the next few weeks i will be regularly posting articles for TSLN on whats going, along with pictures of the camp. These posts may also been shown on the CRC camp blog. Bellow are some pictures i took of Fridays camp, accompanied with a description of whats going on. Check back here regularly for updates

Posted by joyce at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At least, we are on this one Portuguese blog, that has something to say (not sure what yet) about A Child's War. Read it at http://discursosdooutromundo.blogspot.com/2007/08/global-kids.html
and tell us what he said!

Posted by joyce at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Announcing Virtual World Campus! (from FireSabre's site)

Buy an island. Build stuff. Get your students there, somehow. That's been the stock solution for educational projects in Second Life. But what if your school is starting small? Are you going to spend most of your budget just buying 16 acres of bare land? Do you need that much land to begin with? Do you have the knowledge and expertise to turn that empty lot into a place to learn? How do you set up accounts for all your staff and students? How do you manage the technical side of running a virtual classroom, and still concentrate on teaching?

Virtual World Campus by FireSabre, in partnership with Global Kids, closes the gap between what basic SL gives you and what you really need. Buy a parcel to suit your project's size and budget. Work with our consultants to build on that land for your specific needs. Let us help with administration during setup and ongoing operations.

Set up your online classroom in Virtual World Campus, and let us help you to get your school, your staff, and your students off to a smooth start with their educational experience in Second Life!

Posted by joyce at 4:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is Virtual World Campus? (from FireSabre's site)

Up to now there's been a steep learning curve and high minimum costs to use SL for education. To get the privacy needed to manage your educational experience, you have had to buy a private island estate -- an expensive proposition that might eat up most of your budget, and leave you with nothing but a big expanse of bare land, and no resources or expertise with which to build on it.

Virtual World Campus by FireSabre, developed in partnership with Global Kids, is an easy entry point to education in Second Life, filling the gap between what basic SL provides and what you need.

Is a whole island more than you need? Buy a parcel on the Virtual World Campus suitable for your project and within your budget.

Do you need more than just bare land? FireSabre's consultants include talented landscapers, builders, texture artists, and scripters who can work with you to create the educational environment that you want.

Do you need help with administration? We can provide custom account creation services, advise you on estate management, access permissions, and intellectual property controls, and can act as your liaison to Linden Lab.

Need an extra pair of hands? FireSabre provides professional after-the-sale support services, either hourly as needed or as part of your consulting package.

How can I start using Virtual World Campus?

1. Contact FireSabre. We'll discuss your needs, and work out a support plan that is right for your project.
2. Obtain background checks for all adult participants.
3. Have FireSabre create avatars for your staff and students
4. Explore the Virtual World Campus, and select land appropriate for your project. We have plots to match projects of any size or budgetary level.
5. Build or obtain content for your project. FireSabre's experienced builders and scripters will work with you and build according to your needs.

And with that, you're ready to go! Bring your students into Second Life for a unique educational experience, tailored to your curriculum, budget, and class size. And you'll be working alongside other educators from around the country, and can share ideas and content with them!

Posted by joyce at 4:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids is listed and written about in Linden Lab's new site focusing on the Second Life Grid has a section called 'Success Stories' which highlights "interesting projects in Second Life that showcase new approaches to creating content, the use of Second Life in a particular field, or work by companies listed in the Developer Directory."

Posted by joyce at 4:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday, September 6th, from 6-7 pm, Global Kids' Virtual Video Project held their NYC premiere of both their 30-second videos on digital media and teens and their short video, A Child's War, about child soldiers in Uganda.

Nafiza introducing the making of A Child's War

Over 50 people attended the evening, introduced by the Museum of the Moving Image's Carl Goodman and Global Kids' Barry Joseph, and presented by a variety of Global Kids youth leaders.

In attendance were parents, school officials, Second Life educators, experts on child soldiers, representatives from UNICEF, those working for the International Criminal Court, and more.

The films were well received, as made clear from the comments made during the Q&A period, and afterwards we socialized during a reception on the third floor of the museum.

Download the promotional flyer.

Videos, photos and audio from the event will be added shortly.

For now, please enjoy some of the photos below or visit our Flickr set to view them all.

Screening the movies

Angela showing their videos on YouTube

The premiere party

Posted by Barry at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids' own Rafi Santo recently got to post on MacArthur's Spotlight on Digital Media Learning blog. The Spotlight discussion, entitled Digital Youth discuss the Digital World, features not only Rafi but Lindsay Pettingill from Harvard’s GoodWork Project, Mimi Ito from USC’s Digital Youth Project and Carrie James also from Harvard’s GoodWork Project.

What do today’s teens have to say about the way digital media affects their lives? Three different youth media experts take turns highlighting the recent FOCUS dialogues organized by Global Kids.

As today’s youth engage in the usage of digital media on a daily basis, Global Kids has undertaken projects in which teens use those media to reflect on how new technologies are changing not only their experience but the broader world in which they are maturing.

Read the full post here.

Posted by joyce at 3:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our FOCUS report from last Spring's youth dialogues on digital media was picked up by Anastasia Goodstein, noted specialist on teens and digital media and author of "Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online".

Check out the post here.

Posted by joyce at 3:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Barry presented OLP's work in Second Life to the NSF LIFE Science of Learning Center, in the College of Education, University of Washington.

Posted by Barry at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A diverse group of New York City public high school students have produced an important animated new film that focuses on the increasingly serious issue of child soldiers.

The film, A Child’s War, will be presented this Friday, September 7, at 6:00 pm at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Entry for the screening is free. The press is invited. The young animators will be available to discuss their work. The Museum is located at 35th Avenue and 36th Street in Astoria, Queens. It can be accessed by subway (R or V trains to Steinway Street; N or W trains to 36th Ave). RSVP: afterschool@movingimage.us.

A Child’s War is the culmination of the year-long Virtual Video Project, an after-school program conducted by Global Kids, Inc. in collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image. During the past year, the students gathered regularly to learn about film production, global issues, and virtual worlds, producing A Child’s War, a year-end project on the plight of child soldiers in Uganda.

Global Kids is the foremost nonprofit organization in New York City specifically dedicated to educating students in underserved communities about international and public policy issues.

Throughout the 2006-2007 Virtual Video Project, the students used machinima (digital movies made in online virtual worlds) to create short films and public service announcements that relate to important global issues.

A Child’s War is a short video that displays the students’ spectacular understanding of both digital media and important international issues. Through A Child’s War, the 20 young creators vividly illustrate a poignant story that documents the fictional life experiences of a former child soldier who has come to the International Criminal Court to testify against the warlord who forced him to murder hundreds of people, including his own family members.

A Child’s War was created in the virtual world of Second Life, one of several “virtual worlds” that offers a three-dimensional environment where online participants from around the world are represented by avatars in social and workplace interactions that mimic and reinvent the physical world. Second Life has millions of users and a growing non-profit community.

By streaming the video in Second Life, disseminating it online, and presenting it at screenings such as Friday’s at the Museum of the Moving Image, the students hope to raise awareness about a critical global issue.

The Virtual Video Project is part of Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program (OLP) and made possible with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The OLP helps underserved youth learn about important international affairs issues and exercise their leadership skills through innovative media forms. Students in the OLP’s Virtual Video Project meet twice a week throughout the school year. The after-school program educates them about film production, digital media literacy, youth media, civic engagement, and global education. Throughout the Virtual Video Project, students learn about Second Life, construct a storyboard based on a global issue of their choosing, create a series of public service announcements, and create one short film such as A Child’s War.

You may watch A Child’s War at: www.holymeatballs.org/2007/06/vvp_a_childs_war_released_year.html

You can watch their earlier piece about digital media and youth at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7TlSGH9-IVM

Read the youth leaders blogs: www.holymeatballs.org/machinima/

To learn what you can do about this issue, go to: www.holymeatballs.org/2007/06/acw.html

About Global Kids, Inc.

Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Global Kids’ programs reach over 11,000 youth annually. For more information, visit http://www.globalkids.org.

Contacts

Global Kids
Jonah Kokodyniak, 212-226-2116
Jonah@globalkids.org
or
Mariam Communications
Tom Mariam, 914-939-4294
Tom@mariam.biz

Posted by joyce at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids' Online Leadership Program has filled the positions opened in the summer of 2007.

Thank you to everyone helping to spread the word, such as Moo Money, 3pointD, NMC, Second Life Times and the blog Future-Making Serious Games.

Positions and application material:

Online Leadership Program Associate (Video Specialist)
Status: application process closed; position filled

Online Leadership Program Associates (YouthVenture Program Manager and YouthVenture Program Associate)
Status: application process closed. Positions filled.

Online Leadership Program Associate (Gaming Specialist)
Status: Offer closed; position filled.

Online Leadership Program Assistant
Status: Position closed

Online Leadership Program Associate (Foundation Programs in Second Life Producer)
Status: Position closed

Online Leadership Program Associate (floater)
Status: position closed; position filled

Online Leadership Program Associate (Web 2.0 Specialist)
Status: position closed; position filled

If you would like to receive job openings from Global Kids in the future, please join our job announcement-only listserv.

Posted by Barry at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Online identity formation and its implications for learning have, for a number of years now, been a focus of investigation and attention among researchers and educators. The MacArthur Foundation, in its Digital Media and Learning Initiative, even dedicated a full research volume (out of six) to the subject. Largely, these investigations and discussions have focused on how young people's usages of technology have allowed them to explore and shape their own identities be it in games, virtual worlds or social networking sites.

Recently though, I've been struck by how these issues of online identity manifest for educators themselves. Being an educator that works both in the classroom as well as in many online spaces, the traditional "teacher as purveyor of truth" role is one that has gone out the window relatively quickly for me. Granted, the role of educators within Global Kids was never a didactic one. Staff working with youth are given the title of "trainer"; a facilitator that challenges students to think critically about issues and information and arms them with the skills and resources to educate themselves. At the same time, I'm often finding myself in situations that go far outside even that role.

On my twitter stream, for instance, I recently made a post about how I'd just watched a documentary about a current presidential candidate's former role in a government position, and added that I didn't think the individual was fit for the highest office in this country. Normally I wouldn't think twice about sharing this opinion amongst friends, but I also found myself thinking after the post after the fact given that a number of the teens I work with follow my twitter stream. (Ironically, the post, sent by SMS, never made it to my stream. A sign?)

I've also followed many a conversation on the Second Life Educators Discussion list from college educators that hold classes there where heated debate has ensued about whether one should have an "alt" (alternate account) for personal use when not teaching, so as not to "bump into" students online that might end up going to the same (pg) dance club, or otherwise maintain an "pure" or perhaps "non-muddled" online identity in that medium.

As an educator, these issues can have profound implications. Does the online equivalent of running into your (above age, of course) student in a local bar damage your authority, or worse, legitimacy? Is twittering about a documentary you see and opining on it an abuse of that authority or legitimacy, especially in a medium like twitter which with its 140 character maximum leaves little room for creating context?

My immediate instinct is that this added transparency is better and helps to take educators off of pedestals to establish them as real people, but at the same time part of me doesn't think it's realistic to wear all your hats at the same time in any given context. Right now, playing with these edges as an educator is both fun and fascinating, and I'd love to hear anyone's stories and/or opinions, both the from the educator and student side, about how these questions of online identity have played out.

Posted by Rafi Santo at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)