Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

[HRAP Kenya] First day of the pre-departure program

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:08:29 -0500

The first day of our HRAP pre-departure program was a great step into the beginning of our big trip. It made me realize “Wow I’m going to Kenya (AFRICA!!!!) in about two weeks” which is a big deal.
To get us started Catherine laid out binders on the desks that included Kenya related articles to get us started with any research and extra information we may need to know for our trip (so we already knew where we're going to sit, lol). Then once we were all settled in we discussed or plane ride plans and found out that we would be flying to Ghana and staying in the airport of Ghana for 12 HOURS!!!! Yes 12 as in T-W-E-L-V-E. We don’t know if we will be able to leave the airport, which makes our trip even more exciting because we can say that we have been to both Ghana and Kenya (two countries of Africa) in two weeks.

[HRAP Kenya] My response to being a chosen participant

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:31:45 -0500

Hey everyone my name is O’tillia Roberts and I’m going to tell you about my experience as an HRAP Kenya participant. I was very excited to find out that I would be going to Kenya this summer, it has been a dream come true that I will be able to travel to far places and now I will have that opportunity. This will not only be a traveling experience but to experience Kenyan lives, explore their human rights and create awareness of the issues that Kenyans face today. I really looking forward to going on this trip because it is a once in a lifetime experience that I know will impact my life forever. No one realizes that there are many issues that affect other people; partly because of the media no one is aware of any of these problems and with this trip I will be able to show that youth can make the change that is needed for the children and adults of Kenya and maybe, in the future, the world.

[HRAP Kenya] Day 2

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:22:19 -0500

Today is the second day of the training and it feels like tomorrow is the day that we leave for Kenya. I cannot wait. We're going to meet so many people and experience so many things. We're going to try new foods talk to other youths and adapt to the different customs than we are used to here. Its going to be soooooooo coool. I just want to leave now and not come back. I really didn't think that I would have the opportunity to go to a place where here in the U.S. so many people believe that Africa is a country and its the worst place to go to. When I come back I'm going to let people know what Africa is as good as any other place and maybe even better. It's just so sad that people eat anything that t.v throws at them.

[HRAP KENYA] Nurys J Laureano

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:10:47 -0500

Hello everyone!
My Name is Nurys Laureano and I'm going to the HRAP Kenya trip July 09'. I am extremely excited to go on this trip, I've been waiting all my life to actually go to Africa; anywhere in Africa! When we go to Kenya I'm looking forward to doing a lot of things and going through a lot of adventures. I Want to try all the cool foods they have and different clothing they wear. Though I know Its not going to be all fun and games, we're going to Kenya with a purpose and that purpose is to be dealing with environmental issues that they face and we're going to working with organizations like the "Green Belt Movement" and "Youth alive! Kenya". we are going to be planting trees with the "GBM" and we are going to give workshops about human rights issues to the "Youth Alive! Kenya" organization. We are going to feel what they feel and try to walk in their shoes I know Kenya is going to be a great experience and I know that we are going to get a lot of work done and accomplish a lot of our ideas. Also I know we are going to become closer and build a friendship with so many memories.

[vvp] Global Kids Machinima "Discovered" Now Online!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:41:59 -0500

After tonight's successful public premiere of the Virtual Video Project's 2009 film "Discovered" at the Sony Wonder Theater, we are proud to announce the online release of this serious issue machinima. Created by 15 Global Kids teen leaders over the course of the school year, they decided on the subject matter, wrote the script, created the avatars, recorded the voices, shot the footage, and edited the final cut you see here.

We are so proud of our GK filmmakers for their amazing work, creativity, and commitment on this project! Read more about "Discovered" and the Virtual Video Project here.

[vvp] Global Kids Youth Leaders Premiere Second Life Machinima "Discovered" Tomorrow in NYC!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:47:35 -0500

Just a reminder that tomorrow, July 1, fifteen New York public high school students will premiere their film Discovered. Discovered is a digital "machinima" film produced in Second Life that explores the powerful issue of child sex trafficking through the fictional story of one Mexican teenager. This is the final product of a year-long, intensive digital filmmaking program called the Virtual Video Project (VVP), an after-school program conducted by Global Kids, Inc in NYC. The students gathered regularly during the past year to learn about film production, human rights, and virtual worlds, culminating in a serious issue machinima film produced entirely by the youth filmmakers.

Come to the premiere of Discovered to meet the youth filmmakers and discover how digital film can be used for global issue awareness and civic engagement.

Event Details:
When: Wednesday, July 1st, 6pm-8pm
Where: Sony Wonder Technology Lab [550 Madison Avenue at 56th St.]
What: Meet & Greet Filmmakers, Premiere of Discovered, and Q & A with students

For more information, see http://www.DiscoveredMovie.com or please contact Shawna at 212-226-0130 x 143 or email: shawna@globalkids.org.

The full text of the News Release follows....

[In the Media] GK Youth Leader Nafiza Featured on Edutopia Online

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:29:30 -0500

GK's own youth leader Nafiza was chosen to be part of Edutopia's online Youth Portraits series, in which they feature the digital worlds of various teens.

Digital Youth Portrait: Nafiza

Edutopia's portrait includes an interview of Nafiza along with short video pieces on her, her work in GK's OLP programs and what it is like to have digital media play a close relationship in her day to day life.

There are also sections, within Edutopia's feature on Nafiza, where other videos spotlight using digital media to learn world affairs and highlight the work Nafiza and other youth leaders put in within the VVP program to produce the 2007 and 2008 program short films "A Child's War" and "Race to Equality".

Learning World Affairs Through Digital Media

To visit Edutopia's full youth profile on Nafiza, click here.

[P4K] Global Kids' Tempest In Crescent City in Christian Science Monitor

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:50:40 -0500

A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor focuses on video games that let you play with topics taken from the news around us. It spotlights Tempest In Crescent City as an example.

Another featured news game, “Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City,” developed by Global Kids and Gamepill, focuses on how residents and the government coped after the 2005 storm hit. Players walk through New Orleans after the hurricane, communicating with neighbors and reporters to find a family member.

Read the full article here.

[media] Two New Reports on Transforming Educational Strategies

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:27:52 -0500

There have been two really great reports released recently, one by The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the other by the Asia Society. Both focus on implementing global and digital literacy into the educational strategies.

In the report released by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Game Changer: Investing in digital play to advance children's learning and health, it discusses the impetus of using gaming to help develop educational skills. The report states, "digital games offer a promising and untapped opportunity to leverage children’s enthusiasm and to help transform learning in America." To follow this up, they give recommendations and examples of various games which accomplish this significant task. One example used is GK's Ayiti, which is given as an example of one of the various health and learning games that demonstrates ways to transform learning. Ayiti is described as "a strategy game that asks, “What is it like to live in poverty, struggling every day to stay healthy, keep out of debt, and get educated?” Set in rural Haiti, players must manage the lives of a family of ﬁve, struggling with minimal resources to achieve a stable, safe, and healthy environment. The game is very difﬁcult but provides win states and suggests that no problem is unsolvable."

It was also recommended to develop models or games, that best tap into community resources. "A number of promising afterschool models are already helping children from underserved communities become “tech savvy” and are developing innovative approaches to parent training that includes digital content such as games that can be used across settings. These models include the Intel-sponsored Computer Clubhouses, the Boys & Girls Club of America’s Club Tech, and locally-based youth-leadership programs such as Global Kids, One Economy, and Computers for Youth. National efforts to bridge school, home, and community uses of game technologies should learn from, improve upon, and scale-up these models."

The report by the Asia Society, Expanding Horizons: Building Global Literacy in Afterschool Programs, also discusses the importance of teaching global literacy within educational settings, to make sure youth of today are ready for what comes when they enter the growing global workforce. The report looks at how to prepare the youth through four different aspects, one of them being "Transforming Learning". In this section, various examples of how to integrate digital media into the classroom setting are given. "For older youth, many international organizations are starting to provide educational events in Teen Second Life. For example, Global Kids implemented the "I Dig Tanzania" summer camp, a program where youth in Chicago and New York followed a palentology excavation in Tanzania led by a team from the Field Museum of Chicago. Participants followed what the real researchers were doing through streaming video, asked questions over satellite phones, and then dug virtual fossils and assembled them together into an exhibit in Teen Second life. "

On page 54, the report discusses how to help youth find active roles, and uses GK's afterschool program structure as a good example of this. The report also mentions the use of various programs Global Kids runs in our afterschool programs including: the Power of Citizenry program, the Annual Youth Conference, Undesirable Elements, which is a youth-led theater program and our Playing for Keeps program, which works to integrate game design into serious issues, creating a serious game such as Ayiti, as examples of how to transform learning within afterschool programs.

Both reports are very interesting and well worth the read, so check them out!

[SL] GK Leader organizing TSL Relay for Life events

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:12:37 -0500

A recent entry from Arwyn Quandry on the blog Transmissions from TSL, focuses on TSL Relay for Life and mentions Global Kids donating the sim for this and all the wonderful organizational efforts by the teen Lucky Figtree who has been working with GK for the past few years.

The mastermind behind this whole event is the talented Lucky Figtree, a longtime GK helper and teen activist who has been running TG RFL events for the past three years. She also speaks at conferences both in-world and first life with Global Kids. On the Relay for Life, she said, “With Relay for Life on the Teen Grid, I hope to give teens all the opportunity in the world to make a difference. Too often the teen grid is regarded as a waste of time and space, and I want to change that and show the teens just how much good they can do when they come together. Our plan is to educate and train in hopes that when it’s time for these teens to transfer, they’ll take part in the main grid relay and continue to celebrate, remember and fight back.” Lucky will transfer on August 23rd, 2009.

To read the full article, click here.

[P4K] Ayiti in the classroom

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:29:00 -0500

A recent post by the Techbrarian gives an example of how this teacher is using Ayiti in their class room.

In Haiti only about half of the children receive an education and only two percent finish high school. Without a proper education, the poor stay poor in Haiti (and many countries like this.) While education is the key to rising out of poverty, many parents are not able to send their kids to school. Why not? Play the game below to find out.

Read the full post here.

[media] (o.o) Festival: NYC Digital Youth Media & Technology

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:27:32 -0500

The (o.o) Festival: First Annual NYC Digital Youth Media & Technology Festival will be this Saturday, June 27, 2009, at The New School, NYC.

We are so thrilled that this event by an incredible coalition has come together to support youth through NYC in our various after school programs. Global Kids has youth showing their VVP year end videos, youth from the Media Masters program showing their digital transcripts, youth from HRAP at South Shore showing their documentary about their school phasing out, and youth from our Expressions program showing the variety of digital media they created about social and global issues.

In addition, youth from the three NY Public Library sites implementing our Playing 4 Keeps game design program will be competing for the best serious game design and we can't wait to see what the youth have created.

The full press release is after the jump.

[HRAP KENYA] SUMMER SUCCESS TRAVEL BACK HOME TO EASTERN AFRICA

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:40:41 -0500

Hey everyone this is Kojo Acheampong and I am highly happy to go to Kenya during the summer time. I am so excited to engage myself in the future of our world by traveling overseas to learn about human rights and also get involved in civic youth engagement activities with my other friends and leaders. We can help make change in our world by empowering the youth with their freedom of education and a say in their government. As a young kid my life was dedicated to my grandmother more than anyone else because my grandmother never abused me. But now all that I see around me is abuse and use of violence against young individuals and I am looking forward to doing my part to change it.

[RezEd Podcast] Episode 35

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:16:08 -0500

Special RezEd Podcast Episode 35 - "Education across Virtual Worlds: A Case Study," A conversation with Audrey Aronowsky of the Field Museum of Chicago.

The thirty-fifth RezEd monthly podcast, produced by Global Kids.

This episode is a live recording from the first RezEd Conference in conjunction with the Games, Learning, and Society Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, June 10-12, 2009.

Download the episode here.

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[vvp] Global Kids Youth Leaders Premiere VVP Machinima "Discovered" on July 1 in NYC

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:48:30 -0500

On July 1, 2009, 15 New York City public high school students will premiere their film Discovered --a digital "machinima" film produced in Second Life that explores the powerful issue of child sex trafficking through the fictional story of one Mexican teenager. Discovered is the final product of a year-long, intensive digital filmmaking program called the Virtual Video Project (VVP), an after-school program conducted by Global Kids, Inc in NYC. The students gathered regularly during the past year to learn about film production, human rights, and virtual worlds, culminating in a serious issue machinima film produced entirely by the youth filmmakers.

Come to the premiere of Discovered to meet the youth filmmakers and discover how digital film can be used for global issue awareness and civic engagement.

For more information, see http://www.DiscoveredMovie.com or please contact Shawna at 212-226-0130 x 143 or email: shawna@globalkids.org.

The full text of the News Release follows....