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The D.I.D.I. Initiative supports young people to launch their own sustainable ventures either within or outside of Teen Second Life that create lasting benefit to their communities. D.I.D.I. provides seed funding (up to $1000 US) and the support you need to launch your own social entrepreneurial project on issues that matter to you. Your causes. Your vision. Dream it. Do it.
Constance Steinkuehler's blog post for MacArthur's Spotlight in regards to "mixed abilities and maturity groups are good" for the affordances of virtual worlds really rang true to me today for today's D.I.D.I. workshop.
Continue reading "[DIDI] Mixed abilities and maturity groups are good" »
Digital Network Group will be partnering with the organizations Global Kids and Youth Venture to offer students in the Washington D.C. area the opportunity to participate in the Dream it. Do it. Initiative (D.I.D.I) beginning in June 2008 as part of their Kinetic Potential Scholars (KPS) Program. The KPS program is a development and mentoring program that improves life circumstances for disadvantaged youth by preparing them for their long-term career aspirations. The cornerstone of the program is the development and reinforcement of four core principles throughout a young person's life: Vision and Goal Setting, Perceptions and Attitude, Character and Behavior and Action and Perseverance.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative works with groups of teens in the virtual world of Teen Second Life to mentor them to become young changemakers. The groups of youth are provided with seed funding of up to $1,000 to implement sustainable projects that will bring positive change to their communities’ health.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative is supporting 40 teams of young people to launch their own ventures that benefit their communities, either within or outside of Teen Second Life. The D.I.D.I. Initiative Island in the teen grid of Second Life is a place for teen residents to learn about important social and health issues and to create and lead their own social ventures to address these issues. A venture can be a club, organization, business, or program that is ongoing and benefits the community. With the D.I.D.I. Initiative’s support over a series of weekly workshops, each team of teens develops an action plan to design and launch their own social entrepreneurial projects.
When the teams are ready to launch, the Initiative offers:
• Seed funding (up to $1,000 per team)
• Technical allies to provide additional advice and expertise
• Ongoing tools and support
The D.I.D.I. Initiative will begin its work with the Digital Network Group by conducting a Virtual Summer Camp for youth at McKinley Tech High School in Washington D.C.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative is made possible with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Today was certainly among the most rewarding and inspiring days of my Global Kids career. Today was the introductory workshop for our next round of DIDI Venturers. I believe that all young people deserve to have an opportunity like the one we are providing with D.I.D.I. in TSL, but perhaps this group is unique. As Kelly Eye4You introduced in her blog entry here we have partnered to bring D.I.D.I. to a small group of 16-17 year old males at a US juvenile detention center.
Over the last couple weeks the young men have had a few opportunities with Kelly to get acclimated to the SL environment. We finally got to meet two enthusiastic young men today. We spent this first special hour getting to know each other, going over the typical outline of our D.I.D.I. workshops, and learning the GK Guidelines (One Mic, Safe Space and Participation!)
Barry GKid and Chilly GKTeen as we discuss the 3 Guidelines
We played some of the same warm-up activities that experienced DIDI’ers will find familiar, like “Have you Ever?”.
I also took our new friends on a tour of the D.I.D.I. Island which reminded me of the tours kids go on when they visit a college campus :)
The guys were enthusiastic and inquisitive. The hour flew by, and we didn’t get as far into things as I’d hoped, but I think this was a fantastic beginning! I couldn’t be happier with the level of responsiveness and interaction from these young men. I know this is going to be a great experience for D.I.D.I. and I pray that these young men learn that they are able to make a positive change for themselves, and their communities!
Here’s an excerpt from our closing today:
Meghan GKid: Let's make a circle out here
Meghan GKid: Ok, so to close today let's all go around and just say ONE WORD that describes how you are feeling now.
Meghan GKid: Ok, I can go first, and we'll go around
Meghan GKid: I'm feeling ... impressed
Meghan GKid: I'll pass it to Chilly
Chilly GKteen: I feel great and it’s really cool
Sally YouthVenture: engaged!
Saryn Eye4You: relieved :) (about the tech)
Monica Maddaloni: relaxed
Amira GKid: I'm feeling really excited!!
Breezy GKteen: breezy
Meghan GKid smiles
Meghan GKid: Thanks guys!
Meghan GKid: I can't wait for next time!
Chilly GKteen: nice to meet everyone once again and i hope to see everybody next time
Amira GKid: Just curious...How did you guys choose the names Chilly and Breezy?
Breezy GKteen: we're just so cool
Today was all systems go for meeting GK and Youth Venture staff on the island for the D.I.D.I. team from the juvenile detention center. Previous weeks we had some technical difficulties that we were fortunately able to get through. When we were going around the room at the D.I.D.I. Coffeehouse and introducing ourselves, one of the teens asked me before he typed into group chat a question about revealing personal information to this group. What a great question and what a great opportunity! This moment reminded me of the article I read this week in the Chicago Tribune about how Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL) wants to ban Second Life from schools and libraries. The question about personal information came from a teen accessing Second Life while in a library to a librarian. Kind of makes sense to have the access to take the opportunity to talk about protecting oneself online before accessing SL somewhere else where they might not have anyone to ask what to do.
The D.I.D.I. tour was a lot of fun and a fair amount of learning while doing since the team is new to SL but catching on fast!
I think I still have the original email that I sent to Rafi and Amira with GK about my idea for a group of youth for the Dream It Do It Initiative. It was probably half rambling but 100% passionate and I don’t think they missed a beat when I got an encouraging response. The group I’m referring to are 16-17 year old males at a juvenile detention center that I have worked with as a librarian for several years.
How are YOU changing your community?
Please show us by entering in the DIDI Creativity for a Cause Contest:
Entries can include, but are not limited to:
Posters, poems, short-stories, machinima, statues, small builds.
All entries should address two questions:
What problem do you see in your community?
What is something YOU can do or are doing to help change that problem?
What: Contest Award Ceremony & Celebration
When: Saturday, May 17th, 2008
Where: D.I.D.I. Main Stage (SLURL: tinyurl.com/5dsh4d)
Time: 2:00 pm PDT/SLT
Contact: Daniel Voyager, Totem Gufler or Meghan GKid in TSL
Entries Due: All entries due Wednesday, May 14th
On April 1st, the 110th Congress Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing entitled Online Virtual Worlds: Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium.
Listening to the testimony, it was hard not to imagine what I might have shared were I asked to testify. It might have gone something somewhat like this:
Chairman Markey, Ranking Member Stearns, and Members of the Subcommittee, we at Global Kids are honored to have this opportunity to share our experiences as experts working with youth and virtual worlds.
To provide background, in 2006, following extensive research into the educational potential of virtual worlds, Global Kids became the first nonprofit to develop a dedicated space for conducting educational programming in Teen Second Life (TSL). Specifically, Global Kids is conducting intensive leadership programming for youth, bringing students from its New York-based programs into the space, and streaming the audio and video of major events into the world. This work has received significant funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, among others, and been conducted in partnership with many other organizations, including UNICEF, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the International Criminal Court.
I would like to begin my testimony with a quote from an earlier Congressional Subcommittee hearing that took place just over a half-century ago.
“Formerly, the child wanted to be like daddy or mommy. Now they skip you, they bypass you. They want to be like Superman.”
This testimony from Dr. Fredric Wertham on the connections between comic books and juvenile delinquency, and his earlier publications on the matter, helped to stoke a national hysteria around the lurid dangers of this once new medium. While barely a decade old, more than 90% of children between the ages of six and eleven read comic books, as did over 80% of teenagers. Parents in the Cold War era, unsure how to handle a variety of new social forces, found a convenient scapegoat in the colorful and ubiquitous magazines. Wertham’s testimony helped the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency hold comic publishers’ feet to the fire and led not to new regulatory policies but a new industry-administered code of conduct that shaped comic books for over thirty years.
Generation after generation seems to go through its own “cycles of outrage,” whether with the waltz, pulp novels, comic books, rap music, or most recently with video games and online social networks. New mass media come and go, gaining relative acceptance or falling by the wayside, but concerns about the safety of children and regulations surrounding their freedoms never go away.
Virtual Worlds, practically non-existent just a few years ago, are just the latest commercial media to be seen as “colonizing” the lives of youth, once again raising a variety of concerns about their impact. The growth of youth involvement with virtual worlds is predicted to surpass 50% over the next few years, so one can expect a number of concerns to be raised about virtual worlds that are similar to the mediums of the past--a threat to law and order, a threat to traditional learning, and a threat to traditional values.
Continue reading "[staff] My Testimony For Congress (had I been asked)..." »
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.
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!
Our first groups of D.I.D.I. Venturers are successfully launching!!
Supported by Global Kids and Youth Venture, the following teams are beginning to launch successful ventures to benefit their communities in Teen Second Life and bring change to the world around them.
Body Rider
Youth from Ohio, USA, age 15
Body Rider plans to use Teen Second Life to create a virtual tour through parts the human body. As visitors ride through the body, they will learn how our bodies are affected by smoking, using drugs, and engaging in other unhealthy habits. For example, the ride will show what the lungs of a smoker look like compared to those of a nonsmoker. The purpose of Body Rider is to teach teens about health in a fun and interesting way. The team believes that learning without boring books is the best way to learn.
KLASS
Four Youth from Ramapo Middle School in New York
KLASS plans to address problems faced by teens including stress, self-mutilation, suicide, drug abuse, and underage drinking. The team will work within Teen Second life to raise awareness about these issues, and to create a peer support group to help teens around the world who are dealing with these issues. They plan to establish an online group to hold weekly meetings for teens in Second Life to help them cope with problems they are facing and to help foster relationships between teens around the world who are dealing with similar issues. KLASS will be a place where teens can discuss their problems and share ideas. The team also plans to host meetings and conferences in Second Life to raise awareness for the prevention and/or treatment of teens affected by these problems. In order to sustain the venture, KLASS will create and sell products in Second Life such as bracelets and t-shirts with inspirational phrases that reflect the mission of KLASS.
Jump Start Park
Two youth from Florida and Kentucky ages 13 and 15
The primary purpose of Jump Start Park is to provide support for new members of Teen Second Life. The team observed that new residents in Second Life usually wander around not knowing how to do things or where to go. Jump Start Park will address this problem by welcoming new members into the community and providing free classes on building, scripting on other Second Life skills, giving away freebies, and answering newbies’ questions. Jump Start Park will combine learning with fun by creating an educational amusement park with rides for both new and old members. The team believes that if new residents know more about the Second Life and its community, they will enjoy Second Life more, will become better Second Life residents, and will contribute to a better community in Second Life. Jump Start Park also aims to raise awareness of and knowledge about health issues that affect teens. Within the park, they will post flyers and have kiosks with information on a variety of health issues.
Dark Matter
Two youth from New York and Nevada, ages 14 and 15
The Dark Matter team is creating a venture that will provide computer programming resources to both novice and advanced developers. Dark Matter aims to support young people who want to enter the field of programming, but are unsure how to get started. They will provide all the resources young people need to advance easily through learning programming and implementing their marketable knowledge in the real world. Dark Matter will have a headquarters in Teen Second Life as well as an online presence, enabling it to serve as a resource for anyone trying to create content within or outside of Second Life. The team will offer classes, tutorials, meeting areas, software, database storage, directories, etc. that will allow novice developers to get into the field easily, and allow advanced developers to move to the next level.
Preparing for an upcoming Selection Panel:
A New Tomorrow
Youth ages 15 and 13 from California
A New Tomorrow aims to raise awareness among Teen Second Life residents about cancer and other major health problems. The team is constructing a facility where teens will be able to gather, learn about health issues, and participate in fundraisers to raise money for the American Cancer Society. A New Tomorrow also plans to facilitate group discussions for teens who have friends or family who have died or are suffering from disease to discuss their feelings and receive support from one another.
Feel like winning a 8GB iPod Touch?
Then enter the D.I.D.I. GenV.net Video Challenge being held right now!
We’re asking teens in SL to create a machinima video or RL video to show the world what makes your SL or RL community awesome and show something you and your friends are doing in your community to make it even more awesome!
All TSL residents are eligible to enter the contest, even if you are not already involved in the D.I.D.I. Initiative.
Hurry! The deadline to submit your video is March 19!
Here’s how to participate:
1. Go to www.GenV.net and create a profile (click on the “Join Now!” button).
2. Get hold of a camcorder or start making machinima in SL
3. Create a 2-3 minute video with your message to the world about your RL or SL community and what you’re doing to improve it.
4. Upload the video to www.YouTube.com.
5. Upload it to the video section on your GenV.net member profile.
6. Send the link to your video on GenV.net to YV_Jen in a private message by
For more info, go to: http://www.genv.net/en-us/node/5521 or IM Sally YouthVenture in world!
The Tech Museum of Innovation has just launched a major new exhibit creation initiative in Second Life and they want you, in TSL!
They currently offering $5000 prizes for the best interactive RL exhibits on technology in art, film, and music designed in Second Life.
Guest speaker Avi Markova, the approved adult organizing the project and RL museum exhibitor, will speak about how the museum is changing the way they do RL exhibits by inviting those in SL to create inworld exhibits that can be built in real life! No previous curation skills needed!
Come find out how to be part of this amazing contest!
Wednesday, February 27th, 1pm PST/SLT @ the main stage at DIDI Island!
Exhibits hosted in TSL by Eye4You Alliance!
Be ready for a field trip to the exhibit space on Eye4You! Landmarks will be provided :)
Winners receive:
-$5000 USD (awarded in June of 2008)
-the chance to see your virtual exhibit made into a real exhibit at The Tech!
They will also be awarding the Teen Grid-only prize of $1000 for the best Teen Grid exhibit!
View The Tech’s page on the virtual project here!
*********************************************************
The event was a great success!
Thanks to Nina Simon for taking the time to involve DIDI and GK teens in this WOW of a contest.
Some pics from the event:
Meghan GKid introducing Nina Simon from The Tech:
DIDI and GK Teens during Q&A:
Back at the Coffee House for some informal chat:
Yesterday, to celebrate the two year anniversary of Global Kids in Teen Second Life, with the support of Linden Lab, we held the first ever press junket to the GK Estate and announced the launch of three new projects.
View the chat log of the event, including the presentations about new projects from GK staff and those of D.I.D.I. Venturers too after the jump.
We announced the first four round of grants in the D.I.D.I. Initiative and heard from the youth receiving funds to create their own social ventures around health issues (partnering with YouthVenture and funded by Robert Wood Johnson), announced the upcoming Philanthropy in Virtual Worlds program focusing on global human rights and conservation issues (funded by the MacArthur Foundation), and did a virtual ribbon cutting on our new science island established to host our new high school science class (partnering with the High School for Global Citizenship and funded by the Motorola Foundation) and held a dance party to celebrate.
It was very exciting to have so many journalists and prominent SL bloggers present to hear from both us and TSL residents about these upcoming projects.
View photos from the event.
The first reporter to "file" his report is Adam Balkin, from NY1, the Time-Warner news channel in NYC whose content is broadcast around the country. The text can be read here or you can watch the news clip below.
As other reports come in, we will post them below. Thank you to everyone at Linden Lab who helped to support this event and everyone along the way who offered inspiration.
View the chat log from the event after the jump.
Continue reading "[press] Press Junket on Global Kids Estate" »
For the last two months or so I’ve been working with 4 students from Ramapo Technology Club. These students are participating in an after school club at Suffern Middle School in NY, and have volunteered to be part of GK’s D.I.D.I. Initiative. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, virtually, in TSL. Over the past weeks I’ve gotten to know each teen, and the dynamic of the group. I’ve learned who the quiet thinker is, which one is the natural leader, and which one is the ‘class clown.’
It’s been interesting working so consistently with a group - in a virtual setting. There are some things I was beginning to question, though. Despite reiteration of our GK guideline of ‘safe space’, I noticed a continued banter among the group, different from what I would accept in a classroom. Sometimes I would step in and remind them. Other times, they’d remind each other. I also noticed occasional long lags in response time during conversations and tasks. “Are they there?” I’d wonder. “Are they bored?” Sometimes they tell us they are bored. That’s helpful.
Despite my concerns, the Ramapo group has been most impressive with their dedication to the DIDI Venture. Attendance is great, and once we get going, participation is never an issue. This group has begun to think deeply about their community, and how they can make a difference.
Unlike most of the students we will work with in DIDI, the Ramapo kids are only 30 miles out of NYC. I decided last week to take advantage of this, and planned a visit to the Middle School. That Thursday we logged into TSL as usual, but this time, I was on my laptop in the same room with them. The other DIDI facilitators were in their usual locations in their offices. I reminded the students that this workshop would take place within TSL as usual, and they should continue with the workshop like all the others.
As the workshop progressed, I began to better understand my earlier concerns. The lags in response time within TSL all made more sense now. I saw that they were talking to each other because perhaps one was having a technical difficulty, or maybe they were talking about the topic, or how they want to split the task, etc. They were a great deal less distracted than I had previously thought. There had just been no way for us to see this from our virtual interactions.
To my delight and surprise, I also now understood the banter within TSL. These kids DO like each other. The comments they make inside TSL are accompanied by giggles and playful comments in person.
I won’t say that this experience has turned me off to working with youth virtually. However, it was great to meet the kids in person. I was not only able to put a real face to an avatar, but I was able to HEAR the laughter and SEE the smiles as we worked. I appreciate that this is not an opportunity I will often have. I hope that, although each group is different, I can apply some of these realizations to future groups, and consider the dynamic of those groups in a new light.
The January issue of the New Jersey magazine The Parent Paper, has an article entitled "Student's Try a Virtual World", which spotlight's both the programs Global Kids and Ramapo are running within Second Life.
They quoted Barry several times regarding TSL.
“Once we went into Teen Second Life, we found things we didn’t find anywhere else. In Teen Second Life you have a spatial relationship with others around you and it feels like you are with people. We could do the same workshops for kids virtually that we were doing in reality.We could do these workshops in ways that we never thought were possible. In Teen Second Life you don’t have to just imagine you are in a factory – you are in a factory. And teens are building the factory. A lot of our top down approach for spreading information was met equally with ideas from the bottom up. The space is about putting young people in charge and giving them tools. What we are able to do as educators in that space is tap into nascent leadership skills.”
The article goes on to mention CONSENT! And our Playing 4 Keeps program, our TSL interns, along with our upcoming science curriculum and the DIDI Youth Venture program. The only thing the article got weird, is a misquote on the number of sims owned by educators…he would have never said 3,000. ;)
“When you are using Second Life you are going into the youth media space. It’s our youth’s playspace and is our workspace. We can’t force ourselves into their world, or them into ours, we have to work together.”
December 18th marked the beginning of our virtual selection panels for social entrepreneurial teams on the Dream It. Do It. Island in TSL.
The first team to present, "Beat Bullying", comprised of three exceptionally talented young people committed to benefiting their local and virtual communities on issues related to cyber bullying.
The young presenters were well prepared for the panel using slides to present their main ideas and answered the panel's many questions with great candor and humor.
Global Kids would like to extend a warm thank you to our panelists for volunteering their time and a congratulations to "Beat Bullying" on meeting this great milestone.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative Team is proud to announce that the first round of action plans from potential venturers have come in! Examples of potential ventures include utilizing virtual mediums to raise awareness to different human rights campaigns, creating interactive health rides of the human body to educate peers, combating bullying and cyber-bullying along with raising self-esteem, and creating support centers for teens who are new to Teen Second Life or may have disabilities.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative is excited to hear from organizations and students across the country that are interested in becoming a part of Global Kids exciting new program utilizing virtual worlds to benefit communities across the country. For more information on how you or your students can enroll for the next round of workshops please inquire with info@globalkids.org.
Yesterday afternoon was the beginning of a new exciting collaboration! Students from Peggy Sheehy’s tech club at Suffern Middle School are joining TSL to take part in the D.I.D.I. Initiative! Three students logged in during yesterday’s after school technology club and ventured over to D.I.D.I. Initiative Island! GK Staff, Ramapo teens, and some of our TSL regulars spend the next hour talking, touring DIDI Island, helping to learn Second Life, discussing our DIDI venture ideas, and getting to know each other! The TSL ‘oldbies’ were so impressed that the Ramapo kids got to go onto TSL during school! The Ramapo kids were excited to be new members of a global community as they got to know other teens from across the US and even the UK!
Here we are hanging out at DIDI's Coffee House!
We can’t wait for the rest of the Ramapo tech club to get their accounts! Soon we will be running customized D.I.D.I. Workshops and getting them started towards launching their very own Social Ventures!
The teen SL resident Storm Basiat reported in a recent SLNN.com article about the new D.I.D.I. Initiative. It is an informative article and written from a teen perspective - congrats Storm!
Students gather at a workshop on the teen grid to discuss their ideas.Global Kids launched a new Teen Second Life project called Do It, Dream It, or DIDI Interactive. The project awards grants up to $1000 U.S..
Teen grid residents have worked extremely hard to help the DIDI Interactive team develop the simulator by building and scripting objects.
At recent DIDI workshops teens can find out how the D.I.D.I. Initiative can help them start their own ventures such as clubs, organizations, and businesses.
The workshop allow teens to brainstorm ideas surrounding what they care about , and educate teens about other ventures created by teens around the world.
Amira Fouad, the coordinator of the project, who is behind the SL Avatar Amira Gkid, said, "The workshops are a chance for young people to come together and brainstorm about issues in their communities that they care about and discuss with other teens from across the world on how they can begin to create change around those issues and have a real impact on the world around them. It's been an incredible experience to watch as teens from different parts of the world relate to both one another, and the common issues across communities, that they want to bring change to."
Daniel Voyager, a TSL Resident from the United Kingdom, attended one of the workshops run by D.I.D.I Interactive. "Taking part in DIDI was really cool. We learned about making our own venture project dealing with an issue that has affected us and coming up with great ideas. I really enjoyed the workshop as we all had a good time chatting and showing our ideas."
For more information about the DIDI Interactive program, e-mail Amira Fouad at amira@globalkids.org or visit the Teen Grid simulator .
The schedule for this week’s D.I.D.I. Initiative Workshops and Office Hours is posted!
If you haven’t signed up for a DIDI workshop yet, there’s still time! Workshops will be held this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Come by the South East corner of D.I.D.I. Initiative Island in TSL to sign up!
Workshop Times
Thursday Nov. 1
9am -11am SLT
2pm – 4pm SLT
Friday Nov. 2
3pm – 5pm SLT
Saturday Nov. 3
12pm – 2pm SLT
4pm – 6pm SLT
If you can’t make it to any of this week’s workshops contact Meghan GKid or Amira GKid to reschedule. Remember, in order to be a part of DIDI you must attend at least one workshop in its entirety.
DIDI Office Hours
Additionally, the DIDI Team will begin holding office hours this week to help you plan your Ventures! Come by DIDI's Coffee House to discuss your ideas or find out more about DIDI!
Monday Oct. 29:
1pm SLT– Sally YouthVenture
Tuesday Oct. 30:
3pm SLT – Sally YouthVenture
6pm SLT - Meghan GKid
Wednesday Oct. 31:
10am SLT - Meghan GKid
11am SLT - Yesenia YouthVenture
Thursday Nov. 1:
1pm SLT - Amira GKid
6pm SLT - Meghan GKid
Friday Nov. 2:
12pm SLT - Yesenia YouthVenture
1pm SLT - Amira GKid
Dream it. Do it.
In Teen Second Life.
This week we began holding our interactive and informative D.I.D.I. Initiative Workshops! So far we have had amazing teens taking part, some old GKers and some great new faces too!
Workshops start in the D.I.D.I. Institute Boardroom where we go over the GK Guidelines and do some fun getting to know you activities!
Continue reading "[didi] D.I.D.I. Initiative workshops begin in TSL!" »
Times have changed for this week’s workshops. If you haven’t already, come by the South East corner of the DIDI Island in Teen Second Life to sign up for workshops happening Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday of this week!
Thursday Oct. 25
8am-10am SLT
1pm-3pm SLT
Saturday Oct. 27
11am-1pm SLT
4pm-6pm SLT
Sunday Oct. 28
1pm-3pm SLT
If you can’t make it to any of this week’s workshops contact Meghan GKid or Amira GKid to reschedule. Remember, in order to be a part of DIDI you must attend at least one workshop in its entirety.
Dream it. Do it.
In Teen Second Life.
Last night marked the exciting beginning of the D.I.D.I. Initiative on the Teen Grid of Second Life.
After a brief presentation detailing the Dream it. Do it. Initiative and the staff that will be involved, youth and staff broke in the new DIDI Clubhouse with some dancing and afterwards headed over to the lake for some after party fun in the water! Throughout the party, teens started to sign up for the D.I.D.I. Workshops which will be taking place throughout the week of Oct. 22.
For any teens unable to make the party, there is still plenty of time to get involved!
We are going to begin workshops next Monday & workshop sign ups will be taking place all week in the South East corner of DIDI Island. Just click on the workshop stone that best fits your schedule. If you click the wrong one, just click on it a second time to remove your name from the list.
At the workshops, teens can find out how the D.I.D.I. Initiative can support teens to start their own ventures. A "venture" can be a club, organization, business, or program that is ongoing (i.e. not a one-time event) and benefits one's community in some way.
The workshops will be a chance to begin brainstorming about issues you care about and how you can create change around those issues. You'll also learn about some of the many amazing ventures led teams of youth around the world.
Thanks to everyone for making last night's launch such a wonderful event.
We are very excited to bring DIDI to TSL and its great to have you all here for the beginning!
Missed the presentation? Watch it here!
Check out more photos from the party on the holymeatballs flicker!
Who: All residents of TSL, old and new!
What: The D.I.D.I. Initiative Kick Off Extravaganza
When: Tuesday, October 16th, 4pm SLT
Where: The New D.I.D.I. Initiative Island
Why: To meet the new D.I.D.I. Initiative Global Kids Team and learn how you can get involved this fall!
How: You identify your passions. Your cause. Your vision. Then, the D.I.D.I. initiative supports you and your team to launch your own social venture either within or outside of Teen Second Life to create a lasting benefit to your community.
Want to know more? Stop by our party on Oct. 16 to meet the D.I.D.I. crew and find out how you can launch your own social entrepreneurial project. Okay, well here it is in a nutshell: When your team is ready to launch, the Initiative will offer your team:
See you Tuesday!
From August 24-26, 2007, in Chicago, Global Kids coordinated the Non-profit and Philanthropy Thread at the Third Annual Second Life Community Convention.
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Hi! This is Meghan Deana, also now known as Meghan GKid, checking in with my first blog post. I recently joined Global Kids Online Leadership Program, and I thought I’d take a minute to introduce myself.
I came to Global Kids this summer after graduating with my Master’s Degree in Teaching. While teaching is my passion, it must share my attentions with my love of technology, especially gaming and virtual worlds. With a background in computer science, and experience working as a Liaison for Linden Lab (Second Life), I hoped to find a way to combine my interests and talents in some productive way. Well, when I got the mail from LinkedIn that Global Kids was hiring, I knew this was the opportunity I was looking for. I guess GK agreed, because here I am!
Me and Blue Linden in my first moments at Global Kids Island
I am having a fantastic orientation to Global Kids working this summer on our CRC Machinima Camp.
In my free time I am still an active resident of Second Life, and when I’m not in front of a computer I enjoy spending time with my husband James, and my amazing chocolate Labrador Hawkins (ask me about him some time!)
Looking forward to sharing more of the exciting happenings at Global Kids over the coming months!
-Meghan
