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December 30, 2006

[blog] High school students blog about Ayiti in the classroom

Innovative educator Brandt Schneider takes his students online and supports them to blog about. Recently, they played our game Ayiti.

Here is one of their numerous blogs about the experience, this one from Rachel:

"I wasn't playing the Ayiti Unicef Game for that long, but what i did and saw and was really awesome. I think this types of game can really be a great educational tool. I think that it's a great way to get information across and educate people on important issues, like poverty. It's really a good idea; it attracts students/kids because its a game and it's not as boring as listening to a teacher talk about it. You feel like your getting involved, and you really are contributing to the process and trying to keep these people alive and healthy. It allows a sort of hands-on approach where students will actually be engaged and involved and active participants. It allows everyone to be in control and work at their own pace. Basically, it is pretty much appealing and interesting to everybody as opposed to a traditional classroom setting. Another cool thing about this game in particular, was that it also really made you think, as in brainstorm and try to be creative and come up with ideas that would be most beneficial to their survival, health, happiness. Even in just the beginning where it asks whether you want your strategy or plan to be based on happiness, health, money, etc. it's allowing you to choose your own course and makes you really ponder what you think would really help. Everything from school, to supplies, to homes, to food was up to you. It seemed even more useful than a regular game without a purpose."

"Also, this is a great way to get issues out there that aren't really talked about, or are hard to talk about/sensitive. It's a great way to get people to become more knowledgable about issues facing our world. I think that a lot of different organizations should come up with this type of thing and schools should really embrace it. This way, we could all gain awareness, thereby increasing volunteer work, support, and contributions to organizations and causes. It would be awesome to raise a generation as a knowledgable, active participant in the worlds ever-going strive for peace and happiness."

Read the full post here.

Posted by joyce at 4:09 PM | | Comments (0)

[blog] What role should adults play within online teen spaces?

Global Kids was asked by the MacArthur Foundation to curate their new fantastic blog, Spotlight: Blogging the Field of Digital Media and Learning, during this last week of the year.

We asked the following provocative questions, recruited four teens to start the discussion, then opened it for public discussion: "What can adults offer to teen spaces? What does their presence take away? When is it not safe to have adults and teens interact? When are teens ONLY safe when adults are present?"

The conversation has been very illuminating and can be followed here. You can also read it below.


At the same time, Second Life watchers have been blogging the blog (is there a word for that yet?) and starting their OWN conversations about it. The ones we have found appear at:


If you haven’t heard, Second Life is an online virtual world which saw its two millionth member sign-up just this month. Within Second Life, there is a teen-only environment, as opposed to the main grid, composed of roughly forty thousand residents. Other than the adults who run Second Life, this is a teen-only environment. However, there is one exception. Outside organizations, like Global Kids, can purchase a private “island” which teens can visit; however, adults, who must go through a background check, can not leave these islands.

In this context, we now present four comments that are specifically about the role of adults from Global Kids with TSL. However, other youth have been invited to join the conversation and broaden it from one specifically about TSL to all online youth spaces.

What can adults offer to teen spaces? What does their presence take away? When is it not safe to have adults and teens interact? When are teens ONLY safe when adults are present? Please read the four comments from following TSL residents and post your own thoughts below (please identify whether you are a teen or an adult - an adult is writing this introduction).

Mariel Voyunicef

The reason why I think Global Kids’ adults should stay on the teen grid is very simple: in times like these in which the youth have little contact with adults outside of an academic contexs, we have to take advantage of every single chance to establish a connection with them. As youth, we need to be the bridge between adults and upcoming generations by learning from them - especially on a place that is openly related to activism. There are plenty of places where teens can be alone.

Cheesepuff Barnard

I believe that the role of adults in online youth spaces, if not necessary, should be eliminated completely. Adults have plenty of ways to connect with kids, so why take away the last bit of dignity TSL has managed to keep after being treated so unfairly. I wouldn’t normally complain, but this really is the last straw. If adults are going to be allowed in even two TSL islands, why not let kids be allowed in two main grid [adult] islands? I realize there are legal problems, but I also realize there are legal solutions. Pre-scanning all adult entry. Supervising it with guards, chat and IM supervisors, and robotic chat and IM recorders for when no one is there to manually monitor. There are SO many things to learn on the main grid. This is a bit like the Revolutionary War. A mainland, a colony, and somebody up there trying to take advantage of the colony.

Lucky Figtree

I was very surprised to be asked to write an essay about whether or not Global Kids should continue everything they are doing within Teen Second Life. A good portion of my Second Life experience has been spent working, and learning with them. I can’t imagine not having the GK leaders in-world anymore. Global Kids has reached some amazing firsts for the Teen Grid, and I know that they can continue to do so. There are many teens that think of the Global Kids Islands as a second home (me included). The GK leaders are always throwing out new and interesting ways to become involved. In my eyes, teens are drawn to the island to have a fun time. The GK Leaders almost always have a contest going, and I believe the teens enjoy being challenged in such ways. I believe that Global Kids is truly connecting with the teens that want to learn. They have done so much to educate, and teach; but at the same time allow the teens to have a fun time. Its a great way to learn, and its obviously working. I could not imagine the teen grid without the famous Global Kid dance parties. It just wouldn’t be the same.

Relk Akula

I view Global Kids as a despicable attack on TSL’s existence as a place for teen’s to take a break from real life and be able to have a world entirely grown by them. I also view GK as an attempt to impose their well-meaning, but still imposing beliefs on others, and to mold personalities. Also GK seems likely to be spawned by the same people who create ESRBs (the rating board that attacks games with little detailed descriptions), MPAAs (the movie rating organization prone to giving ratings for speaking up about issues) and probably RIAAs (the music industry association known for blocking free speech and creativity) too.

Posted by joyce at 12:32 AM | | Comments (0)

December 29, 2006

[sl] Comic Released from Camp GK 2006

In the summer of 2006, Global Kids led the first virtual summer camp in Teen Second Life. A 12-page comic was produced, using photos from the program along with excerpts from the public chat logs. You can access the comic in a variety of formats below:

You can view:


  • Download the pdf file
  • Click through the pages on the web
  • Or buy your own hardcopy.



Posted by Barry at 1:16 PM | | Comments (2)

December 25, 2006

[sl] Last of Mariel's Voices of Youth, Global Kids Related Post

This is the Fifth and last post of Mariel's blog from the UNICEF A World Fit for Children Festival. Enjoy!

Educating and Raising Awareness Through Virtual Reality III -and last-

These are the results of the contest. What about the ones of the festival in general? These are my conclusions.

1. At the end, thirteen teams presented their projects; however, more people attended the workshop and actually learned about the A World Fit for Children commitments.

2. In less than two weeks, participants built entire projects; to give you a quick reference, I must have spent about an hour making one single table. I am a newbie there, but building can take a lot of work, and scripting the animations can take a lot of effort, too.

3. Some people from the teen grid were quite disappointed as they could not enter the contest because they did not sign up on time.

4. It does require a lot of work, and also a lot of resources. You’d be afraid if I told you the amount of time I spent on TSL throughout the contest, even when I did nothing compared to the other contributors.

5. People from other ‘islands’ were visiting the projects already when the contest was over.

6. Though many were unfamiliar with the A World Fit for Children documents, others knew a lot about the issues already, so they didn’t learn anything new; others complimented what they learned in social studies lessons at school with information they learned during the contest.

7. Some are now interested in taking action against the issue they chose ‘offline’.

Winners! (photo by Global Kids)

Now that I’ve told you about the results, this is pretty much where my part ends. Should VOY do something like this again? If you want to know my opinion, then definitely. Why? First of all, because it would help VOY expand its barriers. The cyberspace it wants to offer to youth would not be only on the website, but also in popular ‘games’ like TSL, making, after all, its mission stronger. Also, this was the first time it happened; with more experience, I am sure VOY would be able to impact way more people in more effective ways next time. After all, e-education and activism are growing stronger each day in these media; today we can choose not to do it, but it will be a need in a few years, so we would just be postponing it. I hope the decision that is made benefits VOY and young people all over the World.

To finish, I want to thank all the people who made the festival possible. Thanks especially to Alpha Zaius (coordinator that did a bit of everything and great DJ ;D), Katharine Barry (scripter, supersmart girl that can pretty much do it all on TSL), Aesop Thatch (who made great buildings for the festival), MerchantVendor Vega (who pretty much made the awards, hehe) and Mercury Metropolitan (Global Kids’ intern that was always there to make sure everything worked). Also, thanks to VOY and Global Kids for giving me this amazing opportunity to meet so many amazing people and work a little bit on a project that really made an impact in my life. I hope I didn’t let anybody down.

Well, so the superlong post is over now. Sorry! It’s just that it’s the last one Congratulations to everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed this experience as much as I did, and that we all use what we learned to take action against the issues. The road of activism is never over… Meanwhile, I leave you with an image of the TSL residents visiting the projects after the conclusion of the festival.

Greetings and best wishes always from Mariel
smile.gif

mages: http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymea...7594397737153/
Information: http://www.holymeatballs.org/
...and www.unicef.org/voy , of course

Posted by tabitha at 11:34 AM | | Comments (0)

December 24, 2006

[Teen/VVP] WFFC Contest and Judging

For the past week, I guess I have been busy with being involved in this contest. I did not literally participate in the contest, but I was a judge. I have to admit though, when Barry told me that I was going to be a judge—I was slightly surprised and at the same time, I was worried about how objective I could remain in judging the contest. It was not that I was not happy about it, I was honored to have been chosen as a judge ^^--but it is a hard job, no? So, after I found out I was going to be a judge, I went around Second Life asking the people I knew if they had heard of the contest and if they were participating in it. I did this mainly because I thought I would have a harder time doing the judging if I knew the people personally. So, the weekend before the contest began, I found out that I really did not know that many people who were going to be a part of the contest—and I was very happy about that. But then…as the contest progressed, and I looked around as people were building, I began to become friends with the contestants. Most of them were even kind enough to give me tours of their builds and explain what they were trying to depict. It was then that I realized that it may be an advantage to me as a judge if I knew the people because then I may be able to understand the builds better and thus, that would help me more on the judging.

On Tuesday, during Machinima, I spend about half the time doing an interview for the judging. It was not a long interview actually, ^^ but technical difficulties kind of delayed us. And plus, now I would like to apologize to Tabitha, Sam, and Barry for not blogging before about what we did on Tuesday, because I did want to talk about the interview… and I did not want to do that while the contest was still going on. Anyway, I was nervous about the interview—because I really did not want to say anything wrong. And by being nervous, and not wanting to say anything wrong, I pronounced a zillion words wrong! And, I also forgot one of the issues that they were supposed to base their builds on (it was child abuse and exploitation). Oh yes, and I froze up a lot, so I repeated myself. I’m sorry~ ^^. I think Tabitha was the one that helped me feel so not bad about messing up though, because she told me that only a small portion of the interview would show up—I just wish someone told me that before…but oh well~ whatever happens, happens for a greater good. I am just glad that it’s over, not that the interview was not fun, ^^ the person who interviewed me was very nice, and professional.

The question that I did have a little trouble answering was (I can’t seem to remember the exact question)… about how this contest differed from others, and why it was significant. For me personally, (and the other judges may have a different view on this) I thought that this contest put forth a challenge for all the great TSL builders. I think that when they organized this contest, everyone knew they would have some very talented builders come and complete in this contest, but the challenging part was taking your knowledge about building and your passion for a world issue and combine those two things to make a beautiful piece of art that is also educational. I think that is a really hard challenge, because it is not hard to create something beautiful and meaningful to you, but the challenge is to do that AND make it meaningful the world, make it so people may learn about the issue that you want to depict.

That truly was a hard challenge, and I know that if I had participated in the contest I would not come anywhere near winning. Which raises the question, when it comes to building Machinima for the VVP Internship…will I be capable of meeting the challenge? I will not deny that I had concerns before, because I did, but seeing all these great builds just makes me wonder more. Although, there have been a lot of TSL-ers that have offered to help me when it came down to it, which I really appreciate. This makes me truly grateful to all the kind people I have met on TSL—teen and adult. I really should thank everyone for all their help and guidance—especially Rafi, Mariel, Sanuk, UFO, Boyer, Valenteen, and there are so many others. Of course, I also have Barry, Tabitha, Sam, Ting, Jack, Joe, and all the other GKids to thank because they have also been there to help me through all of this. And honestly, I think some of, referring to the people at Machinima, have more confidence in my capability than I do. But back to the contest…

On Tuesday…well we learned more about the World Fit For Children, and camera angles. Actually, I was only there for the part when they talked about Camera Angles. It was interesting seeing how different camera angles were used in actual Machinima. I knew that angles were a big part of the making of Machinima and maybe video in general, but it was very interesting seeing the different angles in an actual Machinima. On Tuesday, Sam took a Machinima that we watched a couple of times before—made by Eric Linden (correct me if I am wrong with the name)—and he paused it at different times to show us the different angles used. I guess when you look at it, it seems pretty simple and normal…but it really is not that simple.

I tried to incorporate that into Thursday’s Machinima Program…when we were trying to pick a build and video it using different angles. Each group, which composes of two people who share a laptop, had to choose one build that they wanted to film and would use the angles to help make the film more effective—the thing was that the film could only be (at the most) 20 seconds long. Ting and I were doing our video on Team Zen’s Build. Trying to get all the different angles was a little hard to do all at once and in 20 seconds. So we separated it, into parts; we first took an above shot of the build, and filmed that. Then we tried different ways to film the actual build itself. Since the house had two different sections, I guess it was only obvious that we could not film both parts at once….and since we did have a limited amount of time, we decided to film only one part. First, we filmed the house from the outside and then went in, and tried to get a perfect shot of that and then we did the opposite, we filmed from the inside out. I thought that filming from the inside out was pretty interesting because you get to see what is inside before you find out which build it is. Anyway, we ran out of time, so we really did not get to finish up everything and perfect the shots—but we did gain a lot of experience. But one thing I feel bad for is Sam’s MP3 Player…he threw it, and no one caught it—actually, to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention so I didn’t know he was throwing it. Oh well, it didn’t break though ^^, which we should all be happy for. Anyway, that is how Thursday at Machinima went.

Thursday night though…that was one hectic night. Of course, the day I would be judging I would also have a pile of homework that’s due on the next day. But oh well, that should have been expected. When I went online into Second Life, it was 8 PM Eastern Time and I finished my judging around 11:30 PM. So, no one has the right to tell me that I did not think everything though when I did the judging. First, I went through all the builds, and gave them general scores from 1-10 on the five grading sections, and then I wrote my comments and reconsidered my ratings and whether they really deserved those scores. Then I compared my scores with Mariel’s and then thought about her scores and why she gave each team that score, and after that, I did higher about 4 of the teams’ scores by a point or two. I have to admit, I was the most gracious and brutal when it came down to scoring note-cards. If I saw that a team had a note-card and it explained what they were trying to depict, I probably gave them a score from 8-10. But if there was no note-card then I did not hesitate to give them a 0 in that section of the scoring, and also low scores on the other parts of the scoring. I think the note-card was an essential part of the entire build because it was supposed to show the viewer and judges what you were trying to depict—and without it, it was hard to someone just passing by to figure out what you were trying to show. So, I was very harsh in scoring those that did not have note cards.

Over all, I think the people who won something did deserve to win. The contest was great, but I think some people put more effort into it than others. I don’t think that was due to lazy-ness but maybe it was time. Maybe, it would have been better if they were given more time to build, and I think with more time—the people who had already build extraordinary builds would be able to expand what they built and add more information. Also, I did wish that the ceremony was held a little later, because I rushed home from school and still got online late for the ceremony. Also, I wish I had pre-prepared something to say to all the contestants—because I did not know what to say. Plus, I was lagging so much—it was getting on my nerves. All I can remember is that I spelled technical difficulties wrong, and when I was trying to get to the stage I might have accidentally pushed someone—SL was really laggy. But yes, if I did push someone, I am sorry ^^ I didn’t mean to…really. Anyway, I also did not know when to sit down~ and I was getting IM’s—it was so insane. But I did survive ^^--and it was a great ceremony and I think everyone who deserved to win something did win! Although, I had a hard time doing the judging, I was kind of sad that it was all over. It really was a wonderful contest, and I wish that they hold another contest.

Also, this brings up the concern that a lot of people do not like adults in Teen Second Life. I really do not understand why that is. Well, actually I can understand their reasons, but they are not very good reasons. The adults that come on to TSL are really objective as in the actions they take. I do not think that they are interfering with anyone on TSL’s private business. Sure, if someone came on Global Kids Island, and they acted horribly, and said things they probably should not, then they will take action—but that should be expected. Teens are not allowed to do just ANYTHING they want on TSL—especially not anything that may be offensive to others. Like any other website, forum and etc, things like bad behavior and flaming is not allowed. But otherwise, I think, as far as not getting involved in what teens do, all the TSL Approved Adults are doing their job right. Plus, I know that TSL is…basically built off of teens…but I don’t think that teens could have gathered together and organized a competition like the WFFC Contest. And if they could organize such a thing, and get so many people involved, and put together prizes, then for all those who believe that adults should be allowed in TSL, consider trying this as a challenge. I would really like to see Teens gather together and make a contest this big with that many participants. I do not think that teens can do everything on their own; I think sometimes we do need guidance for someone older. I guess that’s why we have Lindens, because if we need help then we go to them anyway, and are they not adults? I don’t know, but I believe that the adults should be allowed to stay in TSL…but then again, this is only my opinion and I can understand that not everyone will see this in the same way. But, for those people who do not see it in my way, I do think that they should come to Global Kids Island once and see all the wonderful things that are on it, and meet one of the adults and talk to them…and perhaps, then they will change their minds, because they are great people ^^ and they deserve a chance. I don’t think that anyone deserves to be judged based on bias facts, the person who is doing the judging should get to know them before they judge them. That’s only fair.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 3:41 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] Fourth of Mariel's Voices of Youth, Global Kids Related Post

Educating and Raising Awareness Through Virtual Reality III

Hello, everyone!

This is Mariel –Voyunicef- again. This time I am posting the last blog =( on the A World Fit for Children Festival as it’s reached an end.

I will begin by telling you about the last events.

After the superamazing events on Wednesday, it was time to come to reality on Thursday. And I do mean ‘reality’. Thursday was the deadline for the building projects, which meant it was time for judging! I was one of the teen judges, and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that I actually grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled endless notes and scores to attempt to give the fairest scores to each team. It was really hard as projects really went over my expectations.

So, how we judged… Well, I can speak about my case and Nafiza GKid’s. First, we ‘toured’ around all the projects, played, read their notes, etcetera. We became even more familiar with them. At this stage, I had mum come to the computer and see where I had been spending so many hours. She was impressed! I wonder if she will ever consider using virtual reality in her philosophy lessons, hehe, as she is a teacher. We played the games in the projects for a while before I actually began giving grades.

Where to begin?

There were five main fields we had to grade: whether projects were creative, aesthetic, educational, interactive and had the information they were required to. We tried to judge each project individually (independently from others) but also in relation to the other projects, which made the process take a few hours. There were thirteen projects, and all of them deserved a lot of attention.

On Friday, we finally had the awards ceremony. Most team members were present, though some could not make it due to time zone differences. Tabitha, Barry and Rafi from Global Kids hosted it. In it, people were reminded a bit of the mission of Voices of Youth and of this contest.

So, the awards…

Most Realistic Build - Team AWU

Most Popular Build - Team Porot

Third Prize - Tie between Team Zen
and Teh Sexy Sploders

Second Prize - Team F&V

Grand Prize - Team Porot (see above)

About the winning projects...

Team AWU built the representation of a school built in Afghanistan sponsored by UNICEF. It received the award to the most realistic build as it looked like a real school! The blackboards, benches and even the balls in the little gymnasium represented the real ones quite well.

Team Zen built a school/orphanage to represent the need children have to live in a safe environment not only to develop physically, but to be able to pursue their studies.

The Sexy Sploders built a sort of exhibition/memorial to raise awareness on hunger. They mentioned a few ways to take action against it!

Team F&V built a sort of building in which they had an exhibit on lifestyles and poverty. In the last stage, they made sure to include links and suggestions to take action against the issue.

Team Porot built a school that could be built in a low-resource village (theirs was specifically for Africa) where children, without needing a big investment, would have access to a safe environment where they could study. They won the award to the most popular build as they are the ones who received most votes throughout the showcase week, and also the grand prize as they built the best project.

Posted by tabitha at 11:06 AM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Team Posts on Their Build: Zen

Each team in the World Fit For Children competition is required to post at least one blog entry about their project. The following is the entry from the team that calls itself: "Zen"

    Hello everybody! This is Vivian Vacirca, representing team Zen.

    Our build is a combination of a school and orphange. A boarding school, if you will. Throughout the build are signs of a safe place for children: Clean housing and plumbing, Educational facilities, Food, attention and affection, and appropriate entertainment. The build is modern and pleasing to the eye, creating a pleasant enviornment. Flowers and pictures decorate the entry hall, also contributing to a happy space.

    We wanted to illustrate the concept of "safe, secure, and healthy enviornments for children in families, communities, and nations"(pg 9, line 19) in all of its many aspects. We built a home and a school to represent that kind of environment. In each part of the build that covers one of the aspects of a healthy and safe environment, there is a notecard giver. The creation of the build as a whole took several days of construction, and then more of tweaking and adding details.

Posted by tabitha at 12:20 AM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Team Posts on Their Build: Team F&V

Each team in the World Fit For Children competition is required to post at least one blog entry about their project. The following is the entry from the team that calls itself: "Team F&V"

    Hello This is Vernon Davison, I Am The Reporter for Our Group

    Our Group Consists of Kremski Switchblade, UFO Tuppakaka, Lucas Whittlesea, and Vernon Davison (Me XD)

    Please Note- If You Visit Our Build- Be Sure to Take Your Time and Read everything (And Click Everything as Mostly Everything is Interactive)

    Our Build is About the Concept of Kids Going Hungry Around the World.

    The Build in The Begining Shows The High Class Standard of Living. The Link to A Pic is Here:

    The Next Level Shows the Middle Class:

    The Next Level Shows the Working Class:

    The Next Level Shows the Homeless Class:

    **Sure Hope Those Links Work XD**

    Our Build is To Inform Kids Around the TG of The Lifestyles of Kids All Around the World. We Have A Final Floor that Wraps Up our Entire Presentation:

    Please Take Your Time to Check Us Out =)

    We're Still Under Construction But Your Welcome to Take The Tour
    (We are Currently Just Adding Details to The Project =D )

Posted by tabitha at 12:18 AM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Team Posts on Their Build: World Endeavour

Each team in the World Fit For Children competition is required to post at least one blog entry about their project. The following is the entry from the team that calls itself: "World Endeavour"

    Our team has finally begun, since we were away for the first few days of the competition, so weve started by deciding on what we weregoing to build. So, thats where we are now... were going to start finishing up today, then we'll take some pics

    By Philip Proctor


Posted by tabitha at 12:11 AM | | Comments (0)

December 23, 2006

[sl] Third of Mariel's Voices of Youth, Global Kids Related Post

We had posted a week ago Mariel's second blog post about the UNICEF Voices of Youth program. Now she has posted a third one to summarize the various activities that took place leading up to the Award Ceremony on Friday, December 22, 2006.

In the World Fit for Children Festival on TSL, we’ve had a few events going on…

Workshop

First of all, the workshops. At least one participant in each team (though the workshop was open to anyone who wanted to join it) had to be present in one of them. I attended one as well, and I had a lot of fun. For two hours, we had interactive activities related to the objective to the contest. In one we had to make our own pictures to represent one of the four issues, and the others would have to guess it when we saw it. Also, there was a scavenger hunt with prizes.

Daily events

Everyday, we all gather on Global Kids’ Island on TSL for the daily event. In it, people who won the scavenger hunt (the ones who found most eggs and answered the questions correctly) were given their awards. Also, the most popular building of the day is announced. TSL residents can vote for each building in the vote boxes.

Monday panel on Voices of Youth

After the daily event on Monday, I had the honour to be in a sort of panel to tell TSL residents a bit about our beloved Voices of Youth ^^ I just answered a couple of questions and told them about what we do on here and how it’s changed our lives, hehe.

Party with Henry Jenkins from MIT o.O

Well – to me, this one is unbelievable still. For an assignment/project at school, I quoted a couple of his works, which gave me an idea on how to put it all together. His works are my main source there. I found that out until I was shown one of his works, and then told he’d be on TSL to talk to us. I’m still amazed, hehe. The party rocked, Alpha Zaius was great as a DJ, and Henry Jenkins answered some of our questions ^^ (I still feel ashamed, though – poor Barry, who was hosting the event, must have been secretly wishing for me to stop asking so many questions. How obnoxious can I get? Sorry!)

Well – even if it doesn’t sound like so much, this week’s been very hectic and exciting. We are less than 24 hours away from the deadline, and I can’t wait to see the results…

In my next post, I will tell you a bit about other people’s opinions, the projects themselves and the final events and results. Thanks to all the teams who have posted - I'm looking forward to reading more about your projects!

Greetings from Mexico!

Mariel –Voyunicef-

Posted by tabitha at 2:49 PM | | Comments (0)

[blog] Henry Jenkins on His Visit to Global Kids Island

Henry Jenkins himself blogs about his experiences in SL.

Now About the Beard.
 From the start, my beard seemed to be the object of fascination and speculation among the teens at Second Life. Barry Joseph told me about this interest following my participation in the MacArthur Foundation's announcement event earlier this term. And it was one of the reasons why I wanted my own avatar so I could enter Second Life and interact with these youth. One of them wanted to know how long it took me to grow my beard. In truth, that's not an easy question to answer. I have had a beard since I left the University of Iowa to start my PhD work at the University of Wisconsin. This means I have not shaved it off completely in almost 20 years. We have watched it grow from black to salt and pepper to grey over that time. Yet, since hair continually replaces itself, it is hard to know how long I have been growing the particular beard follicles which are currently attached to my face.
At one time, we even jokingly discussed making my beard available for distribution on Second Life, though so far this hasn't happened. Part of the issue is to figure out which beard length might be most popular -- the tightly trimmed Henry beard at the start of the term or the long and shaggy one by the end when my schedule has kept me from getting to a barbershop for a trim.

Last Wedsday night, I made my live public appearance on the Global Kids island in Teen Second Life to talk about games, learning, and popular culture. I wasn't surprised when one of the first questions I got asked was when and if I would have my beard put up in cornrows. It is an interesting question -- and one I am pondering deeply as I enter into the Holiday season. So, here's the heart of my response: I welcome any and all attempts to digitally doctor photographs of my beard. I especially throw this out as a challenge to teens in Second Life. If you want to use Photoshop to cornrow a picture of my beard or if you want to fix the beard on my avatar to have a funkier do, then it's fair game. And I promise to share the results here on the blog early next year. Think of it as a technical challenge: how to cornrow Henry's Beard.

My students have long tested their skills against the iconic quality of my persona --dressing up in Henry's costumes (complete with "suspenders of disbelief"), using Barbie Fashion Designer to put me in drag, doing graffiti on photographs of my bald head. So I welcome anyone from Teen Second Life to do their stuff!

How's this for the perfect narcissistic scenario: Last Saturday, I tried out my new avatar for the first time by beaming myself onto a desert corner of the Global Kids Island. I was going to stay for just a minute, try to work through some of the control mechanisms, make sure the connection works. There was no one else in the entire world that I saw on the screen. And then, out of nowhere, someone walks up and says "Are you really Henry Jenkins?" It turns out to be Mariel, a teenaged girl from Mexico City, who has been using some of her work for a school assignment. So, here we are: only two people in the whole world on a Saturday afternoon and one of them turns out to be a fan! It's probably the only time in my life that I hit 100% market recognition! It turns out that Mariel, who introduced me at the event on Wedsday, and asked really probing and intellectually sophisticated questions, is one of the closest readers of my work I've met in some time.

People have asked me why I wanted an avatar for my appearance on Second Life. This goes back to the meaning of the word, Avatar, which is a metaphor which has gotten lost as the word has taken on such common usage. Here's what Wikipedia tells us:

In Hindu philosophy, an avatar, avatara or avataram (Sanskrit: अवतार, IAST: avatāra), most commonly refers to the incarnation (bodily manifestation) of a higher being (deva), or the Supreme Being (God) onto planet Earth. The Sanskrit word avatāra- literally means "descent" (avatarati) and usually implies a deliberate descent into lower realms of existence for special purposes. The term is used primarily in Hinduism, for incarnations of Vishnu whom many Hindus worship as God.

I remind us of this meaning half-ironically. I don't mean to imply that I am somehow a divine being taking earthly form. Rather, I mean to critique what happens when adult speak to youth much of the time. I felt vaguely uncomfortable at the MacArthur event because we -- the panelists -- were speaking from another order of representation (cinematically) in a world occupied by virtual beings. I wanted to get down to the same level (socially, representationally) with the community I was talking with. I think this is a real issue. Too often, adults talk about kids, maybe even speak to youth, but they don't talk with them. And becoming an avatar seemed like the best way to signal my desire to speak on the same level with my audience. Anyway, it made sense to me.

The whole experience was amazing. I will let you listen to the actual exchange which has been recorded and put on line if you wish. There's also a really wonderful video of highlights of the event which is now in circulation on YouTube. Frankly, I come off sounding much more coherent in the video than I did at the time. There was something truly overwhelming about the whole experience.

For one thing, I really am a newbie and so moving around in that body -- and indeed, remembering to keep moving -- was a challenge for me. At one point, I accidentally flew up, planted myself on the top of a sign suspended over the event, and couldn't figure out how to get down. I've had embarrassing experiences speaking before but none like that. At another point, I just slumped over in my chair because I didn't remember to keep poking at my avatar. There's a high learning curve here and doing your learning in public eye can be awkward. My students are talking about creating an animation sequence which has my characteristic hand gestures. Nobody has ever seen me speak for long without gesticulating wildly. I've got a ways to go before I blend fully and comfortably into my avatar but I was really taken with the sense of presence I felt interacting with all of the people attending the event from remote locations.

I kept getting distracted by the sheer array of avatars in attendance -- characters from anime, dancing Pandas in Ninja costumes, a monster from Will Wright's Spore... At one point I made a reference to the struggles City of Heroes had with Marvel over the fact that players might use their character design tools to create a knockoff of the Incredible Hulk and then looked out a moment later to find someone in the audience had turned themselves into the Hulk. And I was blown away by the fact that my avatar has much better moves on the dance floor than I've ever managed to master. He's one cool dude and I am, well, not. So, all in all, it was an amazing experience but I was not at my most articulate as one thing or another distracted me mid-sentence.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible and to everyone who turned out to enjoy the show. I hope to have more chances to interact in Second Life in the coming year.

Posted by joyce at 1:07 AM | | Comments (0)

December 22, 2006

[sl] Winners Announced in the World Fit For Children Festival

We just logged out from Second Life, where we ran a successful closing and award ceremony for the Global Kids UNICEF A World For Children Festival.

The winner were:

Most Realistic Build - Team AWU ($1k Linden per team member)
Most Popular Build - Team Porot ($2k Linden per team member)

Third Prize - Tie between Team Zen and Teh Sexy Sploders ($50 US per team)
Second Prize - Team F&V ($100 US per team)
Grand Prize - Team Porot ($200 US per team)

Below is the edited version of the transcript. As I edit these I have to say that I am always amazed at how humorous these logs are to read - there is a wonderful witty collective improvisational banter that always develops. Soup and apple sauce anyone?

opening

Richard Dwi: thank god I'm not late!!!!
Mariel Voyunicef: Hey Kremski, all :)
Tabitha GKid: please sit so we can start
Tabitha GKid: great mariel is here!!!
Aesop Thatch: Made it Rafi
Kremski Switchblade: Mariel is popular
Rafi GKid: I'd love for everyone to have a seat as we get started.
Gabriel Moller: Oh Aseop U want my seat?
Aesop Thatch: This is a LOT of people for a sim
Rafi GKid: Plenty of room for all, we promise.
Tabitha GKid welcomes everyone and asks everyone to take a seat as we are getting started.....
Vewy Cuddihy: yeagh, if you run out of chairs, theres even this bar here!
Tabitha GKid: is there a rep from each team?
Atte Aderdeen: Porot is here, 2 on scene, and i'm keeping Jontte updated with
Tabitha GKid: as long as 1 person is here from each team
Tabitha GKid: this is our first time hosting the event
Richard Dwi: soup for everyone!
Rafi GKid: calm your bones folks, calm your bones. : )
UFO Tuppakaka shouts: yeah thats right calm your bones!
Vewy Cuddihy: rafi always comes up with the best things to quote
Tabitha GKid: so please let me have the mic for now
Richard Dwi offers award soup to everyone

introductions and overview


Tabitha GKid: THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TO TODAY'S AWARD CEREMONY
Tabitha GKid: thakn you for dropping in everyone
Tabitha GKid: today
Tabitha GKid: i am very thrilled, and proud
Tabitha GKid: to announce the end of the UNICEF World Fit for Children Festival
Aquamarine Nori cheers.
Tabitha GKid: let me tell you who we are
Tabitha GKid: before we get started
Tabitha GKid: for those that are not familar iwth Global Kids
Tabitha GKid: and also
Tabitha GKid: as you are here
Tabitha GKid: feel free to take snapshots
Tabitha GKid: and send to Barry Gkid
Barry Gkid: me! Me!
Tabitha GKid: he will reimburse you for your snapshots as you attend the ceremony
Aquamarine Nori cheers some more because her dad is a professional photagrapher & also a member of the Adult Second life Grid.
Tabitha GKid: so all of you are here for the contest
Tabitha GKid: and to find out who the winners are
Tabitha GKid: Global Kids is a non for profit organization
Tabitha GKid: we are based in new york city
Barry Gkid: http:///www.HolyMEatballs.org
Tabitha GKid: and we have been running leadership programs for the last 18 years
Tabitha GKid: we started in TSL about a year ago
Tabitha GKid: and we are happy to be here to meet all of you and help you think globally
Tabitha GKid: we engage teens in global issues in efforts to raise global awareness on things that matter
UFO Tuppakaka: do you know the winner?
Tabitha GKid: over the past few weeks, Rafi gkid and i have been hosting workshops
Tabitha GKid: we thank you all for attending
Barry Gkid: We will announce the winners over the course of the ceremony
Tabitha GKid: and without all of you here, this festival would not be as successful as it is

UNICEF

Tabitha GKid: This is the first time Global Kids has hosted an event with UNICEF
Aquamarine Nori claps but is careful not to interuppt Tabby.
Tabitha GKid: do u know who UNICEF is?
Rafi GKid steals the mic from Tabitha. : )
Trextron Sukra: yes
Ian Merrienboer thinks
Aquamarine Nori: No tabby
DRafi GKid: Some of you might have heard of UNICEF, which is the United Nations Children's Fund.
DH Burks shouts: thats wat im talkin about
Rafi GKid: For those that are wondering about the acronym, it used to be known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.
Rafi GKid: They changed the name but the acronym stuck.
Rafi GKid: Unicef is the largest multilateral organization in the world that works to improve the lives of children everywhere.
Rafi GKid: That means you guys! (and gals!)
Kremski Switchblade: O_o

Rafi GKid: And I do believe that we have someone here that's been highly involved with Unicef for a number of years.....
UFO Tuppakaka: psssst nafiza sit down
Kremski Switchblade: Mariel?
Rafi GKid: Mariel?
Kremski Switchblade: MARIEL VOYUNICEF!
Kremski Switchblade: everyone clap your hands for Mariel
Vewy Cuddihy: /clap
UFO Tuppakaka claps
Gabriel Moller: *claps*
Ian Merrienboer claps
Vivian Vacirca: Yay!
Vewy Cuddihy claps
Barry Gkid: clap clap clap
Alyson Arliss: yay!
Aesop Thatch claps
Trextron Sukra claps
Mariel Voyunicef loves all :D
Tabitha GKid: Mariel, please coem on down
Tabitha GKid: Mariel, please tell us a bit about VOY
Mariel Voyunicef: Well, Voices of Youth is an online community on unicef.org for youth from all over the World
Mariel Voyunicef: I don't think I've learned as much about the viewpoints of people from other countries elsewhere as I have in VOY
Rafi GKid: Thanks Mariel!
Mariel Voyunicef: :D

Thanking Lindens and volunteers


Tabitha GKid: so without furthere adue
Tabitha GKid: let me thank everyone that made this event possible
Barry Gkid: patience, patience
Tabitha GKid: first, the lindens!!!
Richard Dwi: WOOOO LINDENS
Vewy Cuddihy: woo
Aquamarine Nori: woooooooo!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: they have made the grid wide announcements on our behalf
Richard Dwi: HUZZAH
Tabitha GKid: and really helped us spread the word out
Richard Dwi: LINDENS ROCK
Trextron Sukra: woo!
Tabitha GKid: so thank you lindens
Vewy Cuddihy: LINDENS ROLL
Tabitha GKid: second, the volunteers!!
Richard Dwi: msg: LINDENS ARE HARDCORE
Aquamarine Nori cheers loudly but is still careful not to interrupt Tabby.
Tabitha GKid: a lot of what you see now are built by our UNICEF building group teens
Rafi GKid: woohoo volunteers!
Richard Dwi: YAY VOLENTEERS
Aquamarine Nori: volunteers ROCK!
Tabitha GKid: Alpha Zaius, Katharine Barry, MerchantVendor Vega, Mercury Metropolitan, and Aesop Thatch
Tabitha GKid: thank you all for the wonderful builds
Vivian Vacirca: WOOO AESOP!
Rafi GKid: Thanks so much to all of you, this would not have been possible without your help!
Tabitha GKid: particularly - alpha made the stonehenges, aesop made the workshop room, katharine made the scavenger hunt, mercury with all the banners, and vega with trophy and the stand u see to my left
Tabitha GKid: so lets give them a big round of apple sauce!
Dolus Naumova apple sauces Thatch.
Vewy Cuddihy passes around some apple sauce
Aquamarine Nori: wooo!
Richard Dwi: msg: EVERYONE GIVE THEM SOME APPLESAUCE

Introducing teen judges

Tabitha GKid: please return to ur seats now
Tabitha GKid: and allow me to introduce the judges!
Aquamarine Nori: yay1
Tabitha GKid: so as u know
Richard Dwi: JUDGES ROCK
Tabitha GKid: the builds were judged on thursday
Tabitha GKid: unfortunately not all the judges can attend today's ceremony
Aquamarine Nori: boo hoo
Tabitha GKid: Mariel is here
Tabitha GKid: Nafiza Gkid is here
Tabitha GKid: please come on down Nafiza
Sanuk Click: yay! naf!
Vewy Cuddihy: woo!
Mariel Voyunicef: Yay Nafi
Tabitha GKid: also alpha
Tabitha GKid: helped us judge
Nafiza GKid: sorry~ I am haveing some technical difficulkties
Nafiza GKid: grr..lag
Tabitha GKid: also the other judges who are not here
Tabitha GKid: nafiza, do u want to say a few words?
Tabitha GKid: and introduce urself
Nafiza GKid: about the judging? ^^;; okies
Nafiza GKid: Hello everyone, I am Nafiza~ ^^ and I was honored to be a judge here...and it was a difficult job judging everyone since they were all so great...and I myself dont have much experience~ you guys all did a wonderful job~
Nafiza GKid: and I cant wait until the next contest~ ^^
Aquamarine Nori: sit by me lol
Richard Dwi: awesome
Tabitha GKid: we are moving on

Tabitha GKid: we want to thank the judges for their time
Tabitha GKid: and hard work
Tabitha GKid: as well as all of the teams here
Tabitha GKid: you all did a fantastic job
Tabitha GKid: so once again, i want to really congratulate all of you on ur hard work
Vewy Cuddihy: ooh, the suspence is killing me
sam Doigts: wants to know who won
Trextron Sukra cant see as there is a light infron of him
Tabitha GKid: now, will 1 member from each team please come to stage
Tabitha GKid: just 1 member please
Tabitha GKid: please stand in front of me
IM: Nafiza GKid: do I take a seat? lol
Tabitha GKid: so we can take a photo
Quert Donaldo: NOOO.. NOT THE LAMP.. NOT THE LAMP!
Vernon Davison: but but... this is my look.. O_O
Vernon Davison: i am... da lamp O_O
Richard Dwi: lamp is awesome
Aquamarine Nori smiles a very CHEESEY smile.

GK's teen intern


Richard Dwi: MERCURY
Tabitha GKid: please come on down
Richard Dwi: YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAAYYAYA
Tabitha GKid: and introduce ureslf to theaudience
Tabitha GKid: u are the one of the pl we thanked
Sadie Meadowbrook: i didnt get a photo
Tabitha GKid: please say something
Tabitha GKid: as a judge and ur experience
Tabitha GKid: and anything u would like to say to the biulders
Mercury Metropolitan: Hello everyone!
Mercury Metropolitan: Please bear with me, as I'm lagging currently.
^^
Mercury Metropolitan: I am a remote TEEN intern currently working for Global Kids, as well as a judge for this building contest.
Mercury Metropolitan: I just want to say, everyone who took part did a WONDERFUL job.
Richard Dwi: WOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Richard Dwi: YAY MERCURY
Mercury Metropolitan: Most likely, if you were involved, you might have seen me flying around over your builds and subdividing, land, renaming it, etc.
Aquamarine Nori: go mercury!
Vewy Cuddihy: w00t
Tabitha GKid: great thanks mercury!!
Sadie Meadowbrook: woot woot
Mariel Voyunicef: Yay Merc
Trextron Sukra shouts: woooo!
Richard Dwi: GO MERCURY
Mercury Metropolitan: :)

group's explain the issues behind their entries

Tabitha GKid: so can i have 1 member from each team
Tabitha GKid: just 1 member
Vewy Cuddihy: my turn
Tabitha GKid: to come down and just stand in front of me
Tabitha GKid: but not for pictures
Tabitha GKid: ladies first, so vivian, please tell us briefly what ur project was about, and what was ur experience doing it =)
Richard Dwi: I am team leader vewy
Vivian Vacirca: Okay. Please hold on aa second, all, I don't get to pre-type, so this will take a bit.
Aesop Thatch shouts: Go Vivian!
Sadie Meadowbrook: yummmmmmm soup
Gabriel Moller shouts: VIVIAN ROCKS@@@!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aquamarine Nori would give some soup to Sadie, but it's no copy-soup.
Vivian Vacirca: \Our build was a combinaation of a School and an orphanage. We chose such a build to represent the UNICEF priomise of a "Safe, Secure and Healthy environment for children."
Sadie Meadowbrook awwww
Aquamarine Nori's soup is very yummy soup.
Vivian Vacirca: Please, one mic.
Tabitha GKid: thank u vivian, u may sit down
Tabitha GKid: okay next rep!
Tabitha GKid: atte please go next
Atte Aderdeen: We made a school and told about education in poor countries. We also had some facts about other issues too, like the lack of clean water. We aimed for interactivity, so there are lots of interactive parts. It was great fun building it too! :D
Tabitha GKid: great atte!! thank u
Tabitha GKid: next, richard
Richard Dwi: WOO
Richard Dwi: Our build was promoting the idea of healthy lives by having a clinic for shots, and promoting the knowledge of such suffering
Tabitha GKid: thank u very much richard!!
Tabitha GKid: next, Ben clancy
Richard Dwi: because alot of people die of simple diseses that can be cured
Ben Clancy: typing...
Ben Clancy: well
Sadie Meadowbrook shouts: yay ben
Ben Clancy: ours was to increase the awareness about the kids and lives that are less fortunate and cannot recieve a proper education
Ben Clancy: and our build is what we can achieve
Tabitha GKid: thank u so much ben!!!
Tabitha GKid: is that all the team reps we have here?
Trextron Sukra: Hey everyone, our building thingy was about interactive learning we used poseballs and notecards so u can "interact" with the things we made
Tabitha GKid: thank u so much trextno

Special award

Tabitha GKid: oaky so now that we have heard from most groups
Tabitha GKid: unfortunately not everyone can be here
Tabitha GKid: due to TIME ZONE diffs
Tabitha GKid: but most of u made it
Tabitha GKid: and i am thrilled that we can be here to announce the winners
Rafi GKid: and we shout out all the other great builds as well!
Tabitha GKid: so who's ready for the grand announcement!!!
Kremski Switchblade: ME!
Kremski Switchblade: FINALLY!
Vivian Vacirca: YESSSS!
Vewy Cuddihy: meeeee!
Gabriel Moller: me!
Richard Dwi: ME
Vewy Cuddihy shouts: woo!
Aesop Thatch shouts: WOOOHOOOOO
Richard Dwi: MEMEMEME
Aesop Thatch shouts: GO Vivian
Calade Lamington: start from 3rd place
Richard Dwi: msg: ME
Aquamarine Nori: mee!!!!
Dolus Naumova shouts: I'M NOT WAIT WAIT WAIT
Barry Gkid: Me!
Nafiza GKid: lol ^^;;
Mariel Voyunicef: Yay
Tabitha GKid feels that even tho the other teams are not here but they're here in spirit. and probably in their dreams =)
Alyson Arliss: YAY
Trextron Sukra shouts: ME!!!!
Barry Gkid: (oh wait, I know already...)
Dolus Naumova shouts: DELAY IT FURTHER
Trextron Sukra shouts: lol
Sadie Meadowbrook: You're so fun-ny
Tabitha GKid: GREAT!!!
Tabitha GKid: so..;
Aquamarine Nori: yay
Gabriel Moller: VIVAN
Tabitha GKid: let me walk to the podium
Kremski Switchblade: Start from 3rd place
Sadie Meadowbrook: yay
Sadie Meadowbrook shouts: yay
Tabitha GKid: okay this is good enough
Tabitha GKid: can the last row hear me?
Tabitha GKid: or read me?
Tabitha GKid shouts: can u guys hear me in the last row??
Gabriel Moller: yes!
Trextron Sukra shouts: YEAH!!!!!!!!!
Aesop Thatch shouts: Sure thing
Aquamarine Nori comments to Sadie that the podium looks like 3 tupperware containers half full of soup.
Tabitha GKid: so we have 2 extra special prizes
Tabitha GKid: on top of the 3 top prizes
Barry Gkid: yummy, what sort of soup?
Tabitha GKid: first, the MOST REALISTIC BUILD OF ALL
Aquamarine Nori: chicken
Tabitha GKid: THE AWARD GOES TO.......
Tabitha GKid: THE AWU TEAM!!!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: PLEASE COME ON DOWN!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: the winner of this category will receive $1KL per member
Jay Clostermann: am I too late?
Richard Dwi: the award ceramony was 2 days ago
Mariel Voyunicef: Shh.
Kremski Switchblade: Lmao
Ben Clancy poops himself
Jay Clostermann claps
Aesop Thatch claps.
Barry Gkid: congratulations!
Aesop Thatch: Good job.
Richard Dwi shouts: YAY
Alyson Arliss: claps
Sanuk Click: lol
Vernon Davison: gratz
Sadie Meadowbrook: yay
Kremski Switchblade: Congrats!
Aquamarine Nori: WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gabriel Moller: good job
Tabitha GKid: BEN CLANCY, INSANITY AN, MOOGLE HANSEN
Sanuk Click: YIFFY! ^.^ ben!
Tabitha GKid: PLEASE COME ON DOWN!!!
Mariel Voyunicef: Wooo
Trextron Sukra shouts: WOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rafi GKid: come on down!
Alyson Arliss: YAY
Tabitha GKid: each of you will receive $1000L
Aquamarine Nori: wooo go Ben!
Sadie Meadowbrook shouts: congrats
Richard Dwi: oh snap
Sadie Meadowbrook: goooo ben
Richard Dwi: that's alot
Ian Merrienboer shouts: wow!
Jay Clostermann: Great Job!
Tabitha GKid says yay and congratulaions is okay
Aquamarine Nori: that is a lot!
Dolus Naumova: L$1000? Hardly. >_>
Richard Dwi: it's alot to poor avatars!
Ian Merrienboer shouts: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most popular build award

Tabitha GKid: I WILL ANNOUNCE
Tabitha GKid: THE MOST POPULAR BUILD OF THE WEEK
Tabitha GKid: THE AWARD GOES TO...
Kremski Switchblade: O_o
Rafi GKid: Voted by you guys!
Barry Gkid: Voted by all of you
Tabitha GKid: TEAM POROT!!!!!!!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: COME ON DOWN!!!!!!
Atte Aderdeen: Yay!
Mariel Voyunicef: Woo Porot
Barry Gkid: Congratulations
Dolus Naumova: I THINK YOU MISPELLED PARROT.
Jay Clostermann claps like craazy
Tabitha GKid: winner of this category will win $2000L per member
Trextron Sukra claps!!!!
Vivian Vacirca: yay!
Kremski Switchblade: O_o
Tabitha GKid: CONGRATULATIONS TEAM POROT!!
sam Doigts: woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo0o0o0o0ooo00000000t
Tabitha GKid: u have won the highest votes all week
Atte Aderdeen: Yay!
Ian Merrienboer: W00T
Aquamarine Nori: OMG THATS A LOT!

Third prize winner

Tabitha GKid: NEXT WINNER
Tabitha GKid: FOR THE UNICEF WORLD FIT FOR CHILDREN CONTEST
Rafi GKid: Okay.... onto the 3,rd, 2nd, and 1st place winners!
Dolus Naumova: WINNER THAT IS NEXT
Tabitha GKid: THIS IS THE THIRD PRIZE
Kremski Switchblade: W00T
Sadie Meadowbrook shouts: woot
Dolus Naumova: PRIZE OF THRID
Richard Dwi shouts: w00t
Dolus Naumova: THIRD
Gabriel Moller: winner
Dolus Naumova: Thrid? XD
Tabitha GKid: drum rolls please
Barry Gkid: Third place
Rafi GKid: This was a super tough decision on the part of the judges... and we do have a tie for third!
Dolus Naumova: ROLL THE DRUMS.
Barry Gkid: A tie!
Tabitha GKid: yes it was a difficult decision
Dolus Naumova: THE WINNER GETS A TIE
Richard Dwi: TIE IS TIED
Tabitha GKid: 3rd prize goes to ZEN!!!!!!!!!
Rafi GKid: The two teams that won third place are, Team Zen and Teh Sexy Sploders!
Tabitha GKid: TEAM ZEN!!!!! PLEASE COME ON DOWN!!!
Dolus Naumova: THE WINNER OF THIRD PLACES GETS A TIE
Mariel Voyunicef: WOOO ZEN!
MerchantVendor Vega: lol."I would like to thanks God and all his wisdom for voting me for this place of honor"
Dolus Naumova: YAY YOU GUYS GOT TIES
Ian Merrienboer shouts: yyaaaahhhhh!
Barry Gkid: Congratulations
Tabitha GKid: will both teams come on down
Mariel Voyunicef: WOOO SEXIES! xD
Tabitha GKid: please stand on the 3rd prize podium
Tabitha GKid: and as u get on the podium, rafi wil give you the crown
Sadie Meadowbrook shouts: congrates to all the teams
Tabitha GKid: the winner of the 3rd prize
Tabitha GKid: receives $50 US

Second prize winner

Tabitha GKid: THE SECOND PRIZE WINNER
Richard Dwi is extremely nervous
Tabitha GKid: TEAM F&V!!!!!!! U ARE SECOND PRIZE!!!!!!
Kremski Switchblade: YES!!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: YOUR TEAM HAS WON $100 US DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mariel Voyunicef: WOOOOOO F&V!!!!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: congratulations!!!!!!!
Kremski Switchblade: YEAH BABY!!!
Ian Merrienboer: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vernon Davison: w00t! XD
Ian Merrienboer: HOLLY CRAP!!!!!
Tabitha GKid: vernon davison, kremski switchblade, lucas whittlesea, and UFO tuppakaka
Tabitha GKid: please stand on the 2nd place

Grand prize winner

Tabitha GKid: now before we reach teh grand prize winner
Tabitha GKid: $200US dollars
Tabitha GKid: to be split even among the team
Tabitha GKid: i would like to take this moment
MerchantVendor Vega: to thank god
Tabitha GKid: to tell everyone that this was a decion made by majority
Tabitha GKid: so the winner of the grand prize team
Tabitha GKid: DRUM ROLLS...
Dolus Naumova rolls his drum.
Vewy Cuddihy rolls a drum
Alpha Zaius: lets take a break
Vewy Cuddihy: ;-;
Tabitha GKid: TEAM POROT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spunky Pinkdot is Offline
Alpha Zaius: /clap
Atte Aderdeen: YAY!!
Dolus Naumova: Alpha I'm going to kill you.
Tabitha GKid: please come on down Atte and Calade
Tabitha GKid: and stand on first prize podium
Richard Dwi shouts: porot won twice!
Ian Merrienboer: YYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dolus Naumova: "Let's take a break!"
Tabitha GKid: congratulations to all of the teams
Mariel Voyunicef: Yay Porot
Mariel Voyunicef: Congratulations everyone

Tabitha GKid: 3rd team won $50 US
Tabitha GKid: 2nd team won $100 US
Tabitha GKid: and 1st team won $200 US
Ian Merrienboer: WO!!!!!
Ian Merrienboer: WOW!!!
Tabitha GKid: to be split among the team evenly
Tabitha GKid: we have seen ur hard work, your peers have voted
UFO Tuppakaka: WEE WIN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!?!?!?
Tabitha GKid: lets give urselves a big round of apple sauce =)
Tabitha GKid: applause!!!!!!!
Ian Merrienboer: lol
Vewy Cuddihy passes around the sauce
Alpha Zaius shouts: congrats everyone!!!
MerchantVendor Vega: apple sauce for everyone!~
Kremski Switchblade: I'd like to thank all the GKids for making this possible, and for all the competition
Kremski Switchblade: Thanks so much!
Vernon Davison: party XD
Mariel Voyunicef: Yay GKIDS!!!!!!

Discussion of what was learned

Rafi GKid: Winners, you have anything yo want to share?
Kremski Switchblade: Yes, all the GKids absolutely rock
Rafi GKid: any winners have anything they want to say?
Tabitha GKid: plese stop all animation
Kremski Switchblade: GKids absolutely rock
Atte Aderdeen does: THANKS YOU EVERYONE
Tabitha GKid: please share a bit of what ur feeling was
Tabitha GKid: what did u learn and what was this whole experience for u like? (and fee freel to pre-type)
Davy Maltz: We learned alot of statistics abotu world hunger, and i learned how to script, make realistic water, and write good descriptions.
Davy Maltz: Plus it helped that i was learning the same thing at the time in global studies class o:
Davy Maltz: It was fun, though.
Tabitha GKid: okay tahnk u davy
Tabitha GKid: u guys did a great job
Davy Maltz: Welcome.
Vivian Vacirca: This was a challenge. I'm glad that Sanuk's and my hard work paid off, and we have a prize to show for it. Thanks, GK for this wonderful experience.
Sanuk Click: planing an idea is hard, building it takes time
Vivian Vacirca: I learned some scripting, and that It takes more work than I'm used to to do this sort of thing. ^^
INSANITY An: ive been building for like 6 months now and ive never built a school so it was pretty new
Ben Clancy: because some countries dont have that many
Ben Clancy: and yeah
Ben Clancy: it was fun building
Ben Clancy: slow and frustrating but it was worth it
INSANITY An: and so many kids without books and learning materials
Ben Clancy: yeah
INSANITY An: its... INSANITY :OOOO
Tabitha GKid is very glad to see that everyone has learned something
Vernon Davison: We had alot of fun with our build =) We Learned so many amazing facts that we shared with everyone and really would like to thank everyone =)
Kremski Switchblade: Within this all, we have learned about more off the issues in the world. For example, I didn't know much about competing in this competetion, but when I joined, and saw all the pictures our group put up, it was a bit of a shock, and now I won't forget any of it. I want to thank all the GKids, especially Barry, Rafi, and Tabitha for being such good sports, and allowing this competition to be such a big success!
Atte Aderdeen: This whole thing was extremely fun! And I also learned a lot about the issues during the build. I just want to thank everyone who voted for us and to the people organizing the event! :)
Calade Lamington: This was very... rewarding ^^ And I learned those statistics and stuff too. I think. And of course, I enjoyed it. Learned a few new building tricks too.
UFO Tuppakaka: my crown wont go on :( my bodys messed up...
Mariel Voyunicef: http://www.unicef.org/voy/discussions/showthread.php?t=6774 - this is our thread in Voices of Youth
Rafi GKid: So did all the team members catch that URL?
Kremski Switchblade wants to hug Tabitha, Rafi, and Barry, but feels it will be a little too much
Barry Gkid: HUG back-- virtually
Vernon Davison: vIRTUAL HUGS! YAY! XD
Barry Gkid: Now, that we have come to the end of this amazing festival, that YOU all turned into somethign so inspiring
Barry Gkid: you might be wondering...
Barry Gkid: what can I do now?
Barry Gkid: Well...
Barry Gkid: We JUST launched today
Barry Gkid: on a web site
Barry Gkid: those flat things with text and pictures
Barry Gkid: online
Barry Gkid: a question
Barry Gkid: that might interest you
Barry Gkid: Should Global Kids leave Teen Second Life?
Kremski Switchblade: UFO
Vernon Davison: NOO!
UFO Tuppakaka: yes
Barry Gkid: Or, more specifically: What role should adults play, or not play, within online teen spaces?
Barry Gkid: Global Kids has taken the question to four TSL residents - Mariel Voyunicef, Cheesepuff Barnard, Lucky Figtree, Relk Akula - and begun an online discussion, to last one week, at http://tinyurl.com/yhwp3m
Barry Gkid: We have reason to believe that Lindens will be watching (and perhaps posting). Please go NOW to read their comments and post your own.
Barry Gkid: What can adults offer to teen spaces? What does their presence take away? Make your voice heard!
Barry Gkid: It will run starting today for one week, and we would LOVE to know your opinions
Kremski Switchblade: No one better take away the GKid adults
Barry Gkid: you can be honest - we're tough
Barry Gkid: and PLEASE tell your other friends online, outside SL, who are in other youth communities, so that it is not all about SL
Barry Gkid: Please shout out some other online youth spaces where you spend your time
Barry Gkid: We look forward to seeing your provocative thoughts there
Barry Gkid: Thank you all so much for everything
Barry Gkid: Have happy holidays
Barry Gkid: And for those returning in 2007, we look forward to seeing you there
Vernon Davison: i got till July tho XD!
Barry Gkid: and for those graduating to the teen grid: look for Globalkids Bixby!
Vewy Cuddihy shouts: maybe vernon can be an approved adult here next year!!!
Barry Gkid: and big shout out to Tabitha for running such an amazing festival and Rafi as well
Barry Gkid: Over and out!
Jamesy Lopez: over
Kremski Switchblade: I'm wearing this crown with pride


Posted by Barry at 7:43 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] Music Video of Henry Jenkin's Visit

On December 20, 2006, Henry Jenkins spoke and danced while attending Global Kids' UNICEF A World Fit For Children Festival, in Teen Second Life. Below is a brief overview of highlights of our hour with Henry. He had much to offer, but my personal favorite was:

    "We have to think of ways to use games not just to escape reality but to re-engage with reality. And I think that is the exciting things about the kind of work you are doing at Global Kids. It is both grounded in the virtual space and the real space. You are talking about real things, that touch real people. And you are asking people to bring what they learn here back into their own communities to make a difference. That is one of the reasons why I really believe in what Global Kids is trying to accomplish."

Mariel, a TSL resident from Mexico brought to the Festival coordinating committee through UNICEF's Voices of Youth site, introduced Henry with the following:

    Hi, everyone! My name is Mariel –Voyunicef-, I’m sixteen years old, and I live in Mexico City. I’ve been a member of UNICEF’s online community for young people all over the World, Voices of Youth (www.unicef.org/voy) for the last two years, and my life’s pretty much changed since the first moment I logged on.

    Well, I have the honour to present a person thanks to whom I didn't only pass a few subjects this semestre, hehe, but also thanks to whom I sort of am getting an idea of what I want to do with my life.

    His name is Henry Jenkins, and, in my opinion, the only thing missing in his collection is the Nobel for Chemistry. He is the head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologies' Comparative Media Studies Program, and also teaches literature (and related subjects). He likes to talk about the relation between media and people, youth and culture in general.

    If you visit his section on MIT webpage (http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/) you will find a bit about his works (that are on like, everything - from entertainment to gender studies).

    I've quoted a few articles he's written on the relation of media and education (as an essay/speech/project I am working on for school has got to do with that), so speaking to him is to me like speaking to a Hollywood superstar (with +435 IQ, of course :]).

    Today, Henry has come to present "We're Not Playing Around Here!: The Pedagogical Potential of Computer and Video Games". In other words, what we can learn through playing games. So please join me in welcoming Professor Henry Jenkins....

Posted by Barry at 2:44 AM | | Comments (1)

December 21, 2006

[sl] Second of Mariel's Voices of Youth, Global Kids Related Post

We had posted a few days ago Mariel's first blog post about the UNICEF Voices of Youth program. Now she has posted a second one entitled "Educating and Raising Awareness Through Virtual Reality" and also posted more photos.

So, well... Yup. I decided to try not to post the same on Blogger and MySpace, so this one stays only here. It's more of a... secret blog, I know, plus we don't want that freaky sir insulting me again, no matter how fun you found it o.O And it's, oh, so quiet!

Our workshop area (photo by Global Kids)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/309991499/

Hello, everyone!

This is Mariel again. So far, this week has been amazing. Now I’m here to tell you all a bit about the contest and the events that have taken place so far.

Let us begin by some very basic information: What is a World fit for children?

In 1990, World leaders gathered in a summit dedicated to children. In it, they made international agreements on things governments would have to do to ensure children a fair environment. Eleven years later, they gathered again to see all the things that had been done and their effects. They realised that, despite the advance in many aspects, some were still far from being what they had planned eleven years earlier. Taking this into account, they established a series of points and paths governments would have to take from then on. All of them are concerning four main issues:

Education – How can we achieve a universal, quality basic education? In other words, how can children from all over the World have access to quality basic education?
Health – How can all children have access to the health access they deserve whenever they fall sick?
HIV/AIDS – How can the pandemic that is putting children’s lives in danger -as it breaks their families, prevents them from studying and makes them a focus of discrimination- be controlled?
Abuse/exploitation – How can children live in an environment in which they aren’t attacked or exploited?

This leads us to the contest - A World Fit for Children Building Contest, the biggest one in Teen Second Life so far, and organized by Global Kids and UNICEF ^^

http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/309991506/in/set-72157594397737153/
Photo by Global Kids

What is the contest about? Well, in a few words, teens are required to make buildings on Teen Second Life that pretty much represent the ways these four main issues have to be addressed. They were taught about these issues in an interactive, 2-hour workshop (that was very fun, too!) They can build anything they want – from an exhibit to interactive games. The three best buildings will receive awards, of course :)

Before I go on to the events, I’d like to share a few images of the contest area!
December 16 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/328633042/
December 18 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/328691616/
December 20 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/328716554/

In the World Fit for Children Festival on TSL, we’ve had a few events going on…

Workshop
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/321380247/in/set-72157594397737153/ (photo by Global Kids)

First of all, the workshops. At least one participant in each team (though the workshop was open to anyone who wanted to join it) had to be present in one of them. I attended one as well, and I had a lot of fun. For two hours, we had interactive activities related to the objective to the contest. In one we had to make our own pictures to represent one of the four issues, and the others would have to guess it when we saw it. Also, there was a scavenger hunt with prizes.

Daily events
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/321380247/in/set-72157594397737153/ (photo by GlobalKids)

Everyday, we all gather on Global Kids’ Island on TSL for the daily event. In it, people who won the scavenger hunt (the ones who found most eggs and answered the questions correctly) were given their awards. Also, the most popular building of the day is announced. TSL residents can vote for each building in the vote boxes.

Monday panel on Voices of Youth
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/326556434/ (photo by Global Kids)

After the daily event on Monday, I had the honour to be in a sort of panel to tell TSL residents a bit about our beloved Voices of Youth ^^ I just answered a couple of questions and told them about what we do on here and how it’s changed our lives, hehe.

Party with Henry Jenkins from MIT o.O
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/328619496/ (photo by Global Kids)

Well – to me, this one is unbelievable still. For an assignment/project at school, I quoted a couple of his works, which gave me an idea on how to put it all together. His works are my main source there. I found that out until I was shown one of his works, and then told he’d be on TSL to talk to us. I’m still amazed, hehe. The party rocked, Alpha Zaius was great as a DJ, and Henry Jenkins answered some of our questions ^^ (I still feel ashamed, though – poor Barry, who was hosting the event, must have been secretly wishing for me to stop asking so many questions. How obnoxious can I get? Sorry!)

Well – even if it doesn’t sound like so much, this week’s been very hectic and exciting. We are less than 24 hours away from the deadline, and I can’t wait to see the results…

In my next post, I will tell you a bit about other people’s opinions, the projects themselves and the final events and results.

Greetings from Mexico!

To visit her site, click here.

Posted by joyce at 11:54 PM | | Comments (0)

[blog, blog, blog] Blogs Talking About the Event...

Folks are talking about Henry's appearance in Teen Second Life. This post will grow as we discover more and add them here.

The first blog post came from Alan Levine at the NMC campus, who organized both the conference call feed into Second Life and the simulcast event in the main grid. His post outlines in great detail the technical components required to pull off this event. Hopefully, we will find the time to write a companion piece, about what it took on our end. To be honest, it took a lifetime of multitasking to pull this one off!

Mariel, a teen from Mexico who is part of the World Fit For Children Festival, representing UNICEF's VoY site, posted on her blog about her experience.

One of the most extensive descriptions comes from Amy Jussel, at shapingyouth.org, who gives a thorough analysis of the very idea of the event, quotes in full VoY youth Mariel's blog post about her involvement with the World Fit For Children Festival, and asks the question, "What happens when teen thought leaders around the globe are given tools to literally shape the world around them?"

Here's one from N-Ten Connect:

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

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

Beth Kanter blogged about the event as well here and offers some good quotes from the talk.

Eliane Alhadeff, once again, has written an excellent blog giving an overview. Read her post here.

The Young Adult Library Services Association wrote a good overview of highlights of what Henry had to say.

A german blog called Computer Game Studies often covers our work. According to Google translation, they wrote:

    On 20 December took place in Teen Second Life “A World fit For Children festival”. Under participant inside was also Henry Jenkins, which put a kesse sole in a Avatar particularly made for him on the virtual parquet. A video worth seeing in addition is digital on the side global Kids' to that Media initiative. Teen Second Life is a version of Second Life with a restriction of age from 13 to 17, particularly developed for young people. Adults are permitted only in exceptional cases.

However, I especially appreciated the sentence that followed:

    According to the data of the developer company lime trees labs the system is supervised by woman employees of the company (recognizable from the surname "lime trees").

Apparently the teen grid is run by a woman named "Lime trees"!

Posted by joyce at 11:44 PM | | Comments (1)

[podcast] Audio from the Henry Jenkin's Dance Party

Click below to listen to a podcast of Henry Jenkin's dance party at Global Kids Island in Teen Second Life. His talk as titled, "We're not playing around here!-The pedagogical potential of computer and video games." But largely it was a giant Q & A session, with teens asking questions (and an occasional adult from the main grid getting one in as well, via AIM). Every ten minutes or so the talking stopped and everyone danced, including Henry. The audio files removes most of the dancing.


powered by ODEO

Download the audio here.

Posted by joyce at 11:10 PM | | Comments (1)

[SL] Chat Logs from the Henry Jenkins Event

There are two relevant chat logs from the Henry Jenkins event, one from Global Kids Island in the teen grid as well as on the main grid, at the NMC campus. The link below will take you to the one on the main grid and after that you will find (coming soon) the one from the teen grid:

http://www.nmc.org/campus/Henry_Jenkins_From_Teen_Grid

Posted by joyce at 11:00 PM | | Comments (0)

[SL] Photos from Henry's visit

Below are photos from henry's visit, both on Global Kids Island as well as on the main grid, at the NMC campus. More will be added in the coming days.

http://flickr.com/photos/nmc-campus/tags/henryjenkins/

http://flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/sets/72157594430382387/

Posted by joyce at 10:54 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit for Children Building Contest

Hello everyone!

It's Judging Day today! Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to your projects, we have a total of 13 teams, and I have taken some snapshots of each team (outside and inside photos) to share with everyone outside of TSL.
We will announce the winners of the building contest tomorrow, Friday December 22, 2006 at 4pm EST on GK Island. Please be sure to invite your friends and attend the award ceremony at this time.

Want more details? IM Tabitha GKid in world.

Photos of all of the builds follow.

Team Name: World Endeavour

Exterior shot

Inside the project - an ideal classroom/playroom

Team Name: Porot

Exterior shot

Hallway inside the building


Main interactive classroom

Team Name: A World United (AWU)

Exterior shot

Downstairs (main classroom)

Upstairs (gymnasium)

Team Name: B-TEK

Emergency / Health provider

Team Name: Teh Pwners From Spawn

Exterior shot

Inside the building

Team Name: Zen

Exterior shot

Bedroom inside the building

Classroom inside the building

Team Name: T@R School

Exterior shot

Main classroom (with laptops and interactive books)

Team Name: Ocean Side Furniture

Exterior shot

Inside the classroom

Team Name: Team F&V

Exterior shot

Inside the building

Team Name: Coacoa Nutters

Exterior shot

Different windows with interactive informative notecards

Team Name: Ultra Paradox

Exterior shot

Left view

Right view

Team Name: AlexelA

Exterior shot (classrom on left, bedrooms on right)

Inside the building

Team Name: Teh Sexy Sploders

Top-view of the structure

One of the four corners

Posted by tabitha at 2:26 PM | | Comments (1)

[teens/VVP] Problems and the adventures of the dancing fools

Hey,
This is Brandon. On Tuesday we did a snapshot about the problems in the world. Tabitha put us into groups and I was with Maria, Gerson, Luis, Mohammad O., and William. We did an education snapshot of all of us sitting on desks with no teachers( Oh yeah there was a fox and a kid with a santa clause hat with us in the picture). Then when we finished tabitha took us dancing it was sssooo cool and funny at the same time.
Well thats all folks
P.S. Sam was doing funny dances when we was dancing :)

Posted by VVP brandon at 1:59 PM | | Comments (0)

December 20, 2006

[sl] Watch the UNICEF Contestants Over Time

While we can't do time-lapse photography in Second Life, at least not yet, we can keep taking photos from the same location over and over. Below is a series of photos of the area where teens are building their entries for the World Fit For Children Festival. During the festival we will update the photos so you can see how they grow and change over time. Can you spot the differences between the photos?

First, check out the welcome message when teens log into Second Life. Big thanks to Blue and Claudia Linden for helping us to spread the word (click for the full image):

Saturday am before the festival:

I think we need a better vantage point to view from:

Sunday night before the festival:

Monday P.M.:

Yesterday, we learned about the document of promises that world leaders had promise to all the children around the world. It was a meeting called World Summit for Children which happened 11 years ago. They promise that they will reach four goals to improve children’s life, Promoting Healthy Lives, Providing Quality Education, protection against abuse, exploitation and violence, and Combating HIV/AIDS. They had also made the plans about the problems that they want to solve and how to solve it. They promise to prevent people from dying because of lack of public health services, reduce the number of uneducated children, provide protection for children from violent abusing, and fight against HIV/AIDS. However, these goals are not easy to reach and things don’t always goes to the way that people want it to.

Look around the world today; millions of children are still suffering because of war, disease and political prosecution. One of the examples for war is the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian. The wars between them have been last for decades, every bomb attack, every gun shooting, not only both of them suffers, and it also involves their children to live in an unsure society. Some children learn how to use a gun for survival when they are very young,

In Africa, millions of children are living in the shadow of HIV/AIDS. Their future and opportunity are always darker and have less hope than other kids who are luckily didn’t carry the disease when they are born. I had seemed some pictures of these African kids, all of them look so skinny and their expressions in their eyes bite my heart every time I see their pictures. Their eyes always seem very helpless, and emptiness. Future is meaningless to them. While the diseases torturing them, poverty tricks them at the same time. No money, no food, no health care, no education, no nothing.

I think sometimes people should not always believe that things will be different if government promises something. People should not wait for the government to change the world for them; people should help each other to go through the hard time.

Posted by VVP Ting at 4:51 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Team Posts on Their Build: Porot

Each team in the World Fit For Children competition is required to post at least one blog entry about their project. The following is the entry from the team that calls itself: "Porot"

    Hello everyone. So, our team, Porot (Reindeers in English), consists of Calade Lamington (me), Jontte Gremlin and Atte Aderdeen. We come from a country called Finland, which is located in Europe if someone doesn't know. We chose to make our build about education, and we built a small but modern school. The idea was to make a school that could be built in small villages, but it changed a bit along the way.

    There are many interactive things in our build, such as a voting machine and playground objects. Also, there is information about education in poor countries all over the classroom.

    At the moment we are adding some cool details and fixing things up. Come for a visit!

Posted by Barry at 3:20 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Team Posts on Their Build: A World for For Food

Each team in the World Fit For Children competition is required to post at least one blog entry about their project. The following is the entry from the team that calls itself: "Teh Sexy Sploders"

    Our building activity, "A World fit for.. Food?" has been going exceedingly well during the past week of its existence. Our group, "Teh Sexy Sploders" (heh), which consists of Davy Maltz and I (Dusty Lindley), has been building the shrine of hunger, which displays various facts about the horrors of hunger throughout the world.

    We started with Davy's original and awesome building style, and began building off of it with existing and new ideas.
    We are currently trying to get our 'Cylindrical Timepiece' functioning, but so far, it refuses to budge, apparently because of a change in the LSL code.

    We are thinking about making a small game in a skybox if time permits, but so far, things are looking up appearance-wise.

    Our factual data and interactive activities, also made by Davy, have proven to be popular on the grid- many people have taken them and received our prize items!

    We will update this post with more news as it comes.

    ~Dusty

Posted by Barry at 3:12 PM | | Comments (0)

[SL] Popular build of the Day Winner Day 2

For the second day of the Unicef A World Fit for Children Festival, the popular build of the day award, voted on by teen residents of Second Life, goes to team Zen! Congratulations to Vivian Vacirca and Sanuk Click. During the award ceremony, Vivian explained the build and took questions from the audience. You can find the transcript below.

Here's their build:

team zen build

And here's Vivian receiving her trophy:

Vivian Vacirca - Team Zen popular build of the day winner day 2 wffc festival

And, for those interested, the transcript:

Rafi Gkid: And in first place of the popular build of the day.....
Quert Donaldo is exited
Rafi Gkid: it's team Zen, with Vivian Vacirca and Sanuk Click!
LilithScyr Andric: ^_^
Kit Axon: Grats!!
UFO Tuppakaka: XD
Redsamba Hall: go zen
Redsamba Hall: congrats


Lucky Figtree: YAY!
Redsamba Hall: congrats
Quert Donaldo: yah.. yah.. congrats -.-
Trextron Sukra shouts: Congratulations mate!
Mariel Voyunicef: Vivian, your build is the most popular one today :D
Rafi Gkid: come on down Vivian!!!
Redsamba Hall: yes vivian
Lucky Figtree whistles
Rafi Gkid: Care to say anything to your adoring fans?
Tas Zenith shouts: lol
Mariel Voyunicef cheers.
Rafi GKid respectfully asks for quiet
UFO Tuppakaka sits
Lucky Figtree: ONE MIC, please!
Vivian Vacirca: Sanuk and I are very pleaseed to be honored with popular Build of the day
Rafi Gkid: thanks vivian!
Rafi Gkid: do you want to share a little but about what your build is about with the folks in the audience?
Vivian Vacirca: Our build is a combination Orphanage and Shcool.
Vivian Vacirca: If I can't spell it.
Vivian Vacirca: And obviouusly, I need it.
Kit Axon giggles.
Quert Donaldo hates the school
LilithScyr Andric shouts: WOOOHOOO VIV!
Lucky Figtree: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY VIVIAN!
Rafi Gkid: anything else you want to add vivian?
Vivian Vacirca: So. We're illustrating one of the actions of UNICEF.
Trextron Sukra shouts: well done Vivian and Tas!
Vivian Vacirca: "A safe enviornment for children"
Redsamba Hall: congrats
Vivian Vacirca: Gracias, todos!
Calade Lamington: What did she win?
Rafi Gkid: The honor of having the popular build of the day banner go above her build.: )
Rafi Gkid: Thanks Vivian!!!
Kit Axon claps for Vivian
Rafi Gkid: Does anyone have any questions for Vivian?
Mariel Voyunicef raises her hand
Vivian Vacirca: Yes, Mariel
Mariel Voyunicef: What made you and Sanuk choose the orphanage/school to represent a safe environment for children?
Vivian Vacirca: Children need some basic things: Food, water, clean housing, love, and mental stimulation
Vivian Vacirca: IE, an education.
Vivian Vacirca: We felt that a combination of a home and school would illustraate that.
Vivian Vacirca: If you like, I'll give you a copy of our Team notecard (Which is currently in progress) and that will clear things up.
Rafi Gkid: any last thoughts vivian? or questions from the audience?
Lucky Figtree raises her hand
Vivian Vacirca: Yes, Lucky"?
Rafi Gkid: Lucky?
Lucky Figtree: How long did it take you to get ideas, and create them into a way that would fit this project?
Vivian Vacirca: We started out building a Japanese Castle, to
Vivian Vacirca: Show the inner strength against violence.
AngelHeart Kubo: I think japanise babies/children are so sweet ^^
Vivian Vacirca: But it didn't quuite fit, so we tore it down and built our current structure.
Vivian Vacirca: The notcard took some of yesterday and will be finished to-day.
Vivian Vacirca: ^^
Vivian Vacirca: Our brainstorming didn't last long. We weree pretty clear on what we wanted to do..
Vivian Vacirca: Any other questions?
Vivian Vacirca: Guess not.
Rafi Gkid: Thanks everybody!
Rafi Gkid: Congrats to Vivian and Sanuk on thier build!
Rafi Gkid: Good luck in the long run competition!
Redsamba Hall: congrats guys
Vivian Vacirca: Thank you.
Rafi Gkid: Remember folks, judges will be coming by on thursday
Rafi Gkid: and we announce the winners on Friday!

Posted by Rafi Santo at 9:57 AM | | Comments (0)

[sl] A Quick Look At AWU's Build: A School Fit For Children

Below are just a few photos from one of the most recent entries in the World Fit For Children Contest. This build, from the team AWU, focuses on education. The English class is writing essays thanking UNICEF for helping them to get educated in their country. The history class is learning about Afghanistan. And outside unfurls the School Fit For Children flag.

AWU's build: A School Fit For Children - The English Room

AWU's build: A School Fit For Children - the History Room

AWU's build: A School Fit For Children

Posted by Barry at 12:34 AM | | Comments (0)

December 19, 2006

[NC] Newz Crew Featured Discussion: On Cell Phone Use in Schools

In collaboration with the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Global Kids has launched Newz Crew, a site where teens from around the world engage in rich online dialogues related to current events, public policy issues and digital media.

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

This feature is taken from Newz Crew, Group 90: Newz Flash - Telling Tales Out of School, on YouTube.

Do you think students should be allowed to have recording devices or cell phone cameras in class? Why do you think teachers and schools are so concerned about videos from class being posted on the internet?

Sarac 12:22am Dec 16, 2006 EST
What if there is an emergency and you have your cell phone beside you, are you not supposed to use it? That bugs me because at my school the teachers will take away your cell phone if they even so much as see it. I think the teachers are worried that their reputation will be ruined and once they're caught they can't do what they've been doing anymore.
TBPrincess 03:14am Dec 16, 2006 EST
I think cell phones shouldn't be allowed in class. What people don't seem to remember is that you don't have any rights the moment you walk into the school. I think cell phones shouldn't be allowed because it makes cheating really easy (texting), and they are disruptive. As for in the case of an emergency, your parents can call the school and you can find out through them. The school can contact you through the office. If you're the one in danger, at the begining of each school year you have to fill out a form stating all of your phone numbers and such, so the school can notify your parents.
sammyb 12:57pm Dec 17, 2006 EST
I have to take my cell phone to school so that i can call my mom and tell her i've reached. But as soon as i do that, i leave it with the front desk and pick it up at the end of the day.

I dont think cell phones are necessary for students' survival in school. A lot of it is about popularity and showing off; everyone wants to be the kid who has the latest model of some phone. The flip side to all of that popularity is your phone is likely to be stolen. That's happened a lot of times in schools.
bacon n' eggs 02:15pm Dec 17, 2006 EST
Do i have my phone with me? yes, i do. and i take it to school
do i leave it on at school? no way! thats the basic answer. but i know people cheat and leave them on. i dont agree with them, but thats ok.
Christianguy 02:42pm Dec 17, 2006 EST
i can see why they would take them to stop cheating but still... I carry my cell phone with me at school all day and never use it. I think you should be allowed to have your cell phone but not have it on. There has to be a better way to stop cheating.
hailey101 06:55pm Dec 17, 2006 EST
I agree. I don't think cellphones should be allowed on in class. That's dumb. im getting a cellphone for my birthday, but i must learn a lesson in responsability while having it- meaning i must pay for my own minutes...
saluti 01:32pm Dec 18, 2006 EST
think in most schools mobile phones are prohibited...but students will always use them whether or not they are supposed to. At my school for instance, phones are not allowed but teachers know we have them, and they get used a lot (particularly the recording function)but as soon as a teacher enters,up the sleeves they go.
esaldana 09:02am Dec 19, 2006 EST
I do think that students should be allowed to have cellphones on school campus because what if there is a school emergency and you need your phone to call your parents or legal guardian. The teachers probably don't like recording of what happens in school because maybe one day a bad word slips and the kid shows it to his boss and gets fired.

Posted by joyce at 11:55 PM | | Comments (3)

[sl] First interview with Mariel Voyunicef

Hi everyone,

Yesterday was the first day of the UNICEF World Fit for Children Festival, and we were delighted to have Mariel from Voices of Youth represent UNICEF -VOY, and share about her experiences with teens in TSL. She kicked off the event with a short interview, and helped us give out the award for the winning team that won the highest votes for "Most Popular Build of the Day" as well as the winner from the UNICEF Scavenger Hunt.
As a result, we had over 50 teens who came to attend the event and met Mariel Voyunicef, and everyone was able to take home a notecard that Mariel made so they can contact her for more details on UNICEF - VOY. We had a great time and we welcome Mariel to continue to spread the word on VOY and participate in the World Fit for Children Festival.

Tabitha GKid: Please allow me to introduce our special guest today
Tabitha Gkid: Her name is MARIEL VOYUNICEF
Tabitha GKid: anyone notice anything interesting about her last name?
Ryan Mauriac: Has unicef in it!
Richard Dwi: It also has the abbreviation of voices of youth
Tabitha GKid: That’s correct! So without further adue, please welcome Mariel! Tabitha
Mariel Voyunicef: Okay, well... Hi, everybody ^^
Mariel Voyunicef: As you might have noticed, my name is Mariel
Mariel Voyunicef: I participate in UNICEF Voices of Youth (an online community)
Mariel Voyunicef: And I live in Mexico City
Mariel Voyunicef: Voices of Youth is the place where you will have to post about your projects, but you will be told about that a bit later.
Tabitha GKid: Thank you Mariel. So let me ask you the first question…
Tabitha GKid: can you tell us what “A World Fit for Children” means?
Mariel Voyunicef: A World Fit for Children is a goal that all governments have set
Mariel Voyunicef: But we all have to work for it
Mariel Voyunicef: A World Fit for Children is one where all children can go to quality school
Mariel Voyunicef: Where they can grow up in safe environments
Mariel Voyunicef: Safe = healthy, no abuse or exploitation.
Mariel Voyunicef: That's a World Fit for Children.
MagEE March: What race are these children?
Tabitha GKid: and how did you get involved with UNICEF – VOY?
Mariel Voyunicef: Well, I think education is a big issue in Mexico, so I logged onto unicef.org to learn a bit more
Mariel Voyunicef: I began discussing in VOY forum
Mariel Voyunicef: And precisely today two years ago I learned there that taking action is a must for everyone
Tabitha GKid: Can you provide us with the site?
Mariel Voyunicef: Of course: http://www.unicef.org/voy
Mariel Voyunicef: And this is *our* thread: http://www.unicef.org/voy/discussions/showthread.php?t=6774
Tabitha GKid: Thank you Mariel, please continue to share about your experience as a VOY representative, and how do you feel about these projects so far?
Mariel Voyunicef: Well, I'm really proud of everyone because they're making great projects!
Mariel Voyunicef: There are still many hours left until the deadline, and things are getting very impressive already
Mariel Voyunicef: So I can't wait until Wednesday midnight :D
Tabitha GKid: Yes, it’s going to be very exciting
Mariel Voyunicef: Some advice - Everyone should think first of what issue to address..
Mariel Voyunicef: Once you've determined what to do, get some friends to visit and give you their opinions
Mariel Voyunicef: Also, read about your issue!
Mariel Voyunicef: You might find some very useful information there
Mariel Voyunicef: www.unicef.org/voy has lots of information on the issues of this contest, so check it out
Tabitha GKid: That’s wonderful! Now, lets take questions from the audience. Greeny Greene: Yes! I have a question. For the WFFC, what did you do? I didn't know about it until today
MagEE March: May I ask a question? How old are you? Sorry if it's rude to you, and what race are the children we're aiming to help, mixed?
Mariel Voyunicef: I'm 16, and you're aiming to help every single child in the world. Easy, isn't it?
Mariel Voyunicef: No matter the race and age.
Tabitha GKid: anymore questions from the audience?
MagEE March: Why were you concerned at the age of 14? I'm 13 and don't really care to be honest. LOL.
Mariel Voyunicef: Well, I don't know. I just think that the least we can do is reattribute our people for what they've given to us
Mariel Voyunicef: And you can do that at any age, even 13
Mariel Voyunicef: So yes, that's pretty much it I want to share =)
Tabitha GKid: Thank you Mariel! Let’s give her a big round of GK applause!
Mariel Voyunicef: Thank you! =)

For more photos on the event please go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymeatballs/sets/72157594397737153/

Posted by tabitha at 12:28 PM | | Comments (0)

December 18, 2006

[sl] An Appreciative Teen in SL Thanks Us

Can't say anything more, as this speaks for itself, but during the World Fit For Children festival one of the teens gave us the following notecard:


    Dear Global Kids Staff,

    If it weren't for you guys my life might be a bit....lower than where it is now. You guys spend and invest min by min just to make our lives better. Just to teach us amazingly fun lessons.

    You guys has made me and some of my fellow friends truly think we were some-body. You guys made us think that we had a true place in this world.

    Ever since I moved to TX from a small town up North my life has kind've been 'lower' than ever. With the racist kids. And the violence in our own classrooms! I mean I have no freedom. I can't even go out without a parent. But thanks to you guys my life seems to have almost no bounds!

    -You guys are so amazing-

    ~Sparrow Revolution~


This is the kind of message that let's us know our work is reaching people.

Posted by Barry at 11:44 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] Winner from First Day of Festival

During each day of the World Fit For Children Festival, visitors have the opportunity to vote for their favorite entry. Below is a photo of the first day's winner, Teh [sic] Sexy Sploders (Davy Maltz and Dusty Lindley) along with the banner they get to proudly display for 24 hours.

In a few days, we will have photos of the contestants, information about the subject of their build, and an interview.

Posted by Barry at 11:34 PM | | Comments (1)

[sl] UNICEF A World Fit for Children Festival!

Hello everyone!

As you know, GK is hosting the UNICEF A World Fit for Children Festival this week from December 18 - 22, 2006. Check out the schedule and feel free to invite your friends to vote for their favorite build, attend the dance party with Professor Henry Jenkins, and meet the judges at the award ceremony. Want more details? Please IM Tabitha GKid in world.

Monday Dec 18, 2006
All Day
Scavenger Hunt - UNICEF eggs with questions embedded based on the World Fit for Children Commitment will be spread throughout GK Island. The highest scorer by 1pm Linden will win a prize. There will be other games as well, so come check it out and have some fun!
Judge Builds - Teen get to vote on their favorite builds. Each day, new builds will be complete. Most popular build at 1pm Linden wins the daily “Most Popular of the Day” banner. The banner will be placed over the build with the highest vote counted for the day.

Daily Ceremony
Time: 1-2pm Linden time
The Most Popular of the Day banner will be distributed, along with awards to top scavenger hunt players.
Weekly Highlight - Meet one of the judges!
Time: 2-3pm Linden time.
Special guest: Mariel Voyunicef. Global youth Mariel Voyunicef will talk about her experience as a VOY representative, her involvement with UNICEF, and the World fit for Children Commitment.

Tuesday Dec 19, 2006
All Day
Scavenger Hunt - UNICEF eggs with questions embedded based on the World Fit for Children Commitment will be spread throughout GK Island. The highest scorer by 1pm Linden will win a prize.
There will be other games as well, so come check it out and have some fun!
Judge Builds - Teen get to vote on their favorite builds. Each day, new builds will be complete. Most popular build at 1pm Linden wins the daily “Most Popular of the Day” banner. The banner will be placed over the build with the highest vote counted for the day.

Daily Ceremony
Time: 1-2pm Linden time
The Most Popular of the Day banner will be distributed, along with awards to top scavenger hunt players.

Wednesday Dec 20, 2006
All Day
Scavenger Hunt - UNICEF eggs with questions embedded based on the World Fit for Children Commitment will be spread throughout GK Island. The highest scorer by 1pm Linden will win a prize.
There will be other games as well, so come check it out and have some fun!
Judge Builds - Teen get to vote on their favorite builds. Each day, new builds will be complete. Most popular build at 1pm Linden wins the daily “Most Popular of the Day” banner. The banner will be placed over the build with the highest vote counted for the day.

Daily Ceremony
Time: 1-2pm Linden time
The Most Popular of the Day banner will be distributed, along with awards to top scavenger hunt players.
Weekly Highlight - Dance party with Professor Henry Jenkins!
Time: 3-4pm Linden time
Special guest: Professor Henry Jenkins. Introduce yourself to Professor Henry Jenkins who is coming to TSL for the first time! Dance like you never have before, and hear what he has to say about youth and digital media.
All projects must be done by midnight Linden time today

Thursday Dec 21, 2006
All Day
Scavenger Hunt - UNICEF eggs with questions embedded based on the World Fit for Children Commitment will be spread throughout GK Island. The highest scorer by 1pm Linden will win a prize.
There will be other games as well, so come check it out and have some fun!
Judge Builds - Teen get to vote on their favorite builds. Each day, new builds will be complete. Most popular build at 1pm Linden wins the daily “Most Popular of the Day” banner. The banner will be placed over the build with the highest vote counted for the day.

Daily Ceremony
Time: 1-2pm Linden time
The Most Popular of the Day banner will be distributed, along with awards to top scavenger hunt players.
JUDGING DAY>
All judges will be coming into SL and taking a look at all the builds. Congratulations to everyone who finished, the results will be announced on Friday's Award Ceremony, so stay tuned!

Friday Dec 22, 2006
All Day
Scavenger Hunt - UNICEF eggs with questions embedded based on the World Fit for Children Commitment will be spread throughout GK Island. The highest scorer by 1pm Linden will win a prize.
There will be other games as well, so come check it out and have some fun!
Judge Builds - Teen get to vote on their favorite builds. Each day, new builds will be complete. Most popular build at 1pm Linden wins the daily “Most Popular of the Day” banner. The banner will be placed over the build with the highest vote counted for the day.

AWARD CEREMONY
Time: 1-3pm Linden time
Take photos, enjoy the festival, and party!
We will be announcing the winners of the building contest! Everyone will be invited to attend the award ceremony and the after-party dance! Also a chance to meet the judges and talk about your project. So spread the word and invite your friends!

Posted by tabitha at 1:28 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] The World Fit For Children Application Process Closed.

After two weeks of workshops for fifteen different teams, the process for entering new submissions has closed. Building has begun and tomorrow the firs entrants will be revealed.

There will be many activities over the course of the next week (schedule to appear soon) but until then we are sure the disappointed youth mentioned in the blog entry below are not alone. But rest assured, this won't be the last opportunity for youth interested in global issues to work with GK in Second Life.

I sent an email to my 14 year-old triplets a few days ago after stumbling on the Global Kids World Fit for Children Festival contest. It's the end of their quarter, so they've been very busy at school. Tonight they logged in to try to sign up and were upset that they missed the deadline for getting involved. They were truly excited about this project. They had even gone out and found another student so they could have two teams of two to participate (and compete) in this contest. I'm sure the $200 first prize had nothing to do with their enthusiasm, but it's not very often that I see this kind of enthusiasm for an educational endeavor.

Read the full entry here.

Posted by joyce at 2:11 AM | | Comments (0)

December 17, 2006

[sl] Invitation to First Teen Second Life Conference

Well, this was unexpected. Global Kids has been asked to present at what appears to be a teen-led conference in Second Life:

    --From The Inventory Of Cheesepuff Barnard--

    You have been invited to the first annual B.H.Q. Interactive Second Life conference as a speaker. Congratulations on being invited; Cheesepuff Barnard-founder of B.H.Q. Interactive and L.S.A. Studios-handpicks only the most interesting, ideal people to come speak at his conferences. It will be located in Scarborough SIM at 6:30 EST on December 23rd, 2006. All attendants receive the Barnard "Ultra" laptop computer and a Barnard 3D holographic projector, along with 5 free shows from BTV On Demand entertainment. Please IM Cheesepuff Barnard fore additional information. A landmark has also been sent to you with the conference area attached to it. Thank you for your time, and we here at L.S.A. and B.H.Q. hope to see you there!


    -L.S.A. Studios

    -B.H.Q. Interactive

    -Cheesepuff Barnard

    ©2006, All Rights Reserved

Hard to turn down such an honor, even if we can't actually leave Global Kids island to do it in virtual person. How will it be done? Not sure yet. The irony, as well, is that we were invited by the same teen who did this.

Posted by Barry at 10:45 PM | | Comments (0)

[VVP/Teen] Learning

Thursday, December 15th, we learned how to make movies in Machinima ^^. It was actually fun, we had two special guests come in to teach us. It is interesting to see all the different people come in to help us through this process. Last time (Tuesday) Eric Linden (although not in the flesh) showed us the basics of making a movie. It was interesting because we met him in Second Life and watched one of his Machinima.

On Thursday, we learned about making a short movie and combining it with sounds. It was a little difficult because we were told to make a ten second video....and the time limit was hard to fulfill. Although, I do think it is much easier to use the controls ctrl, shift and A instead of going to the menu and pressing start and stop video--that really takes up some time. Making the sounds was a little hard because...its hard to figure out what to say on the spot...so Ting and me ended up saying "Hello~ this is Ting and Nafiza~"--yes, very original I know. At first, we used garage guitar (or a program with a similar name) to record our voices...but we came up with difficulties, so we used Imovie to both record the sound and combine the second life clip and sound.

And on Friday night....I spend making myself a Kimono for my avatar on second life~ and I think I forgot that my avatar was 3D...which is why my Kimono's obi ended up being on my avatars chest instead of waist. But I guess, it is through mistakes that we learn...and I have learned never to try to make kimonos again!!!~ Well...actually I probably will try again, simply because I'm too much of a perfectionist not to try. But next time, I will try to use different colors--pink didn't look very nice on my avatar anyway ^^;;~ Oh yeah~ and I did meet a couple of people on second life. I met Vivian and Emma and they were both wearing very pretty kimono~ and Vivian gave me the 3D Obi (I actually drew my obi into my kimono so it looked flat in the back). And also ^^ I met people who made their avatars look like the oppsite gender...which is an interesting idea that I want to try out ^^. Oh~ and all the wonderful buildings!~ I cant believe that so many people have already gone so far into their building for the World Fit For Children Contest! ^^ Its great~ and so many people in Second Life are such good builders! Plus, it is also nice to see so many people gathered on Global Kids Island to build on world issues! But then again~ there are some structures/buildings that wont let me in...I guess...they will only let people in after they are finished with building...but anyway~ i think thats all for now ^^~ I hope to see how the contest developes and I can't wait to find out who wins~ ^^ Oh~ and I cant wait until the next contest~ so many people have been asking when the next contest will be held already~ ^^

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 5:22 PM | | Comments (0)

[radio] Voice of America Covers Release of Ayiti: The Cost of Life

The Voice of America covered the release of Ayiti: The Cost of Life in a recent radio piece.


powered by ODEO

You can read the transcript with photos on their site.

Below is the transcript as well.

----------------------------------------------------------------

DATE=12-15-06
TYPE=Radio Feature
TITLE=CITY YOUTH DESIGN OWN EDUCATIONAL VIDEO GAME
BYLINE=Adam Phillips
DATELINE=Brooklyn, New York
_
(YOUTH, EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY, ENTERTAINMENT, HAITI)

HOST: Adults sometimes criticize the computer and video games that young people love to play as a waste of time. But many educators believe video games have enormous potential as learning tools - if the games are fun to play and if the virtual worlds they present are both interesting and relevant. That’s the idea behind “Playing 4 Keeps,” a New York-based project that helps kids conceive and produce their own electronic games. VOA’s Adam Phillips reports.

AUDIO 1: CONGA DRUMMING (ESTAB :03 AND UNDER AND HOLD]

TEXT: Congas provided some extra drama at Brooklyn’s South Shore High School, as a group of teenagers prepared to unveil for their peers their newly created video game, called “Ayiti: [eye YEE’ tee] The Cost of Life.” The game’s development took more than a year of library research, software design, and test runs after school hours.
“Ayiti” – which means “Haiti” in Creole French - is a computer game set in a fictional village in that impoverished Caribbean nation. Players assume the role of various members of a rural family that is trying to survive in Haiti’s difficult economy. They must balance the effects of potential hurricanes, workplace injuries, and street bandits with various life options, such as whether to go to school or work, whether to work in the fields or in a factory, and whether to seek health care. Their choices create various futures for this virtual Haitian family.

AUDIO 2: BAKER (:05)
“So today is the day where we try to get the game out and show what we have achieved.”

TEXT: DeWayne Baker worked hard on the game, which he hopes will be educational as well as fun.

AUDIO 3: BAKER (:46)
“The game help people realize there is a lot of hardships out there. In Haiti, people don’t really have what certain people do here in New York. Money is tight. Education is tight. Jobs don’t come if you don’t have a good education. So in this game you have steps to go through. You can start working on the farm at one house. You can have the mother rest if she gets tired. You can also get sick and go to the hospital, but it’s going to cost you some money. And you’ve got to figure out a way to let your whole family build up their money. (BEGIN OPT) They can either live rich, happy, poor or sad. (END OPT) You make the wrong decision, you can get a bad outcome.”

TEXT: “Ayiti” was created by students taking part in a program called Playing 4 Keeps, a project of Global Kids Incorporated, a non-profit group dedicated to teaching disadvantaged students about international affairs and civic engagement. Global Kids teamed up with the Microsoft Corporation, which funded the project, and Gamelab, the game developers who co-taught the curriculum and led the game design process for "Ayiti.”
But the game’s focus on education and its Haitian locale came from the students themselves. Global Kids senior trainer Afi [AH’ fee] French says that when young people take ownership of the virtual world they are creatin, and learn to identify with the people they are playing, they learn that world better. And of course, kids already love to play video games.

AUDIO 3: FRENCH (:23)
“Delving into the world of digital technology and video games is really going into the students’ world. It’s one thing if they are in a classroom in a school setting where it’s primarily a teacher lecturing and the students absorbing the information. It’s a whole other level of understanding when you experience it yourself. Then you can understand it, you can analyze it, you can critique it, you can explain it, and then you can share it with others.”

TEXT: Creating “Ayiti” was also a way for many students to learn about their immigrant roots. [SFX OUT] (BEGIN OPT) Many of South Shore High School’s families come from Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. (END OPT) Theo Pamphile [PAM’ fill] says the project made him more curious about Haiti, his parents’ homeland.

AUDIO 4: PAMPHILE (:18)
“The information I got from my mom and the news, I gave it back as ideas for the game to Global Kids so they could wonder what is the game about, visually. Like they could see it in their head. I told them there is a lot of rocks and not that much grass….”

TEXT: Creating the game required many learning styles. Some students were drawn to the technical aspects of “Ayiti”’s design. Others wanted to focus on Haitian culture and politics. Jamaica-born Sanji [SAN’ jhee] Johnson, found an outlet for her artistic imagination.

AUDIO 6: JOHNSON (:07)
“Like the background in the game. You’ve got buildings. You’ve got the family having to have some clothes to wear….”

TEXT: By focusing on the challenges in one imaginary community in Haiti, “Ayiti” led students to think about development issues all over the world. [CONGOS CREEP UP] And the game taught some, like DeWayne Baker, to appreciate educational opportunities in his own hometown of Brooklyn.

AUDIO 7: DEWAYNE (:28)
“I thought that for myself, being a young black male, that I didn’t really need school or nothing like that. I didn’t know it was going to take me anywhere. But designing this game, it made me realize that there is [are] people out there that really don’t get the chance to get this type of education. So I am going to really take it for whatever it's worth. These people gotta pay for education and I’m lucky to get mine free, and that’s something good !”

TEXT: Ayiti: The Cost of Life" is available free online at www.thecostoflife.org, along with lesson plans for incorporating it into the classroom. At the South Shore High School in Brooklyn New York, I’m Adam Phillips reporting. [SFX up fade].

Posted by joyce at 12:44 AM | | Comments (0)

[blog] NMC posts about Henry Jenkins upcoming presentation

The NMC Campus Observer spotlights Henry Jenkins upcoming visit to Global Kids island.

On December 20, at 3:00 - 4:00 PM PST, Henry Jenkins will be presenting in Second Life on We’re not playing around here!: The pedagogical potential of computer and video games.. This has ties to the work of the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Learning project, of which NMC, Global Kids, and Henry Jenkins have been participants. We have a short video interview with Henry recorded at the September 2006 meeting for this project where he talks passionately about digital media literacy.

To read more, click here.

Posted by joyce at 12:06 AM | | Comments (0)

December 16, 2006

[sl] Henry Jenkins Test Run in Second Life

Mariel, a teen on Global Kids Island from Mexico, representing UNICEF, was on hand when Henry Jenkins made it on to Global Kids Island (and TSL) for the first time. Below is a photo of Mariel with Henry's avatar:

For forty minutes, Mariel gave Henry a tour and, with their permission, below is the conversation that followed:

Henry Jenkins: Hello.
Mariel VOYunicef: Um, hello?
Mariel VOYunicef: Sorry, I can only see your face o.o
Mariel VOYunicef: Are you Henry Jenkins?
Henry Jenkins: That happens to me a lot.
Henry Jenkins: Yes.
Henry Jenkins: Well.
Henry Jenkins: I am one of Henry's students showing him around.
Mariel VOYunicef: o.o
Henry Jenkins: But yes, you're talking to him. Me. Us.
Mariel VOYunicef: Seriously?
Mariel VOYunicef: Sorry, it's just that I've been quoting him on works for the last semestre like, everyday, so o.o
Henry Jenkins: as serious as we get around here
Mariel VOYunicef: (and found out later, yeah, but... yeah)
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, that's superneat o.o
Henry Jenkins: you are now speaking directly with hernry
Mariel VOYunicef: O.O
Henry Jenkins: so what have you been writing about
Mariel VOYunicef: Relationship between artistic expression/education/youth and technology -digital media-
Henry Jenkins: wow -- that's a lot to take on
Mariel VOYunicef: It's for a superbasic level, though
Mariel VOYunicef: I'm in high school, so it's nothing pro
Henry Jenkins: glad to hear you doing this work.
Henry Jenkins: i am getting ready for a talk here next week on games and education
Mariel VOYunicef: I won't miss it
Henry Jenkins: something that the Global Kidz group is running
Mariel VOYunicef: Yes
Henry Jenkins: but i haven't used second life before so i am doing dumb things
Mariel VOYunicef: I'm quite the newbie here (just came for the UNICEF project), but do you guys need help?
Henry Jenkins: like what?
Mariel VOYunicef: Umm, I don't know
Mariel VOYunicef: Like going around?
Mariel VOYunicef: Okay, you don't o.o
Henry Jenkins: yeah -- what have you seen arond here that's interesting.
Mariel VOYunicef: To me, everything on here's interesting, heh.
Mariel VOYunicef: Have you seen the stuff on the other side of the island?
Henry Jenkins: no kidding. i've been reading about this place for so long and my students have done lots of presentations about this.
Mariel VOYunicef: I found out about it quite recently
Mariel VOYunicef: One month ago the most}
Henry Jenkins: no -- i haven't really left this spot yet
Mariel VOYunicef: But it's like, my childhood dream
Mariel VOYunicef: OK, do you know how to fly?
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, wait.
Mariel VOYunicef: I will go there and teleport you, it's easier
Mariel VOYunicef: OK?
Henry Jenkins: ok
Cancelled Sit
Mariel VOYunicef: Okay, the place we were at a bit ago is mainly destined for the UNICEF/Global Kids contest
Mariel VOYunicef: Do you know about it?
Henry Jenkins: i do know about the contest. i've been working with barry for a while
Mariel VOYunicef: OK, well
Mariel VOYunicef: That was the place where the workshops took place and where people are building everything
Mariel VOYunicef: Also the place where we will meet you on Wednesday, I think
Mariel VOYunicef: Now, this is the other side of the island
Mariel VOYunicef: Here they have some games
Henry Jenkins: so this is where the others live? like on Lost?
Mariel VOYunicef: There are just some activities
Henry Jenkins: ah just joking.
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol sorry, I've never seen Lost o.o
Mariel VOYunicef: Anyway, they have some activities
Mariel VOYunicef: I don't think there are houses on here, but I've seen some in the air o.O
Henry Jenkins: interesting. so what kind of activities have you been involved with
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol, with GK? I'm a newbie
Mariel VOYunicef: I come from the UNICEF part of the contest, so I've been here for like, a couple of weeks
Henry Jenkins: so how did you get involved with Unicef
Mariel VOYunicef: Voices of Youth
Mariel VOYunicef: I don't work for UNICEF or anything
Henry Jenkins: understood
Mariel VOYunicef: There's a forum in there, I'm a member
Mariel VOYunicef: Got invited, accepted, came here
Mariel VOYunicef: And here I am ^^
Henry Jenkins: is that building in front of us supposed to look like the UN?
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol, I have no idea
Mariel VOYunicef: Some people are building it, but I don't know what it is.
Mariel VOYunicef: It's not GK's though, I think
Henry Jenkins: it's kinda distorted on my low bandwidth wireless but it has something of the same shape.
Mariel VOYunicef: If you turn around, you'll see some of the GK buildings with activities
Henry Jenkins: wow -- that's pretty cool
Mariel VOYunicef: OK, that one displays pictures from Darfur
Mariel VOYunicef: It's got to do with an exhibit taking place in NY, I thinkl
Henry Jenkins: i knew global kids were very involved with Darfur
Mariel VOYunicef: And GK's campaign to raise funds for some org that is working with that
Henry Jenkins: still getting used to this flying bit?
Henry Jenkins: it's odd to have a new body to try to control. it took me most of my life to get control over the one I have
Mariel VOYunicef: Haha
Mariel VOYunicef: Same here
Mariel VOYunicef: You'll get used to it soon, though
Mariel VOYunicef: I've been on for only a couple of weeks and I don't know how to build, design or script, but I can pretty much subsist alone lol
Henry Jenkins: so is there anything i can tell you that would be helpful on your paper
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, your papers have pretty much saved my life
Mariel VOYunicef: Thanks a lot ^^
Henry Jenkins: my pleasure. i work hard to write them in a language that can be understood by youth.
Henry Jenkins: i hate people who write about youth and then don't write to them
Mariel VOYunicef: Hehe
Henry Jenkins: that's why I jumped at the chance to do this thing next week and wanted to do it with an avatar rather than just have filmed footage of the real me projected here
Mariel VOYunicef: Do you know if there will be a transcription of what you say? u.u
Henry Jenkins: but i am a bit nervous about appearing and keeping control of words - spoken, written -- and this new body
Mariel VOYunicef: It's not to pressure or anything, but my English comprehension is not advanced enough heh
Henry Jenkins: i suspect.
Henry Jenkins: and, oh yeah, there's supposed to be dancing. never was good at that when i WAS in high school
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol, I can't dance the stuff people are supposed to dance at parties, but there will be an animator there I think
Henry Jenkins: so what is your native language?
Mariel VOYunicef: You just click on it and you dance well enough for the hall of fame xD
Mariel VOYunicef: Spanish
Henry Jenkins: i can have used that when i was a teen!
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol, I would like one of those too xD
Mariel VOYunicef: By the way, there's more stuff around, want to check out?
Henry Jenkins: sure
Mariel VOYunicef: Can you follow me?
Henry Jenkins: i will do my best
Mariel VOYunicef: Hehe, it's there in front
Mariel VOYunicef: Here's the jackpot, used it a couple of times
Henry Jenkins: so how does it work
Mariel VOYunicef: You pay ten lindens and write a many words with the letters you're given
Mariel VOYunicef: as many*
Henry Jenkins: ah -- so it's a game
Mariel VOYunicef: Yep, most things here are games
Mariel VOYunicef: Or 'fun' stuff
Henry Jenkins: i had heard that. pretty much everything you do on a computer that's fun gets called a game.
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol, yup.
Mariel VOYunicef: Have you seen the maze?
Henry Jenkins: i saw it flying around before but not from the ground so to speak
Mariel VOYunicef: OK, I will TP you, one sec
Mariel VOYunicef: This is the maze they made in the summer camp
Henry Jenkins: here i am. some guy just about ran over me on a motorbyke and then wanted to talk about it
Mariel VOYunicef: Ahh, Colton
Henry Jenkins: so you know this guy..
Henry Jenkins: nice enough fellow. just startled me.
Mariel VOYunicef: Hehehe
Henry Jenkins: so tell me about the maze
Mariel VOYunicef: I've spoken to him once or twice
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, as far as I know, they held this summer camp
Mariel VOYunicef: They taught kids about global issues, and then they had to make a project
Mariel VOYunicef: They chose child trafficking for sexual activities and decided to make a maze so that people could imagine how they feel (the trafficked children)
Mariel VOYunicef: So you get in the maze and you see some images
Henry Jenkins: interesting.
Mariel VOYunicef: They teach you facts, then at some points you are requested to answer some question to get through to the other part of the maze
Mariel VOYunicef: And there are freebies
Mariel VOYunicef: I'll show you some
Stop Modern Day Slavery Balloon (CLICK FOR INFO) whispers: Slavery isn't just a thing of the past. End child sex trafficking NOW! Go to www.slaverystillexists.org for more information.
Mariel VOYunicef: The dove, the ball and chain, the balloon, the pin
Mariel VOYunicef: And the T-shirt you can see in the pics
Henry Jenkins: wow that's pretty cool
Mariel VOYunicef: Also when people finish the maze, they are taken to a special place where they are given the T-shirt
Mariel VOYunicef: they are encouraged to sign a petition from Singapore's government or some org from tehre, I don't remember
Mariel VOYunicef: And also they take pics of themselves wearing the T-shirt and they send them
Henry Jenkins: interesting.
Henry Jenkins: thank you for showing me this stuff. i had read something about this project but it makes much more sense now that i am here.
Mariel VOYunicef: No worries
Mariel VOYunicef: Yeah, it all makes sense
Henry Jenkins: unfortunately, i am not going to be able to stay much longer today.
Mariel VOYunicef: It just makes me sad I didn't find this place before
Henry Jenkins: i have to go buy groceries. we are hosting a party for 150 students in our dorm
Mariel VOYunicef: Hehe, looking forward to Wednesday
Mariel VOYunicef: Groceries? You mean junk food :p
Henry Jenkins: my wife and i are cooking for everyone. we are housemasters in a mit dorm
Mariel VOYunicef: OK, I don't envy you, haha
Henry Jenkins: full course meal to feed students on the eve of exam week
Henry Jenkins: we cook for two days and it disapears in, like, ten minutes
Mariel VOYunicef: Lol I bet
Mariel VOYunicef: You teach at MIT right?
Henry Jenkins: yes -- i head the comparative media studies program. just finished teaching a class on contemporary american cinema
Mariel VOYunicef: Contemporary American cinema? Wow
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, I'll study here in Mexico
Henry Jenkins: and i live at a place called Senior House, though it's not just for Seniors
Henry Jenkins: so what part of Mexico?
Mariel VOYunicef: Mexico City
Mariel VOYunicef: Hopefully I'll make it into the national uni as they don't teach what I want to study anywhere else
Henry Jenkins: i haven't been there but the pictures look beautiful. i've only been to those towns that tourists go to on the border
Henry Jenkins: so what do you want to study
Mariel VOYunicef: Hehe, thanks. Well, Mexico City is rather messy
Mariel VOYunicef: Well, that's a crisis in my life now
Mariel VOYunicef: I'm between Hispanic lit/Classical lit/law/philosophy
Mariel VOYunicef: But I want to teach in primary someday so I don't really want to have to make a decision lol
Mariel VOYunicef: And I refuse to study pedagogy
Mariel VOYunicef: so wish me luck please
Henry Jenkins: hmm. i always had trouble with that one myself. we joke that comp media is a program for people who can't decide what they want to major in
Mariel VOYunicef: lol
Henry Jenkins: don't study pedagogy. i took some ed courses and they taught me nothing i didn't know
Henry Jenkins: good luck.
Mariel VOYunicef: I'm supposedly taking a course to learn how to teach a language, but I refuse to think one can learn in 5 years how to teach children, so
Mariel VOYunicef: Thanks ^^
Henry Jenkins: i have learned much more about education now as a media scholar than i ever learned when i was in school
Mariel VOYunicef: I bet
Henry Jenkins: looks like i had better go and help my wide.
Henry Jenkins: wife.
Mariel VOYunicef: Lolol have fun
Mariel VOYunicef: I'll meanwhile go study and eat junk xD
Henry Jenkins: thanks again for the help. hope to see you on weds.
Mariel VOYunicef: I won't miss it for anything, have fun at the party
Mariel VOYunicef: and thanks for saving my life, really
Mariel VOYunicef: Even if you don't know me lol
Mariel VOYunicef: Take care
Henry Jenkins: bye

Posted by Barry at 9:51 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] World Fit For Children Contest Underway

Fifteen teams of teens are actively working on their entries in the World Fit For Children Contest. Below is a member of The Sexy Sploders putting up some photos with information about poverty in the developing world.

Posted by Barry at 9:58 AM | | Comments (0)

[VVP/teens] Video

On thursday we made a video of ourselves. It was so fun. I did a muscle move of me sitting down in the video. Well thats all for now.

brandon
P.S Todays my birthday YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.

Posted by VVP brandon at 8:47 AM | | Comments (0)

December 15, 2006

[sl] UNICEF Teen's Reports on Joint Project in TSL with GK

Mariel, a teenager from Mexico, came to Global Kids through our recent partnership with UNICEF's Voices of Youth site. She has been writing about her experience on both the Voices of Youth site and at her own blog. Here is her first entry:

    'A World Fit for Children' on Teen Second Life

    Educating and Raising Awareness Through Virtual Reality


    Did the World leaders that created UNICEF sixty years ago expect to be able to reach the youth and convince it to take action in matter of seconds through a machine-based program?

    Hello, everyone!

    My name is Mariel, I'm sixteen years old and I live in Mexico City. I've been a member of Voices of Youth for the last two years, and quite recently I joined a joint project of Voices of Youth and Global Kids on Teen Second Life, a 'game' that I'm sure those leaders would have loved to have sixty years ago.

    Mariel celebrating the 60th anniversary of the creation of UNICEF outside the workshop in Global Kids Island (Teen Second Life)

    A 'game'? I don't think that's an honest way to describe it. Despite the fact that it's a computer program where you interact with others through your avatar, build, etcetera, it's way more complex than a game. It's virtual reality. It's living whatever you please (and I do mean whatever) through a computer program.

    The first day on TSL was overwhelming. I had NO idea of what to do. Thankfully, the guide for newcomers in the game and Tabitha from Global Kids (among other kind people from TSL) were there to save my newbie soul. Now I'm a bit used to it, but I still have to learn how to do many things!

    It is the first time in my life that I can say that imagination is the only limit we have to act. Literally, that happens on TSL. Do you need to take modeling shots to sell your clothing designs at your store? Do you want to have fun in a water park? Do you want to travel in your own supership? Do you want to organise or attend ceremonies? Do you want to build your own house? Do you want to chatter in the café? You can do it all.

    And I do mean all

    How can this be related to activism, though? Well - a really brilliant group of people thought that, now that Internet and virtual reality play a really important part in young people's lives, education and activism can take place through them. As a result, we can see Global Kids Island on Teen Second Life, the place where Global Kids and UNICEF's contest is going to take place.

    What would a world fit for children be like? Why is it important to work towards that goal? In the contest, Teen Second Life 'residents' (people who interact in the program) will provide us with their insight and ideas to work towards that goal. I will tell you more about this in the following posts.

    I want to thank Voices of Youth and Global Kids for giving me this opportunity. I'm really excited and can't wait until next week!

    Greetings from Mexico!

    Mariel

Mariel, we look forward to your next post! The full discussion at VOY can be seen here

Posted by Barry at 11:08 PM | | Comments (0)

[print] GK Featured in the First Published Book on Second Life

We have an entry in the newly published book on Second Life about Global Kids and the work we are doing in Second Life penned by Blue Linden himself.

Posted by joyce at 7:28 AM | | Comments (0)

[print] Wired Magazine publishes GK letter on Teen Grid

Welcome to Education Island

Your "Let's Go: Second Life" article (issue 14.10) neglected to mention one of the most fascinating aspects of SL: the educational potential of the teen grid, restricted to 13- to 17-year-olds. On public and private "islands," organizations like ours are encouraging teens to take action on issues they care about, like global inequality, global warming, and the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. And we are doing it in ways that are possible only in the virtual world.

Barry Joseph
Director, Online Leadership Program
Global Kids
New York, New York

Posted by joyce at 2:24 AM | | Comments (0)

December 14, 2006

[pfk] Creating Games About Poverty in Haiti

The Games for Change site recently posed the question: Can video games designed by kids create the next generation of activists against poverty? And then follows that up by spotlighting Ayiti, the Cost of Life.

Read the article here

Posted by joyce at 2:01 AM | | Comments (0)

December 13, 2006

[vvp] Eric Linden in Machinima Program

Have Skype, will travel!

Yesterday, Eric Linden was gracious enough to join our machinima program yesterday to teach some of the basics of making movies in Second Life. We set him up through Skype, and through that computer to the overhead speakers. So with Eric's voice booming overhead, and myself demonstrating on the screen what Eric asked me to show, the GK leaders learned how to capture video from Second Life and how to use the Alt-Zoom camera to set-up waypoints to create a panning shot.

Below is a short video showing how we set up two way points and the 8 second video we made.

Below are some photos:

Here is Barry as cameraman:

Here is Eric taking questions after screening his SL machinima western Silver Bells and Golden Spurs:

Setting up the way points:

Posted by Barry at 11:48 AM | | Comments (0)

December 12, 2006

[SL] Global Kids goes to San Francisco for SL Views 3

This past week, Global Kids (in the form of Rafi Santo) took a visit to Linden Lab, creators of Second Life. GK has been working with Linden Lab closely for almost a year now. They were there when on our island broke as it was brought from the main grid to the teen grid, they were there when we opened the Camp GK maze against sex trafficking, and have been greatly supportive of our work in the teen grid. Now, we got to give a little back to Linden Lab and the Second Life community as a whole.

Every couple of months LL holds Second Life Views, a meeting where a small group of Second Life residents comes together to share views from the community on the direction of Second Life. The meeting was quite engaging, touching on many issues both about the world and community of SL as well as about the technology that makes that world possible, and, in the opinion of some, defines it.

What was most interesting was the kind of mix of people that were brought together. The group ranged from educators to programmers, non-profits to land barons, builders, people that work in climatology, even someone that owns a massive virtual airfield. Not to forget, of course, the teen representative, Alpha Zaius! The perspectives were many and varied, representing almost every type of person that might be involved in Second Life.

To me, this kind of meeting is unique and rare. But Second Life is a world that is created by its residents, and it would only make sense that they have a say in how their world develops. As this world grows and moves forward, I've no doubt that these kind of interactions between the community members and those that are facilitating its growth will become more and more necessary and helpful for both parties. Glad to see that Linden Lab is starting early.

Behind Second Life

Posted by Rafi Santo at 3:22 PM | | Comments (1)

[vvp/teen] Human Rights, Racism in SL

On Thursday we had a class on Human Rights. We had to do skits on either the right to have or abide by human rights, or the breaking of human rights. My group had the breaking of human rights. We had to do a skit on the act of kidnapping and torturing a person. My role in the skit was to go and and cause the victim to pass out with chloroform on a tissue. Then my affiliates came and picked the victim up and moved him out of the room and into another room (was supposedly another room anyways.) Then I put a gun to his head and made him hold boiling water as I interrogated him for information. So the skit informed us that human rights forbids these kind of acts.

P.S: on Saturday me and Idan were playing on Second Life (he was at my house sitting next to me) when we bumped into a group of people building in the Global Kids Island sand box. They started talking to me and in the middle of the conversation he did a gesture in which he did a salute to Hitler and yelled out Sieg Heil. I told him how much it offended Idan and they started doing it more and more. We got into a fight and one of them started spamming the island with anvils. I informed Barry and got them banned from Global Kids Island. I think that this is a very sad concept because I really dislike racism and even though they did it as a joke at first, we informed them that it was very offensive and disrespectful but they did it more and more to anger us. Idan and I want things like this to end in Second Life and in Real Life, maybe we should build some kind of museum for intolerance or something.

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:57 PM | | Comments (0)

December 11, 2006

Update on the "World Fit For Children" Festival

Hey everyone!

First, I would like to take this time to thank Katharine Berry for the excellent work on everything she has done. She practically took my place when I was very busy in RL, including writing all of the svavenger hunt scripts and doing the entire web application by hand. I dont think this project would be a success without her help!

Next, I would like to thank everyone else that signed up for the workshops. So far they haven't had much attendance as we planned, but hopefully the upcoming dates will allow more western hemisphere residents attend at a more convenient time. Big woot! woot! to LL for putting up the announcement as the MOTD.. it helped out SO much!

The building contest applications are closing on the 15th, so if you are organizing a team please do so ASAP. Once the applications have closed, we will send an email to those participating with further instructions..

So far so good! I can't wait until I see what all of the teams come up with.

- Alpha Zaius

Posted by tsl Alpha at 9:41 PM | | Comments (0)

Human rights

Hello everybody!! Last week Thursday we learned about different rights that all human beings suppose to have since they are born. For example, right of speech, right of living, and right of education etc. We also have a small performance about human rights. Through some of the performance we see something very sad are happening around the world. Some of the performance shows that people are standing up for themselves and protesting for their rights, but some people have to sacrifice their life when they are using their rights as a human being. There’s different message is sending out to us from these performance, I think the common message that they are telling us is Human rights are very important to us; we either use it or lose it.

Posted by VVP Ting at 8:22 PM | | Comments (0)

[Teen/VVP] Access to technology

Hey everybody. I'm just here to blog about what i learned on thursday. We talked about how countries have technology. We talked about how some of the countries that had no technology. Its not that they dont want it, but its because of their economy. Some countries prefer an agricultural society. Like instead of using metal to make a chair or a table, they would maybe use wood from a tree and make the stuff from scratch. Some other countries cant afford technology. I hope one day that technology would be reached all over the world.

Posted by VVP Alex at 5:56 PM | | Comments (0)

December 9, 2006

[vvp/teens] Human Rights

Hey what's up doc? That was a joke you were suppose to laugh (tough crowd, anyways).
On Thursday we learned about Human Rights. We learned that humans have a right to speak for what they want and want something they want for their country.
Of course Mr. Sam wanted for us to do a PLAY (it was not fun when he said it)!!!!
Unfortunately I got shot because I had to play a role for protesting for, and I quote, "STOP THE VIOLENCE, STOP THE WAR."

Well thats all for now got to go, bye.
P.S. did you know that this is our 8th session in Machinima =)

Posted by VVP brandon at 8:23 AM | | Comments (0)

December 8, 2006

[Teen/VVP] Human Rights

Human rights are basically almost like Locke's Natural Rights--they are rights that a human being cannot be denied of by any government or any other person because it is a right they are born with, or an inalienable right. In some way, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was formed by the United Nations is very similar to our [the United States'] Bill of Rights. If you think about it, they both do guarantee basic human rights.


Although it isn’t exactly the same exact thing; there are some differences. For example, in the UDHR, there is an article that says that no person should be a slave--and in the United States Constitution it did not say that in its Bill of Rights. Of course, you have to take into consideration that this constitution was written during Constitutional Convention in 1787--and back then, slavery was allowed and accepted in a lot of places. Also, governments were not as well and fully developed back then--so it was not as strict. Although, some (if not most) state constitutions--which were created much later, and also edited a lot--have an amendment in their bill of rights about the prohibition of slavery.

Something interesting that the UDHR has is the right to nationality--specifically that. I think in the Bill of Rights, it is stated that you have the right to your own culture--but I don’t think it says anything about nationality. I don’t think that people are denied the right to have their own nationality in the United States--but in some places aliens to the United States are less accepted. For example, in the rural Central U.S areas, immigrants may be less accepted because...well most White Anglo-Saxon Protestants moved their during the period of westernization in the United States, and they were very nativist-like people--but then again, a lot of time has passed since then and many people have changed, but of course not all.

Even in such a diverse place like New York...I think there is still some kind of gap between the immigrants and the more "American" people. I guess I can see this more clearly because my school shares a building with another school that is strictly for immigrants--and the two schools don't necessarily get along very well. Although, in my school many people may not consider themselves Americans--I certainly do not--there is still that gap that divides the schools so much. In my school, I really don’t see many people communicating with the other school---even if those people are from the same background. So, in these two schools, instead of forming cultural cliques--they have formed cliques that are divided by schools--and the school with all the new immigrants also formed minor cultural cliques. Cultural cliques in the more immigrant school makes sense because it is easier for people of the same background to communicate--but the larger division between the two schools really has no good reason behind it. Also, it's interesting how people have been comparing the US to a salad bowl instead of a melting pot in recent times. It’s the new 'thing' to keep your own culture rather than to blend into another culture.

The UDHR has been accepted by many nations and it’s been used as a basic structure for many developing nations and nations in general. Although many have accepted it, it does not necessarily mean that they abide by it. Also, this declaration has been criticized by many people--especially fundamentalist leaders of the Middle East who do not believe that these rights can be given to the people without somehow violating the laws of Islam. So, we can't really judge that the UDHR is an ultimate solution...but at least it is a solution--and a solution is better than no solution.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 5:34 PM | | Comments (0)

December 7, 2006

[teen/VVP] Our eighth time!

Today was our eighth time going to the Global Kids Machinima project. It was a very educational day. We learned about human rights. I didn't know a lot about human rights. The only thing I knew was that they are rights that humans are born with. But now I know a lot more about human rights. It is cruel for a country to take away someone's human rights. It is something that must be kept and shared evenly.

Posted by at 7:17 PM | | Comments (0)

[teen/vvp] Tuesday's Workshop

On tuesday 12/05/06 in class we first went over net neutrality. I found the issue of net neutrality pretty interesting and even though I knew about the issue I wasn't quite sure what it really was. We learned that net neutrality was an issue in which big organizations like Verizon can completely take control of our internet capabilities, and charge differently for different speeds because they are the owners of the actual physical lines that connect our computers to the internet, so they want to use that power to gain more profits. Then since the internet was down we couldn't go over the basics of scripting and using groups and etc. So instead we had a lecture on what rules we had in society in real life and in second life. We learned rules like not to harrass people with spam or following them around and pushing them. We went over rules that we basically follow in school and in society in real life and then connected it to Second life.

Posted by VVP Joe at 2:21 PM | | Comments (0)

December 6, 2006

[teen/sl] Return of the Intern!

Hey everyone! This is Mercury Metropolitan, previous intern for the Camp Global Kids summer program checking in. I’ve been offered another internship with Global Kids, so I’m back! Woohoo! Let me just start off by expressing my utter gratitude and enthusiasm! I’m so excited to be back on the team and look forward to getting started on some really cool & exciting projects we have planned!

This past summer was absolutely fantastic! I learned so much and had a wonderful time as an intern. However, I was so busy that I didn’t post as much as I would have wanted to in this blog, so let me begin by detailing some of the tasks assigned to me as a Camp Global Kids intern.

I facilitated various events; the most memorable being Child Sex Trafficking Awareness and Activism, which was totally planned by myself and the other campers. That was very successful and we had an amazing turnout. Never had I really hosted such a large-scale event, and I was really proud of my ability to captivate the audience in such a way that kept them interested and thinking about the issue being discussed. There were also events throughout the program that I helped to facilitate with GK staff members. I also played a key role in the processing of workshops and activities we held by asking the group a series of questions and receiving their feedback and opinions.

Helping to plan some of the workshops and set up for them was also very fun. Much creativity and time was put into the preparation of each daily workshop, and I was always satisfied with the result. There was only one time that I was ever frustrated during my internship, and that was because I had forgotten that ‘autoreturn’ was on, a feature in Second Life that allows you to set a timer on your land that returns other people’s objects. So, I was building on that land for a fair amount of time when *POOF*, the entire build was returned to me. But, with some quick thinking and creative problem solving, we made it work!

Because I was technically an ‘intern’ and not a camper, I made sure to keep my personal views neutral from the group, but the workshops and activities really made me learn and assess some very interesting topics dealing with global issues. If it were not for this program, I wouldn’t have known such things as ‘gross domestic product’ or ‘globalization. Oh, and not to mention some of the eye-opening aspects of these workshops dealing with more controversial and mature subjects such as child sex trafficking, the poverty in Haiti, and the genocide happening in Darfur! So, all technicalities aside, I was indeed a camper as well as an intern.

Another one of my responsibilities as an intern was to advertise the program before it even began, and to help teens sign up and register for it. This was quite the task! I posted in the Teen Second Life Events forum, purchased advertising space from ‘Tin Bling’ whom I later convinced to sign up for the program, and started reaching out to my close friends in Second Life. In my opinion, the latter was the most successful! Most of my friends that applied told their friends, and the grassroots effort had begun. This just goes to show you how far word of mouth goes in Second Life. To my exultation, most of my friends who signed up were chosen to participate. Everyone pretty much already knew each other in some way. (Yes, the Teen Grid feels like a small town.) I felt that this made us an even more productive group, and it was easier for us to communicate and understand one another. So, it all worked out for the best!

I’ve really taken a lot from the experience as an intern. I hope to apply all of my previous experience as an intern to this new internship, and am really looking forward to it. I’ll keep you guys updated throughout my second internship adventures! ~ MM out!

Posted by Mercury at 6:58 PM | | Comments (1)

[Teen/VVP] The last two sessions

Hey its Idan, I know this is sort of late but I had some problems signing in and therefore wasnt able to post until today. Anyway, last thursday the we worked in class on a very cool little project. My group created a billboard with an uploaded picture in Second Life to demonstrate the result of the absence of justice. We used the picture of a woman crouched over in fear in the sand. This was an image from an article on the genocide in Darfur. I found it to be a very powerful image and therefore something that should be seen. Hopefully our billboards sparked some thoughts and caused people to look up some of the issues we adressed.

In Tuesday's class we experienced some internet problems so we had a little bit of a lecture on the rules of Second Life and what we were gonna do is see if any of the other residents knew about them. The other day I encountered someone who obviously either did not know or refused to obey the rules because he caged me, over and over again. Caging is when in Second Life your avatar is literally trapped in a cage. It is against the rules and quite annoying and I swear if I ever find that guy I'll sure give him a beatin-I mean report him >.> Anyway that's it for now, I'll have more for next time. Until then,
ciao.

Posted by VVP Idan at 6:07 PM | | Comments (1)

December 5, 2006

[radio] BBC Reports on Camp GK

They just, um, forgot to mention it was Camp GK...

"The idea of the Teen Grid is to act as a safe haven for younger users, free of the adult content that pervades much of the main space.

Through their avatars, Teen Second Life's young users can go shopping, hang out and island hop just as their grown-up counterparts do on the Adult Grid.

But community manager Claudia L'Amoreaux told me that the Teen Grid is also a place for young people to tackle serious global issues that affect them.

"They built this maze as a project on global sex trafficking," he said.

"They were interested in helping other students learn about it so they could protect kids around the world who are being taken advantage of. It's a way to share what it's like for kids who are held captive in the sex trade."

The walls of the maze are emblazoned with images and posters giving information on the problem. Being ensnared in the puzzle is meant to mirror the experience of being a child trapped in prostitution."

Read the full article here.


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Posted by joyce at 10:17 PM | | Comments (0)

[Teen/VVP] The World Is Flat

First of all, for all those people who are reading this, and are unfamiliar with Thomas Friedman's work: I am not insane, I know the world is not really flat. ^^;; Anyway, in the Virtual Video Program, our assignment was to read a section of Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat", the part about "The Unflat World" [Chapter 11]. His work actually discusses the process of Globalization, and the toll that technology and its development/advancement has on the world. It’s an interesting thing to read because, although we know that technology affects us, we don’t see its true depth until we read into reality--and this book may help people do that.

What I found ironic about this book is the titling of it, when I first looked at the title I thought the flat world would be the old ages because... going back to history, people typically thought the world was flat before, and now we all know the world to be round and unflat. The fact that he describes the technologically advanced world to be flat and the people that are on the lines of poverty--that are unexposed to technology--to be living in the unflat world was kind of interesting. If you think about it, those things kind of contradict themselves: advanced people live in a flat world, and the people living in poverty live in an unflat world. But anyway, this kind of reminded me of the process of making aluminum foil--it sounds strange, I know...but think about it: to make aluminum foil, it has to go through two heavy rolls that flatten it; the effect that the two heavy rolls have on the aluminum is the effect that globalization has on the world and people.

Anyway, for me, reading the first few pages did not come as a shock, mainly because it has become so normal that it should be expected. Friedman begins off with a new and improved--and not to mention technologically improved--cheating tactic: taking pictures of the exam with answers (of course that isn’t necessary...just having prior knowledge to test questions is already cheating) and sending them to a friend before they take the exam. It isn’t hard to believe that people would do that--it should be expected that as technology advances so will the people--and especially youth. Plus, putting more restrictions on things does not stop any one--it just challenges them to create a loophole; for example, if a person is not allowed to have their cell phones out during a test, what is to stop them from going to the bathroom and texting someone and asking them for the answer? Plus, take the "no cell phones in class" rule--teens are expected to turn their phones off before coming to class, and if a teacher hears it ring then they will take it away. So, a loophole to that was made, the Mosquito ring tone, a ring tone that can only be heard by younger people, not adults. Isn’t it interesting to think about it? People will try to invent new and creative ways to cheat their ways through life--but won't put the same effort into learning something. It really shows how people have become, and how corrupt society has gotten.

Anyway, back to the "Unflat World", he also discusses another issue that people have in the modern world, cameras in the locker rooms. This is a scary thought for everyone--because I know when I change in my locker room, that everyone else in that room has a cell phone, there is no doubt in my mind about that fact. So what’s to stop people from taking pictures while you're changing? It really is a scary thought. As a girl, you no longer have to worry about a guy walking into the locker room--you have to worry about an inanimate portable object that everyone carries around, (which can be used to take pictures or videos of you) that can have you up on a public website within seconds. It really is a horrific thought.

As for things that impact us less, but should concern us about the same, Friedman also discusses what is going on in India and China. Those are the two fastest technologically developing nations at the moment---if you went to India or China a decade ago, you would not have seen as many automobiles and cell phones as you see now. It really is extraordinary how quickly they developed. But, in order for a government to grow, its economy has to grow, and in order for an economy to grow...you need a strong middle class--that’s what I have been taught all this time. I was also taught about social mobility and etc, but until I read this section of Friedman's work, I never knew that anyone could consider themselves a part of the middle class. He said that to be a part of the middle class, you have to believe in some kind of social mobility and believe that there is hope to advance in life and for the future generation to lead better lives than you did.

Although, you might hear about how well and quickly India and China have been developing, and making their way to the top and powerful competitors in the modern world--the fact of the matter is, they will need to improve so much before getting to that point. The thing about those two countries is that although technology has increased, there are still large portions of the population that still live in that 'unflat' world and because of that, they will not be able to advance as much. But hopefully, as technology grows in those countries--it will help decrease things like poverty. But it will be a while until those people living in poverty will gain access to technology--some of those people have not seen clean clothing or water--so getting their hands on the new Motorola KRZR is not the first thing on their mind. Maybe instead of thinking about trying to make the entire world 'flat' maybe we should put our concerns on making the world HIV/AIDs and Poverty free at first--because if achieving global peace is possible, then it cannot be done with the snap of a finger. In the real world, unfortunately enough, we do not have magical capabilities and we cannot create things and resolve things as quickly as we can do in Second Life.

Another thing that Friedman discusses is the problem with HIV and AIDS. It was World AIDS day just a couple of days ago, and that’s why reading this now seems so relevant. A huge reason these people are being hindered from developing is because they don’t have that equal opportunity. They don’t have that opportunity to live--to have a chance at a good life--to live a life that most people in the United States would consider normal. It’s just that children have been orphaned because of HIV and AIDS--or their lives are being impacted by those things. If there isn’t anything done about something like HIV/AIDS...then millions of children will continue to not have this equal opportunity--because a key to social mobility is education, and if a child's parents are affected by HIV/AIDS--when will they have the chance to learn? How will they have that chance to learn? Its sad to think about it; but there is no way that those kids will have equal opportunity until something is done to ensure that they will be able to live healthy lives--and their parents are healthy enough to support them. In a way, what’s more sad is that most of HIV/AIDS affected people live in Africa... and Africa is enriched with so much valuable jewels...so there has to be some kind of profit being made from that...no? So, where is that money going? Are all those people being deprived of proper health care for corrupt government officials and businessmen?

Of course, all of the blame cannot be put on the government, the reason Africa has been left in such a chaotic position is because of a series of misfortunate events; European Imperialism and "The White Man's Burden" is mostly to blame because they did take control of most African nations for such a long time that when they were freed they were incapable of maintaining proper governments. Of course, by now there may have been improvements--but apparently they are not such major improvements, nor are they keeping Africa in a safe zone--considering the fact that there is genocide going on in Darfur.

Now, back to the flat and unflat world, nature and world always tries to reach equilibrium--so maybe we should do the same. So maybe, the flat world, should share their knowledge to make the unflat world become more flat. I guess--that is what many people are trying to do, and as Friedman pointed out--Bill Gates is doing that by making so many donations. So maybe everyone should pitch in, because everyone should be grateful for what they have--and that is why they should take into consideration that many people are not as privileged. So maybe we should work harder to appreciate what we have, and try to give something to those who don’t have as much as we do--because social mobility is possible and we, in this society, do not exactly believe in fixed castes; thus, everyone should have equal opportunities to things--because that is what is just, and it is a step we need to take to achieve peace. Maybe, we the people that live in the flat world, should act as the heavy rolls that flatten the aluminum--and be the factor that helps flatten the unflat world by first solving the problems that are going on there that hinder them from becoming a part of the flat world.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 7:40 PM | | Comments (2)

[teen/VVP] Peace And Justice

Hey! In Thursday's workshop, we learned about peace and justice. We learned about how one affects the other greatly and how without justice, there would be no peace and vice versa. We also did a project on Second Life. We made a billboard about issues of peace in the world right now. The workshop was fun and we learned about life (first and second) and how we can make it better.

[editor's note: This is the 300th post on the blog!]

Posted by VVP Miguel at 10:54 AM | | Comments (0)

[teen/VVP] Last Thursday in Global Kids

Hi it's Angela. Last Thursday in Global Kids I learned about peace and justice. It was very interesting to know how they both complement each other, and at the same time be very controversial. We also made a billboard in Second Life where we got the different points of view of many of the people in the program, who interpreted peace and justice according to their beliefs. It was very fun, and I hope to learn more.

Posted by VVP Angela at 10:52 AM | | Comments (0)

[Teen/VVP] PEACE AND JUSTICE!!!

Hi everyone, well although I don't talk a lot during our workshops, I still have my own thoughts about peace and justice. Peace is freedom, traquility, union, love and friendship. On the other hand, Justice can be many things to me, and one of them is equality for eveyone. About last week's workshop on this two important topics, I really enjoyed making the billboards. My partner Jacky and I picked a picture of a fist because it symbolizes power and energy to do something. Also, the picture had Darfur written in it. It is really important to be able to help this people, and my shcool is already collecting money for them, so this is another reason why we picked that picture. Well, I hope we have more days like the one we had last week!!!!

Posted by VVP Rocio at 10:15 AM | | Comments (0)

[blog] Ayiti vs. The Sims

Pablo Moreno-Ger's blog about "why and how e-learning should be fun" offers an interesting comparison between the consumerism of The Sims and the impoverished conditions of Ayiti:

The follow post is reprinted from: http://www.moreno-ger.com/2006/12/ayiti-vs-sims.html

Ayiti vs. The Sims

I would like to post a brief reflection on the game Ayiti: The Cost of Life, which was recently brought by my attention by a friend.

Not an educational game, but rather a serious game with a specific message, Ayiti puts you in control of a family trying to survive in Haiti. The player assigns tasks to the members of the family (go to hospital to improve health, get some education at school, work at the family farm, get a job, etc.) and all these tasks have an impact on aspects such as "Happines", "Health" and "Education". You can see the progress of the three needs in bars that fill with care and empty with time.

Ignore the setting for a moment. Think of the actual gameplay based on giving slices of time to different activities in an attempt to keep a number of mood variables high. Yes, correct, we are talking of the best-selling PC game "The Sims".

In essence, what we get is (very simplified) Sims clone. But The Sims is about progress in a capitalistic society, gathering riches, getting a better house, flirting with members of the opposite sex, getting a big swimming pool and, long story short, to have the ultimate virtual doll-house representing the ideal of success in western society.

With the same gameplay, in Ayiti the priority is not getting a better swimming pool to attract more friends to your place, but actual survival. You quickly notice how it is not possible to raise a member of the family to be educated, healthy and happy. Most of the family must be doing work shifts most of the time to keep basic subsistance. Altough it is possible to keep a low level in all areas, it is not possible to excel in all of them, and the game is about sacrifice and surviving rather than about fulfilling dreams.

Ayiti transmits a necessary message: The dream we live in The Sims is happening today with 2/3 of the world being so far from it, that survival means success and the dream makes no sense at all.

In game design it is often said that the perception of progress is a key element of interesting games, and in The Sims the progress is reflected on better properties and social relations. Ayiti reflects a reality in which no progress is possible, the best you can do is to avoid failure. Maybe it does deserve the label "educational".

Posted by joyce at 2:02 AM | | Comments (0)

December 4, 2006

[teen/vvp/sl] Darfur Slide show

Well, looking at the pictures of the Darfur slide show on GK island it gives me a sort of pity and sadness for the people living in Darfur.

Looking at it really gave me an idea of how it is like to be living there in such a time. It seems to directly relate to the poverty and death going on all over Darfur and the two pictures that really caught my attention was the one where people were holding a funeral with a small plot of land as the burial mound which represented the death all over Darfur, and the second picture where it was a zoomed out shot of an area where people were living all in tents and there were just tents all over, which represented the poverty in Darfur.

The picture with all the tents really caught my attention because it shows that so many people just in that area are living in small ragged tents and living in so much poverty.

The slide show truly astounded me.

Posted by VVP Joe at 10:38 PM | | Comments (0)

[p4k] Peace and Justice in Today's Program

Today, the Playing 4 Keeps youth leaders talking about peace and justice and then built billboards about it in Second Life.

When we brainstormed the word "peace" they listed the first things that came to mind:
love, workshops, friendship, cooperation, gang violence, race, kindness, Sunday dinner, calm, care hippies, safety, harmony, religion, discrimination, truce, Peace Boat, flowers, and unity

When we brainstormed the word "justice" they listed:
Justice League, Martin Luther King, revenge, liars, lawyers, Malcolm X, suing, batman, freedom, black panthers, freedom fighters, police, order, second life, courts, America, superheroes, security, leader, sheriff, police, Public Enemy, judges, law, a right, handcuffs, civil rights, jail, Brooklyn, Global Kids, and peace

We then learned how to build billboards above peace and justice - here is a photo with billboards from both P4K and the Machinima program:

Posted by Barry at 10:17 PM | | Comments (0)

[teen/vvp] Peace and Justice

On Thursday in class we learned what peace and justice was. We first had a brainstorm over the individual words, Peace and Justice. I learned that Peace was the definition of unity and cease fire, and I learned that Justice was the definition of moral righteousness and equity. I also learned that Justice means lawfulness and rightfulness. Afterwards we went on the internet and found articles with pictures that represented peace and justice in our minds. Then we created billboards with the pictures to represent the article. My group chose a woman in Darfur huddled in a ball on the ground representing how her life was being affected by all the genocide in Darfur.

Posted by VVP Joe at 10:16 PM | | Comments (0)

[sl] Something is Brewing on the Teen Grid...

A few days a go a teen resident stuck a black orb with the text "non-Linden adults click" floating above it. The notecard it dispensed read:

    Go back to the MG. None of us like you. If you get to be here, let us be on the MG. I don't care if you've been scanned or not. I DON'T LIKE YOU. I don't thank you for your time.

Interesting. After a fruitful chat with the teen, who will go unnamed for now, I learned about his concerns about "unfairness" within my ability to be in (part) of the teen grid while he can't be in the main grid. I thought we had a good beginning of an important conversation.

Then, today, I found the following in our sandbox:

I guess if we can all speak with him one at a time...

Posted by Barry at 10:08 PM | | Comments (2)

[teen/VVP] Peace Education

Hello everyone. Sorry I did this kind of last minute, but I guess it's okay. At least it's done, right? Last week on Thursday was a very good class and I can recall talking about peace education. I think peace education is vital to the way that children and teens alike go about their lives. I think we should over look our history and see what can we do not to make the same mistakes, and that starts with peace. It was nice to see all of us come together and think of ideas of peace and justice, the two essential things that make a neighborhood, a state, or even a country a good place to be. If only used in the right way, just as the quote from Martin Luther King states. I enjoyed learning that and hope tp learn..... and I guess everyone can remember this, Happiness starts with Peace!!!!!!!!
~Nicholas

Posted by VVP Nick at 6:35 PM | | Comments (0)

[teen/VVP] What I learned on Thursday

Hey guys. Im just here blogging. Last thursday, we talkd about peace and justice. It made me think of it in a way i've never thought about it. How with justice, there's potential to make peace and with peace, there's potential to have justice. I've learned alot in this program, and I hope to learn even more through out this year in this program.

Posted by VVP Alex at 5:05 PM | | Comments (0)

[teen/VVP] Workshop on Thursday 11/30

In our global kids meeting on thursday we discussed both peace and justice. We were split up into groups and had to look up an article about one of the topics. We then had to look for a picture of it and publish it on to second life. This task was both educational and fun. It helped give a self awarness of the problems faced by people all around the world. It also helped show us how we can upload photos and create billboards in second life.

Posted by VVP Hassan at 4:38 PM | | Comments (0)

[teem/p4k] GK as an Humanitarian Effort

Global Kids is an innovative program which allows kids to learn about global issues while
enjoying themselves. These programs allow kids to express their opinions and contribute
to a growing humanitarian movement amongst people in the world.

Posted by p4kjonathan at 4:31 PM | | Comments (0)

[teen/p4k] Using Second Life in P4K

second life is fun
I really enjoy playing on it and meeting new people
its really addicting. Once you play it, you'll never want to get off.

Posted by clautaire at 4:31 PM | | Comments (0)

December 3, 2006

[teen/VVP] peace and justice

In our last meeting, on Thursday, we learned about peace and justice. To me, peace is people working together to not let a problem get out of hand. To me justice is what a person thinks is right or wrong. If people know between right or wrong, they will probably make the right decision. When people make the right decision, there will be peace. Therefor, when there is justice, there is peace.

Posted by VVP mohamado at 1:53 PM | | Comments (0)

[dmya] Meet a Few of the Advisory Members

Below are a few short bios by a number of the members in this year's Global Kids Digital Media Youth Advisory:

Troy A.
My Hobbies include playing video games and listening to music and playing football etc. I enjoy listening to R & B and most rap. My life goal is to be the best I can be in any academic courses. My favorite subject is Literacy because I get to express myself by using words. I got involved in Global Kids when two trainers introduced me. I was thrilled and wanted to find out more. I thought that since I love technology and the Digital Media Youth Advisory is based simply on technology I'd find it interesting to see what I can learn. My most vital piece of technology would have to be the computer, which is the brain of most technology devices. It delivers a lot of digital media in many shapes and forms.

Sonam D.
I would want to be part of the Digital Media Youth Advisory because teenagers today are judged and looked at differently. A gap has been created where kids don't understand adults and vice versa. This program, I believe, is a stepping stone to help narrow this gap down.

Ayesha
I am a senior in high school. I am currently in Global Kids and it is my third year doing it. I was introduced to the Digital Media Youth Advisory from Global Kids. I was interested in this program because I am part of the youth and media does affect my life in a positive way. By joining this program I can alter the minds of skeptics on digital media and technology by talking about the good aspects of technology.

Haisu Q.
I was born in Wenzhoo, China and came to America at the age of ten. I am currently a senior in High School. I have been a Global Kids Leader for about two years now. I joined the Global Kids Digital Media Youth Advisory because digital technology is very important in our lives and am eager to learn how I can contribute to the program.

Syndie E.
My name is Syndie and I'm 18 years old. I am a senior in High School. I like to get involved in a lot of things that I think are fun or important. I'm part of the Global Kids Digital Media Youth Advisory because I love playing games and digital media is all around us every day when we walk out the door and also when using computers.

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

[blog, blog, blog] Ayiti in the Blogosphere

  1. From Kotaku: (a gaming blog with almost 6,000 links from other blogs, according to Technorati)
    "Students at South Shore High School in North Carolina have been passing up normal after school activities for video games...though not to play them. For the past year they've been meeting after school in order to develop meaningful video games with messages attached. It's all part of a program that melds game development with social awareness, and with the help of Global Kids and local developer Gamelab their first game has just been released online. Called "Ayiti: The Cost of Life," it puts the player in control of a family of five poor Haitians in what can best be described as a family management sim.

    As you can imagine, the game is dreadfully depressing. You deal with bad weather, low income, hunger, etc. as you desperately try to keep the family alive. It's not fun, but I suppose that was the point. It shows a level of social awareness you certainly wouldn't expect in a group of American high school students. I think the program a brilliant way to mix gaming and learning with extremely positive results. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go borrow a Zoloft."

    North Carolina? Well, we in NYC can ignore that for the moment (we think this is due to their local network airing the NY1 piece), as there are some wonderful comments posted in response, like: "Very interesting concept. As a teen myself, the ideas behind it are not very surprising, but the way the message is put forward is very interesting, and indeed very good. It sets you thinking about what dilemmas such families have to face on a daily basis, and of the hardships they have to endure. It's all in a very sweet package (a video game) so it hits you even stronger than "any campaign" bashing you with ad-like content (you get the point)"


  2. At pupletigiron there is a very interesting debate centered around our game about the line between a good simulation and a rigged, oversimplified representation. worth checking out.

  3. This one is only of interest because blogs are not just talking about our game, but how OTHER blogs are talking about their own coverage of the game.

Posted by joyce at 4:16 AM | | Comments (0)

[vvp] Video of Machinima Leaders Learning to Fly

We taught the new GK Leaders how to fly in Second Life with the game - Bump the Barry! As Barry flew around, the teens did everything the could to bump into him. Check it out.


Posted by joyce at 2:58 AM | | Comments (0)

[dmi] MacArthur Releases Video and Brochure on New Initiative

The MacArthur Foundation recently released both a video and a pdf to promote their new Digital Media and Learning Initiative. Both items offer an exciting overview of their work and include interviews with members of GK's Digital Media Youth Advisory, as well as video and photos from both the advisory and Global Kids work in Second Life.

Download the brochure here

Posted by joyce at 2:55 AM | | Comments (0)

[SL] Global Kids Symposium

Barry Joseph and Rafi Santo presented on lessons learned from Camp Global Kids to an eager crowd at the NMC Campus in the main grid of Second Life. The audio was produced through a conference call into the grid while participants responded and reacted through text chat.

Listen to the audio of the presentation below or download it here.


powered by ODEO

Posted by joyce at 2:52 AM | | Comments (0)

[dmi] The Global Kids Experience

Below is a video about Global Kids, which includes a segment on our Online Leadership Programs.

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

[podcast] American Jewish World Services Presentation on the Genocide in Darfur

Below is the audio file from the presentation given to Camp GK in the summer of 2006 by Gita Zomrodi of American Jewish World Services, about the genocide in Darfur.


powered by ODEO

Click here to download.

Posted by joyce at 2:41 AM | | Comments (0)

December 2, 2006

[SL] Global Kids Island gets a little more global

Cory Ondrejka, chief technology officer of Linden Lab, took a trip to Singapore this week to speak at the Global Summit for Creative Industries. While he was there, he figured he'd introduce some teens from the one of the most technologically forward thinking cities in the world to his world of Second Life.

On the virtual end of this introduction was Global Kids Island, where we were thrilled to be inundated by the group of Singaporean young people. They were literally falling from the sky!

Singaporean teens on Global Kids Island

After they gathered themselves up off the ground, we toured the island, with lots of help from others in-world. Big shout outs to Claudia Linden, Mercury Metropolitan, Mariel Voyunicef and Alpha Zaius, who in a pinch threw together a flying tour bus, creaky wheels and all, to shuttle everyone around the island.

Bringing people and perspectives from around the world together is a key part of Global Kids' work, and we love that there's now a great medium through which we can do this.

Singaporean teens take a ride

Posted by Rafi Santo at 9:04 AM | | Comments (0)

December 1, 2006

[Teen VVP]

Well, lets see. This is probably my first entry I'm writing in the website. Let me start off with what I did on Thursday. First, it kind of started out the way we didn't expect. That being said, the computers started losing their internet connection. Lucky for the people that were there in the Museum, the fixed the thing though : ). After that, the lesson officialy started.
What we did was log in to Second Life and our assignment was actually very interesting. We had to make a billboard that were based on peace and justice. It was amazing how many people had so many ideas. But one question that crossed my mind was: Will there ever be any peace and justice in this world? To this question, I don't think I have an answer, but it is a hard question to answer. This program is very interesting because this program actually promotes peace and justice.
Well, that's all I have for now. I'll have some more articles in another time. Till then, see you all next week!!!!

Posted by VVP Jack at 8:06 PM | | Comments (0)

[vvp] Billboards of Peace and Justice

In yesterday's Machinima program, we took the GK Leaders into Second Life and led discussions about peace and justice while teaching them how to import images into SL and make billboards.

Below are some photos of the teens sitting a top their billboards (depicting either the presence or absence of peace or justice) followed by the processing inside the GK Clubhouse (only half the teens are depicted since we only have enough computers for half the students to be in world at any one time).

Posted by Barry at 9:31 AM | | Comments (1)

[teen/VVP]

hey, how are you all doing today?
well let me tell you that today we did an activity that was fun, we got to express our feelings towards peace and justice by showing a picture in second life. we all did a pretty nice job with the pictures.
i think this was a great experience because not only we could see what the people in the groups thinks about the topic but people outside people could also see it and give their opinions.
so that pretty much what we did today
see you around
take care muahzzzzz to everyone

Posted by VVP-maria at 12:30 AM | | Comments (0)