Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

On March 20th, Kofi Annan accepted the MacArthur Foundation's International Justice Award at the gorgeous Waldorf Astoria Hotel, NY. While the participants were enjoying the night and experiencing the uniqueness of this first time ever event at the hotel, Global Kids were broadcasting the event in different virtual worlds as well as on the Web. One of the virtual worlds was There.com. There.com is a 3D social world where members can make friends, communicate with each other, customize their avatars, shop, host events, play games, and many more other things which are mainly social.

With a lot of help from Betsy Book, Director of Product Management at THERE, the event was hosted at Orangutan Stage in There.com. The members of There.com came to join us for this exciting event on May 20th and listen to the talk given by Kofi Annan, and the award ceremony from their computers with hundreds of others in different places. In front of their computers, There.com members experienced this unique event which is a step to bring the same experiences/events into different virtual worlds for different types of users, and share global values, human rights and justice in this case.

I want to thank you all There.com community for participating this unique event which is experienced in several other virtual worlds, and I hope we will be able to work with you for more events to get more familiar with There.com community and share our experiences.

Posted by Selen at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I personally think one reference example of a 2d platform that would be good for our game would be Sonic the Hedgehog.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog games make their characters move very swiftly and can run up platforms

2. The faster you run the more oportunites you get to do with your speed like run on water, run up wall, jump very far

I wouldn't say Sonic the Hedgehog is better than other 2d game platformers but it has better advantages as far as maneuvering wise stabitlity control than in other games. Also as long as you have a few rings or at least one ring with you, you can survive then it won't be too much of a problem

I think that it would be okay if we can use the elemnts from Sonic the Hedgehog except for the spindashing technique

1. We could use the loopdeloops from the game and the breaking platforms too.

2. We could use the wall run and water run along with the accelarators

What I ask of you not to put in from Sonic the Hedgehog

1. The rings, it doesn't matter much you collect if you get hit you lose all of your rings that you had.

2. If you can make the jump movements more fluid the that will be great.

I hope this reference plays a major roll in our platform game.

Posted by p4kCourtney at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The platform game that is very good is Mario Bros because he is able to take a mushroom and Mario is able to get bigger, Mario can take a flower and and he can start to shoot fire out of his hands and the last item he uses is a cape with that item he is able to fly. Mario has to get past enemies like koopas and paratroopas. At the end Mario is able to face the boss named Browser who kidnapped Princess Peach. In order to save her you must defeat Browser.

Posted by p4kKamani at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well This is the big hit for our project. ok well my fav. games are: (expl. on why they're my fav. Good n bad)

1.Ult Ghost n Goblins-
(good)
Its extremely hard to beat
plenty of enemies
The game pays you for earning high scores.
plenty of secrets
plenty of equipment to keep you alive(exp. Dark armor[unlimited r/b aura] empirial armor[4 hits to break] dragon shield [lets you fly])
(Bad)
Annoying scavenger hunt(looking for 33 golden light rings)
Some times Too Hard!!!

Better?: Its Psychoticly hard!!!!

Url: www.gamespot.com/psp/action/ghostsngoblins/index.html

2.Castlevania the draculaXcronicles-(good)
Games sound track is really good
game has plenty of secrets and many bosses as well as easter eggs
looks very good in grafx
creative levels
(Bad)
Game gets Old Fast (Very Fast)
kinda annoying looking for an invisable boss(The EX. Boss)

Better?:Very good sound track

Url: www.gamespot.com/psp/action/castlevaniathedraculaxchronicles

3. Megaman X 1-6-(Good)
A lot of levels
Depending on which boss you beat it affects other levels
Final boss feels like a final boss
(Bad)
Some times level desighn is alittle bit too ocward
First segment of the final level is too too dificult even w/ the ultimate armor.

Better?: The game never gets old

Url:www.gamespot.com/pages/tags/index.php?type=game&tags=mega+man+collection

Posted by Nero infinity at 3:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Territory War

The date is Monday, March 31, of 2008 (finally the end of this month), and the geniuses of Global Kids' Playing 4 Keeps have contributed yet another round of ideas in order for the upcoming game to be complete. Since there are only an estimate of 8 kids in the group this evening, it should be a bit easy..(Session dedicated to Jay, who couldn't join us in today's festivities). Today, we took a bit of a review of all the platform games that we have played during the course of this epic project of extraordinary proportions, (Super Granny in Paradise, Shift, Fancy Pants Adventure, etc.), and our goal is to blog about it explaining why it seems better than other platformers such as Mario, Sonic, etc. My choice for the platform is a game known as "Territory War". This game is very unlikely for a platform game but it is a platform game nonetheless.

I personally believe that this is game is not better but more exceptional as opposed to other platform games because of the fact that it's a bit relative to the game that is currently being made. The relativity of this is that although it pokes fun and mocks the aspects of war, it's highly fun to play in the sense that you as the player or team captain wouldn't want to stop playing until the battle is over. I also consider this game to

Posted by p4kOtis at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

http://www.addictinggames.com/portalflashversion.html

the reason why this is a good platformer game is because you have to use portals to get on to platforms. Another reason why it is a good platformer game is because it was very fun using the portals to get to other locations. It is better than any other because to me this game was much fun more than any other platformer i played. the way that they could use this game in the game we are making is that we could use a water bottle to open a portal into a house to save people. another way is that we could use some of the clothes that look riped or different colors. two ways to make this game better is that we could make the guy able to use the portal on other places to see a better way to get your destination.

Posted by p4kAndrew at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Typically, when I ask a teen about their online experiences - they will adamantly argue that the relationships they develop and the bonds they are making are very real. This is why I was surprised, recently, but he reaction many of the TSL youth have had to the DIDI project.
Dream It. Do It. is a project where we support young people (in Teen Second Life) to come together, identify what is important to them, and what passions and interests they have, and support them to create sustainable social ventures to improve their communities. Youth Venture has been reaching youth out there in the ‘real’ world with this program for quite some time. We’ve been working together since this past fall to reach youth in TSL.
In our workshops, we encourage youth to consider the community that they identify with - it could be home, school, their neighborhood, or even the TSL community. Interestingly, almost all the teens who have gone through our program so far have decided to focus their venture ideas on the TSL community. We think that’s great! However, I wonder, lately, if the youth recognize that they are part of a network of young people throughout the world who are making change in their communities.
Last week we had a special guest from Youth Venture come and speak to DIDI. Kyle Taylor, from Youth Venture’s Road Trip America is a ‘real life’ youth Venturer who is traveling the country to visit various YV Teams and report back on his blog what he learns.
Kyle told about his Real Life venture, and also talked to the teens about what Youth Venture is all about. The teens asked Kyle a number of questions that alerted me to the fact that not all teens ‘get’ the fact that DIDI is a ‘real’ project. While some of the teens at Kyle’s event were new and still learning about DIDI - it was obvious to me that the blend between the Real Life implications and possibilities of DIDI and the method of using TSL for organizing and supporting youth is not clear, even to some of the youth in TSL.
This is a new idea - using TSL to promote real life change, and I’m hoping that, with special help from real life folks like Kyle, we can help more teens in Second Life to look beyond the idea of a play or virtual venture - and more toward something they feel is real.

Posted by Meghan at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Goods...goods in my house comes from the grocery store but i would guess there from farms around the country and world and my clothes would more likely come from china since most things are made there the and furniture wood come from Sweden (IKEA) and France andheat is provide from oil found in other contries.

Posted by Allister at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My goods come from Foot Locker, Target, corner store,Western beef, furniture places,and i get boot leg DVD's off the street

Posted by Daquan at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The goods in my home, like food comes from animals or from farms.

Posted by Latisha at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The goods from my home come from different places like China,Italy, Japan,and the United States of America. The goods from my home is just imported from other parts of the world.

Posted by Lucius at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Goods from my house comes from other countries such as China or its organic from the states.Thats where i think my goods come from.

Posted by Andrysse at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The goods that comes in my house are from all over. The food is from different countries and my clothes are made from different people and places. My furniture i don't really know. the heat comes from factories.

Posted by Asha at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the goods in my home comes from companies in different countries that export goods. the furniture in my home comes from other countries,the food comes from other countries,also the heat.

Posted by Naomi at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The goods things that comes to my house comes from many places. ex,some food comes from other countries and then that food come to our country and then to the stores and that how how we get it. Some other good things that we have in our house comes from animals,other countries people,trees,land etc.. like our clothes come from the animals like cheeps and from other countries. All our things that we have in our house comes from many different places..

Posted by Katerine at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Where does the good come from!!!!.My heat, clothes,food,and furniture.
It comes from the earth duh!!! get a clue.My clothes come from some earths renewable sources. like flowers and cotton.My heat comes from non renewable resources like oil and gas,and my furniture is made from wood which comes from trees. But one place i can always get these thing at different stores!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Rakeem at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The goods in my house usually come from the grocery store which would obviously come from a farm most of the time it is from farms and meat factories, also the heat from my house comes from oil. Most of my clothes also come from China, and the furniture also comes from china.

Posted by Shaquille S at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think that the goods in my house come from a factory were they make things. Water is one thing that I conceder a good, water also comes from a factory that flitters it before they reaches my house (Etc...)

Posted by Ernesto at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All the good from my house come for different places. Like my food it come from framers and my clothes come form factors they make my clothes out of cotton and then ship it the small towns and city they to the same thing to my food and every thing else i buy are have

Posted by Egypt at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the food in my house comes from a certain place that i really don't know where it is but i know the store is called Aldi's

Posted by Shaquile B at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had some significant progress on our game this week at P4K! The game design continues to evolve and grow stronger. On Monday, we voted on both the game’s art style, and the issues it will focus on. To choose the art style, we taped up images in a variety of different art styles. We had everything from Putomayo New Orleans jazz album covers to manga ninjas, watercolor paintings and Samurai Jack.

Each student was allowed to vote for his or her two favorites. In the end, a very detailed manga image received the most votes, with a more cartoony image from Dragon Ball Z and the Putomayo cover tying for second. I think our goal will be to have art like the Putomayo that is indicative of the New Orleans Jazz scene, and merge it with a more stylized, but simplified manga style. I think the result will look great.

We also voted on the major themes our game will address. One goal of the game is to have it move beyond simple critique and offer lessons for future disasters. There are a number of systems and resources that governments must have in place in order to minimize casualties during a disaster. In the game, players will learn about what these systems and resources are by playing in a disaster without them.

From our research and discussions, we narrowed down our selection to eight ideas, and then voted for the top five. As the plan is now, our game will have five levels, each of which will address one of the following ideas: pre-storm evacuation, emergency rescue/communication, supplies and logistics, sanitation, and equitable post-disaster reconstruction. In the Hurricane Katrina disaster, none of these systems were well organized, and confusion and shortcomings resulted in death. The heroes of the disasters are the everyday people (and agencies like the Coast Guard and Louisiana Fish and Wildlife) that took care of these needs when the government failed. Our game will point out what went wrong, salute those who acted quickly, and hopefully help others understand the importance of thorough disaster planning.

On Thursday, we dealt with one aspect of the disaster that we hadn’t thoroughly explored yet: housing. One of the motivations for the game is to draw attention to the housing crisis that is currently engulfing New Orleans. Reconstruction has looked frightfully similar to the larcenous debacle of rebuilding in Iraq. Some of the same corporations are even involved in both situations, and sweetheart backroom deals abound. As a UN committee recently pointed out, low income, primarily black residents are finding themselves with no place to live as the city draws plans eliminate poverty by eliminating housing for the impoverished.

Through our discussion, we made connections to gentrification in New York and how city planning can displace the residents it’s claiming to help. At Global Kids, we’re always seeking to connect the local to the national and the international, and Thursday’s lesson was a perfect opportunity to do so. This game will be an attempt to do the same.

Posted by Jay at 8:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the release of ICED! (I Can End Deportation), an online interactive 3D role-playing game that teaches the player about current U.S. policies around immigration that destroy families and fundamental human rights, people have been not only playing it enthusiastically, but it is spurring others to search out other games for change.

Below is some of the recent coverage Ayiti: The Cost of LIfe has been getting.

For a virtual dose of reality, a different kind of video game, by the National Catholic Reporter

On college campuses, video games move into classroom, by the Associated Press

Posted by joyce at 2:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past week the main task for students was to work in groups to design/build their houses with limited number of prims and reflect their actual ecological footprint to this house.

I would say that although all students enjoyed designing/building their houses and this was a big challenge for them. This was the first actual task for them to use the skills they have learned so far for learning science. Second Life has been a very new for students and they have learned so much so far and unfortunately due to the class time, there is not enough time for them to practice their skills. So, I think they are doing great with building since it's definitely challenging to build in Second Life.
Group work is a great way to have students learn from each other. In Second Life, group work requires some more coordination due to the 3 dimensionality and permissions to build things together. During the activity, I realized some groups divided up the tasks, for example, one student edit the notecards, another one changed the textures, and the other put out the objects, etc. In another group, students gave permissions to each other so anyone could move the objects put out by anyone of them. These are goods example of how students come up with a strategy to work together without being instructed.

I am so excited that I will be getting my avatar in TSL soon so that I can be with students in Second Life, so I can have a better idea how students are learning with all the tools given in Second Life, and what difficulties they are having. They have been doing very well so far and they are all very motivated learning in Second Life. I am hoping this will lead to a better learning of science and will effect students' attitudes positively towards doing science.

I can't wait to see students' next project

Posted by Selen at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am still processing all the fabulous information overload from NTC in New Orleans last week. This trip served as my first trip to NOLA and my first non-profit conference.

NTC (Nonprofit Technology Conference), sponsored by NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network), is focused on networking and collaboration around the concept of using technology to further the cause of non-profits. This year’s theme was appropriately titled, “Building Community: Connections around the globe and around the corner.”

I’ll summarize some of my experiences and take-aways:

1. Touching base with other non-profits. I found it very comforting to talk to folks from other non-profits, and discover they have the same challenges. The feeling of not being alone, and also knowing that there are others looking in the same direction as we are at GK, made this conference worth-while for me if nothing else. Reading about organizations that are working to empower youth with 21st Century skills using new media is one thing - but meeting others who are doing it is much more gratifying.
   
2. Sharing the work we are doing at GK. I was honored to speak on two panels this year at NTC.
   “Technology Programs That Engage and Support At-Risk Youth” was organized and moderated by Karen Michaelson from Tincan.org. I shared the panel with Karen Manuel from Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology and with Hannah Whitmore, also from Tincan.org. We spoke of case-studies from our organizations of programs that we have found successful in engaging at-risk youth using new media - notably, game design and video production.
   
   “Getting Started in Second Life” was organized and moderated by Jennifer Ragan-Fore from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). Joining me on the panel was Josh Knauer from Maya Design as well as Susan Tenby from TechSoup. This panel was focused on giving an overview of Second Life for non-profits of the different ways that current NPs are using SL - and tips and resources for how they can get started using Second Life in their own org. All resources and notes from the presentation are available on the Panel wiki!
   
3. ROI - Return on Investment - this is not something I *ever* put any direct thought into before NTC. I wonder if it’s something considered by those higher than me at GK - or if we really do just ‘wing it’. OLP Director Barry Joseph continually encourages and inspires his staff to use almost all and every social network and new media tool we come across. I found many folks at this con wondering how to know when it’s worth their man-hours to start using networks like FaceBook and Flickr, not to mention Twitter! It makes me wonder if we at GK are losing money and time with all of our networking - or if we are hitting the nail on the head by DOING it?
   
4. Speaking of twitter - this year’s back-channel was more alive than any conference back-channel I’ve ever experienced - check out NTC-08 on Twitter! One week after the conference - and it’s still alive! It seems we’ve finally found the near-perfect back-channel app :)
   
5. New Orleans. Inspiring. I think that having NTC 08 in NOLA was genius. Bringing us to a city that so needs us, as well as bringing us to a city that invokes the true spirit of non-profit just seems like a no-brainer.
   
6. David Pogue
   This year's plenary speaker was David Pogue, the personal technology columnist for the New York Times. He sang. I laughed. This was immediately before my first panel - and was a great way to relieve my pre-panel nerves. Thanks David.

   
   

Can’t wait for next year!

Posted by Meghan at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past week, we were joined on Global Kids Island by Jim Kielsmeier, Founder and CEO of National Youth Leadership Council, along with Amy Cohen, Director of Learn & Serve America. Amy and Jim came in to give a panel about service learning, a unique form off community involvement that both advocates and helps make change in communities while also integrating practical learning for the young people that take part in it.

Amy and Jim, with Rafi moderating

With so many teens across America participating in community service, residents from across the grid had a sense of the general ideas before even coming to the panel, but Amy and Jim explained to the twenty-odd Teen Second Life residents that attended that while the terms community service and service learning might be similar, they have very different impacts for the people involved. In service learning, young people are not just volunteering their time to assist in a project, but are actively learning about the issue that they're working on, better equipping themselves to think critically about the approach they're taking to community engagement.

Many of the residents present shared their own experiences working for the good of their communities, which from our perspective was very heartening. We're thrilled to be able to bring to teen grid in April a live stream from the National Youth Leadership Council's annual youth conference from Minneapolis, with keynote speaker Desmond Tutu. Keep your eyes on the blog for the link to the video stream in the upcoming weeks if you won't be able join us in Second Life or Teen Second Life.

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Download audio here.

Posted by Rafi at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MY QUESTIONS IS CAN I MAKE MY HOUSE BIGGER I WANT A BIG HOUSE ARICH HOUSE WITH A BEAN BAG AND A BIG COUCH WITH A HUMMER

Posted by Daquan at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One question that I have is,if we can put everything we want in our house and how long we going to have our house??

Posted by Katerine at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i dont think that i had any questions about my second life house. i think that i understood everything and listened to the directions.

Posted by Zana at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The question i have about the house that i made and second life was how do you make the table it was a little hard. my favorite thing that i did was how i design the color and texture to make the floor.

Posted by Egypt at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

my favorite part of the project is editing textures.

Posted by Brandon at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have no further questions about my home. My favorite part of my home was the way i could build more parts and delete some parts off of my home.

Posted by Eaon at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In second life we got to design our own home some questions i still have about doing so is how so edit multiple textures and make some of my own.i like the paint/textures we used because it reminds me of my room.

Posted by Allister at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have no questions about the design of my home in sl. The most favorite part of the home is the roof where i can get a clear view of everything else and get ay from it all...
in the future i plan to eat less meat and do less driving to better our earth.

Posted by Rakeem at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1 question i have i why do we only have to have 73 prims in the house ? javascript:insert_smiley(13)

Posted by Shaquile B at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How do you close the opening on the top of the house? My favorite part of my house is the inside, the thing I liked the most inside of the house is the chairs.I would like to change the amount of water and electricity that we use.I would also want to change my eating habits because I eat to much meat.

Posted by Lucius at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

. Why when you change your floor the bottom of the outside of the house change too. My favorite part is building the whole house and being able to say that it's mine. I would like my family to be more considerate of the amount of water they use and how much food we eat.

Posted by KoraAnne at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The only question I still have about my home in Second Life, is wether or not we will eventually be able to get a home of our own in Second Life. My favorite part of the home was the colors because I think it was chosen well and looked nice. I would like to change the electricity in the future so it can be used and conserved better.

Posted by Shaquille S at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

a question i have about my home in second life is was it hard to create the structure of the houses when they were being built?My favorite part of the house is the stairs (the waii you could walk up them easily but when you are going down, you gllliiidddeeee).
One aspect of my homes ecological footprint that i would like to change in the future is how much water that we use.

Posted by Demetra at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I dot really have an questions about the design of my home in SL. Finding ways to be more sustainability.The amount of water i use in my real house was shocking to me and thats something i want to change.

Posted by Andrysse at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I DONT HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABUT THE DESIGN OF MY HOME IN SCOND LIFE. MY FAVORITE PART OF THR HOUSE IS THE PURPLE WINDOWS. I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF WATER WE USED IN OUR HOUSE.

Posted by Shabede at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the question i have about the design in second life is why the prims is so much and you only have limited amount. the favorite part of the house is the whole thing.the aspect of my home ecological footprint i would like to change in the future is the amount of gallons of water i use.

Posted by Naomi at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why the house couldn't be bigger. My favorite part of the home is the roof because when you go up there you see all of outside ad i thinks thats nice. I would like to change the way we eat because we et to much meat and not enough vegetables. I would also like to change the amount of water we use because the more water we use and the more food we eat the less resources we have.

Posted by Latisha at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following is our recording of one of the many AERA panels held this week in NYC, this one specifically on:

Learning, Meaning, and Civic Engagement in the Digital Age:

The MacArthur Digital Media Initiative

• Participant: Henry Jenkins (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)


• Participant: Howard E. Gardner (Harvard University)


• Participant: James Paul Gee (University of Wisconsin - Madison)


• Participant: Nichole D. Pinkard (The University of Chicago)


• Chair: Constance Yowell (J.D. & C.T. MacArthur Foundation)

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Download audio here.

And, a great excerpt from the larger file in which Jenkins discusses virtual worlds as places of role play and experimentation and situates Global Kids programs as models of using virtual worlds for civic engagement.

Download audio here.

I see virtual worlds as spaces of thought experiences where people can imagine other possibilities than the literal institutions and identities that we are stuck with in this world.

My own experience in High School was that my identity was fixed even within two weeks of entering, that I was going to be the social pariah, and the only question was whether I got out with any amount of dignity left or if I was going to be completely emotionally crippled in the experience.

If I had a place where I could be powerful and assert myself and show my leadership, and my intelligence and my creativity and get recognition from other people through it -- that would have been a hell of a difference for me going through it. And it makes a difference for a lot of kids in this country, now who are caught in that same situation.

So I look upon “identity play” in this world like carnival, in the medieval sense.
Medieval worlds where thick social relations were suspended and where people stepped outside and tried on other identities, and new relationships; moreover in some degree that was emotional release (and social control mechanism), and some degree it was the beginning of social uprising. In my hometown Boston, the people dressed up like Native Americans and dunked tea in the harbor -- that was carnival practice turned into real world politics. Historically, carnival was something that people used to imagine the possibilities and act on them in the real world.

We can judge yet whether the young people are going to be using virtual worlds to imagine institutions that will be more humane or more open to creative and intelligent invention and in route to the real world or if they stay there.

The different is that carnival in medieval terms was a ritual of a few and getting ready for it was a weeklong practice. Now we have carnival existing in parallel reality to us all the time. The temptation to live in carnival most of the time must be very great, especially for kids whose High School experience was anything like my own.

But the challenges is how to generate that out. That’s why organizations like Global Kids really excites me, because they are working in Second Life and developing educational projects which bring young people together to talk about real world issues and the real world penetrates into Second Life and Second Life spills back over in changes they are making in their communities. The model of citizenships that Global Kids represents seems to me a powerful way of thinking about that parallel reality; in a way that makes differences here, in the world that we are going to live in eventually.

Posted by joyce at 3:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our student scientists have arrived! After learning about their own Carbon Footprints, they have formed teams and are busy displaying their data by modifying team houses and other objects. Students are even sneaking on after class to get in a little more building time! Sometimes, it can be tough to make team decisions, but these guys are doing a great job. As each research team faces new challenges and adventures, they'll be taking that new knowledge and applying it as they make new choices and decisions about their homes.

What's next for our Citizen Scientists? Well.. I won't give it all away.. but let's just say that they may need their passports!

Posted by Cathy at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This Monday, before our Dream It. Do It. Workshop, we had a special guest visit from Kyle Taylor from Youth Venture’s Road Trip America.

According to their myspace page,

“There is a movement going on. Youth all over the world are standing up and taking action to change their schools, their neighborhoods, their cities, their countries, and the world! Yet their stories go untold.

To change this, Youth Venture’s very own Kyle and Malena are hitting the road and traveling across North America, collecting video, blogging and taking pictures of young people who are truly changing their communities. During their 40 days travel across 32 US States and 3 Canadian Provinces, they’ll be highlighting the hard work of young Venturers across the planet who are launching their own initiatives for social change.”

This holds true, even for the TSL D.I.D.I. Teams! Using a live audio stream from Sally’s office in NYC, Kyle came and spoke to current DIDI Venturer’s, as well as some residents who are new to DIDI, about the Road Trip America. Kyle shared about his own venture that he started in 2003, a tutoring and mentoring program for at risk urban youth. He also talked a bit about the Youth Venture mission - and explained why he was traveling the country to spread the word!
After his talk, and a few technical mishaps, Kyle was able to answer some questions from the crowd with Sally’s assistance. I was impressed how naturally Kyle, new to the SL experience, was able to work the TSL crowd into an inspiring conversation about their own Venture ideas and dreams.

I really thought it was great to have someone from the outside world come and talk to the TSL Venturers. Although they are members on the GenV web site, I think it’s incredibly important for the TSL teens to know and feel that they are connected to this fabulous network of young changemakers. My hope is that Kyle was really able to help the D.I.D.I. kids feel they are part of the larger mission.

Sally YouthVenture shows Kyle around TSL...

Kyle blogged about his experience visiting TSL. Kyle says, "The highlight of New York (besides hanging out with Kumar) had to be the Teen Second Life Virtual meet-up we did." Read the rest of Kyle's blog entry about TSL!

Posted by Meghan at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There were many exciting moments to talk about for the month of March and there will be more to come in the month of April. March marks the month were I participated in my first panel. Speaking at the Guggenheim was a great experience for me because not only was I proudly representing Global Kids, but I was also exposed to other educators who have been questioning the effects of technology in education.

On Tuesday March 18, TSL celebrated its anniversary and it was great to be a part of that celebration. I was happy to see that many of our supporters came out to celebrate with us and that we got the opportunity to bond as a team during the event. It was the ultimate proof that so much can be done simultaneously with technology. I for instance was dancing live, dancing virtually and streaming at the same time.

Next month I am looking forward to going to Minneapolis for the NYLC conference and to Stanford University in Los Angeles for the Common Sense Media Forum. Although these events require alot of energy and time there is always something to learn and experience. Plus, I don't mind working on adrenaline. I'm looking forward to the rush.

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

My experience from the International Justice Award event was quite impressive, walking around in an expensive hotel. I was a little uncomfortable since I am financially from a lower class from what I can see. What I have learned while participating in this event was that everybody was in spirit, as Kofi Annan made his speech, it was a little intense, but he joked sometimes. While Kofi Annan was speaking, I was commenting what type of food we were served. I didn't like the fish. Haha. But it was fun! I wish I can go to something like this again to learn more about these type of events.

-Matt