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If I had the chance to really tell someone what Naples is about, I would tell them that it is not a very sustainable place to live or to visit and to make them believe me I would show them pictures of neighbor and not just what hotels want you to see.
If i had to give someone advice about naples i would let them know that it is very dirty and alot of garbage all over the town.
I would say that Naples is not very sustainable because of its trash problem. Also i would say that it something should be done about it because it can kill people because of the toxics.
i would tell them that naples is such a dirty place and needs help to be cleaned up.
I would say one word and that word would be "atrocious" and then show then some picture o some examples.
In Napels the trash problem is becoming worse and worse with many legal dumps already offically closed. The problem has become so sever that trash can be seen dumped along the city streets of Naples which is the largest city in southern Italy. I belive that if we as humans continue to let this problem worsen and other problems like it around the world planet earth will soon become just like Naples, only on a much larger scale.
Dont go there its full dirty, they have garbage in the street and it smells and if you do want to go to Naples go to a hotel they have clean hotels.
I would tell the person about naples and how people waste food an throw away object that can be recycle like cardboard boxes , chairs , tables , glass,can, and so on. I would try to made the question clear. like if you go there your going to smell the trash and i would show them picture of how bad the place is there are trash everywhere you go i would try to help out meaning get the community together to clean up all the trash.
If i was supposed to convince people about naples situation, i would tell them that naples has an situation about trash everywhere on the streets and near people's homes and businesses. I would also tell them that having the trash there,it would bring the stench around people businesses.
Naples was once a very beautiful city, but they had this one problem it was really dirty there. In Naples there is garbage and trash all over the streets and nobody picks up the garbage anymore. There isn't even enough room to put trash all of the dumps are filled they even have illegal dumps and those are filled to. Soon Naples is going to be a garbage city and everyone that live there would become very sick from all of this trash.
This is a very big problem! Naples is suffering from stink smells,piles of garbage, and loads of rats and cockroaches. and a big problem is they are releasing toxins and some toxins can cause cancer, if we try to burn he trash then we may release super toxins which in bad for the environment and its citizens.
The severity of the situation in Naples is very bad . The landfills are becoming very full. And there is no place to put so it ends up on the street.The burning of the trash by citizens is realesing toxic waste in to the air.The trash is affecting the people and their heath.WE should recycle more .And no one should visit there because its an unstainable place .
i would try to persuade them that it is not as good as it seems;and it is very dirty and if you go their it is bad for your health. it would be bad for your health because of all of the toxins in the air.
to me i would say that naples was a great place to live but the garbage problem is unbearable and that if you are going to live there you would need alot of supplies and its not that sustainable .
I will tell them how bad naples is doing right now. We have a bad situation with naples, people don't have place to throw their garbage so what they do is just throw it in some places and that's bad for them because we all know that garbage or trash contains contamination, bad odors, bad airs, disease and all that. There are a lot of people with some kind of sick because of naples. So I will recommend you not to go there and If I was the president of that country I will try my best to find ways to fix this problem.
On April 23, 2008, 39 youth in Teen Second Life participated in the 2.5 hour public forum, "From Myspace to Hip Hop: New Media In the Everyday Lives of Youth." It addressed how digital technologies and new media are changing the way that young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life, presented by Common Sense Media, the MacArthur Foundation and the Stanford University School of Education.
As is common in Teen Second Life, Global Kids facilitated processing questions during the live video stream, encouraging youth to respond to the content of the video and relate it back to their own lives. The following are some of the highlights, addressing such topics as:
On MySpace, Facebook and Parental Restrictions
Barry GKid: Do any of you have parents who say you can't be on myspace or facebook?
Jim Bian: Mine. Apparently *The environment will teach me wrong and unprofessional manners*
Jim Bian: it's not like you don't learn it everywhere else.
Jim Bian: Middle School teaches you everything.
Jim Bian: It's the real world.
Kimmy Rau: my parents wont let me have my pic on myspace >.>
Barry GKid: Kimmy, what do you think about that?
Kimmy Rau: its not big of deal. I understand why they don’t want me to, and we’ve even discussed alternatives.
Barry GKid: Kimmy, what sort of alternatives?
Darkstone Lax: alternative profiles
Kimmy Rau: like. putting a bag over my head or using paint or some other program to "edit" my face
On Socializing in Teen Second Life
Emondrell Raymaker: On the TSL you can be having fun blowing up cars or flying large pigs around, and just meet people that way.
Jim Bian: parents would FLIP at that quote.
Barry GKid: So what sort of things do you think you learn about social relations in Second Life, that helps you offline, that you don't learn in school?
Jim Bian: You learn that not everyone is an @$$hole, and that you're not alone.
Al Cryotank: well, SL allows me to discuss things i would not normally feel comfortable talking about in RL so it does give me things to know for discussions with my RL friends.
Kimmy Rau: I can make more friends and better friends and feel more confident with my self /me pokes kris xD
Hunter Trommler: ya i find it’s easier to make more friends on SL XD because it doesn’t have its little "clicks/groups" like schools do...
On Second Life and Homophobia
Kristofer Lubitsch: I have to say SL has been the best experience for me
Kristofer Lubitsch: I used to be like gays aren’t cool
Kristofer Lubitsch: well since coming here I have learned more about them and found out that they are people also
Demina Druth: Yeah, I don't know many people around where I live that are lesbian. And being on here has helped me talk to other lesbian teens
Malifico Bade: and if someone is racist/homophobic or discriminatory they're run out of Sl
On “Kiddy” Virtual Worlds
Kimmy Rau: neopets... club penguin some kids at my school still play that R-O-F-L
Hunter Trommler: buy clothes for there digital pets xD
Al Cryotank: my cousin got me to try club penguin, useless game...
Barry Gkid: oh, tell me more. Why is it funny that they play club penguin and neopets?
Kimmy Rau: because there are better, older teenager games out there and we’re past those things. also. very lame graphics and retarded "themes"
Hunter Trommler: kids in my class (I’m in grade 9...in Canada! Go Canada! WOOOOO!)...anyway....play some weird game called "webkinz" its so messed up watching them its more pointless then neopets....
Barry Gkid: What do you think those people might say about you in Second Life?
Hunter Trommler: well XD.....proably the same thing....
Demina Druth: Anytime I tell my friends about SL they think it sounds lame
On Showing Their Second Life Avatars To Friends and Family
Barry Gkid: So the speaker went into people's homes, with their permission, and just watched what they did online.
Barry Gkid: What do you think an outsider to your family like her would observe if they watched you and your family?
Kimmy Rau: if we were also sharing sl with her, i would probably be more kinda, and act like maybe a kinda person then i am (would also show her furry fandom. furries are not talked about enough)
Kristofer Lubitsch: I would show them. I want them to see what most teens do into today’s society
Barry Gkid: Kristofer, what would you want to make sure she would see?
Kristofer Lubitsch: If I had to show her one thing it would about the furry fandom
Barry Gkid: Kristofer, what would you want her to know about Furry fandom?
Kimmy Rau: awesome avatars for one XD
Barry Gkid: Who shows their avatars to their friends or family, and what do they say about them?
Kimmy Rau: well. I bet first a lot of people would be interested why we’re animals as opposed to humans
Barry Gkid: Kimmy, true. And why is that?
Kristofer Lubitsch: I let my brother and sister see my avatars and some of my friends they were freaked out at first
Hunter Trommler: i show them to friends and family...and well my friends reactions are for the most part... find it weird that I play SL cause they don’t see the point of it...
Hunter Trommler: and my family is like w/e XD
Kimmy Rau: i have to both. my friends (who are animal freaks like me) and my parents have also asked why I’m a human. I say that its turn because most people to get used to fact of talking, two legged animals. And I guess if you talk to them about it and leave the fact about your animal out, then they picture this as a human/avatar thing only
Kaya Heartsdale: I let my parents & friends see, but no one really gets freaked out. My mom thinks some of the things my avatar wears are weird but other then that, no one really comments.
“Hip Hop is the Web 2.0 of the Streets”
Barry Gkid: Hip-hop!
Kristofer Lubitsch: Hip hop I believe has degraded today’s society
Barry Gkid: Kristopher, Hip hop itself or the way commercial record companies have used aspects of it to sell records?
Al Cryotank: I don’t like rap, it’s mainly the lyrics, but the rhythm in it rocks, if you changed the lyrics then I’d love rap
Barry Gkid: If you like the beats but don’t like the lyrics then look beyond the stuff at the front of the store. :-) There is a lot out there
Kristofer Lubitsch: well most of today’s rap is about killing gangsters and their drugs
Kristofer Lubitsch: I have not heard a lot of good rap where they talk about love and things
Barry Gkid: Maybe you're just not looking for the love rap, the socially conscious rap
Barry Gkid: I am not here to defend rap and hip-hop but I want to be clear that what rose from the streets, from african americans, is VERY DIFFERENT from what white producers market and sell to white middle class kids in the suburbs, who have the most money to spend on music
Barry Gkid: In many ways, hip-hop is the Web 2.0 of the streets
Barry Gkid: People participating, not just consuming, mixing different things to make something new, then sharing it in communities
Barry Gkid: Do any of you make music?
Kaya Heartsdale: I sing at church and in my friends 'band'.
Kimmy Rau: yea im also in band
Kristofer Lubitsch: I make music on my computer
Kristofer Lubitsch: more like Techno and Trance
Demina Druth: <3 techno
Barry Gkid: The speaker is saying that music allows people to engage with the world - is that true for any of you?
Al Cryotank: yeppers barry
Kristofer Lubitsch: yes it is
Kimmy Rau: true for me
Kristofer Lubitsch: Techno allows me to express my feelings at that time
Kimmy Rau: i like music that you can listen to and feel the music happening to you, like if something where special to happen, i could sit and picture it in my mind
Kristofer Lubitsch: Some times people make or listen to music just to get away from the slings and arrows of life.
On March 20, 2008, Global Kids brought a live simulcast of Kofi Annan receiving an award from the MacArthur Foundation into a variety of virtual worlds.
One of the highlights was working in Whyville for the first time. We had no idea what we would fine and were thrilled with the results. 181 kids visited the Greek Theater in Whvyille during the event, and 87 of them chatted at least 1 phrase. Jen, from Numedeon, and her tech team worked with Amira and myself to facilitate the event, using a combination of scaffolded questions and polls we had prepared in advance. While we facilitated the text conversation the tweens watched the live streamed video on the same Web page they used for viewing Whyville.
The staff at Global Kids were pretty inspired by the level of engagement and awareness the event generated amongst the youth.
The following are some highlights from the transcript of the event:
The following are some more highlights from the event, but through screenshots:
The tweens welcome us:
Responding to questions about what Kofi Annan has done:
Responding to questions about what is the United Nations:
Debating the importance of various human rights. Note live poll in center:
Appreciating human rights:
Do you think they liked Kofi Annan?
Appreciating the International Criminal Court:
Responding to questions about what youth can do to fight for human rights:
Discussing public figures who have inspired them:
What they learned from attending the day’s event:
Do they want Global Kids to return to Whyville? It’s 22 to 3:
View all of the photos on our Flickr set or watch a short video of the event below:
This was my first time going bowling, and learning how to bowl. Thought it was easy, and I wasn't the only one who was bad at bowling. One thing that I learned is that there are more programs that are out there in GK that I didn't know about. One thing that I wish we will succeed in is finishing our project about discrimination against education. 
1/2 of aluminum cans 1/4 bottles and 1/4 of diapers.We can reduce the amount of cans and bottles by recycling.
i think that aluminum cans take up 30% of the landfill bottles take up 20% old diapers take up 5% and other takes up the rest. i say this because people are throwing out things they do not need so it ends up in the landfill.
I think that in the averge american landfill would be filled with mostly aluminnum cans and plastic bottles beacause these things are used almost daily my a large percentage of the american population.
the percentage of the items inside of the landfill like aluminum, diapers, bottles, etc. i think would be 40% for each item because there is a lot of people throwing these trashes away.the present of each item makes the landfill difficult because most of the items wouldn't move or it would not be reused.
I THINK DIRTY DIAPERS TAKE UP A BIG PERCENTAGE. IF IT STAY IN THE LANDFILL IT WILL ATTRACT FLIES AND DECEASES
I think diapers take up a bigger percentage in a landfill because they can't be reused again and if they sit there for a long time they may affect the smell of the landfill and there is human waste in them which can cause diseases.
i think 100% of aluminum, cans, bottle, diaper, etc takes up the landfill. I think this because most of the things that i seen was mostly aluminum, can, and chairs.
I think food has the highest percentage. I think so because people normally wast food even if its a little bit of food being wasted. While the items are in there they just wont disappear, they would rot and animals would come and eat it.
The percentage of (Aluminum,Bottles,diapers,etc..) that consume a landfill ,for each of them i think of it as a pie chart because most of garbage that is found in the landfill of naples. What the etc. stands for is other which is mostly the type of garbage that has to take more space so i say etc.. 50% , aluminum 30%, diapers 15% and bottles 5% because most of the time bottles are recyclable.
if you leave aluminum out in a landfill there for years they would probably stay the same cans will rust bottles will stain and diapers would probably just leave a distinct smell / odor around the landfill and I write these things because this is what i think would happen.
I think that aluminum cans, bottles, diapers, etc, takes up about 90% of most landfills.I think this is because a lot of people don't recycle and they throw recyclable things out like bottles and paper.I think that this have a negative affect on the environment because eventually these items release toxins into the air.
I think cans and bottles take up about 35% of landfill paper takes up about 15% aluminum 10% electronic 25% and food trash about 20%.
I think that the percentages of the many different items in a landfill is as follow
-Aluminum cans 10% because almost everyone just throws them away instead of recycling
-Bottles 20% because everyday someone buys a soda and does not recycle it
-Other waste 40% because there are many other unnecessary items that people throw out all of the time such as electronics, clothing, metal, food, and waste.
-Paper, plastic and other recyclable objects 30% because not many of us recycle at home.
I think other objects that we recycle have more percent, than the one that we throw away because we get it back new.
1.the experience was ok and I learned the different seating of the people.
2.I was the informant and I learned that they were a main key in the game.
3.yes it did.
4.Mine was the girl that was 17 with the shorts, because she looks agile. Some changes would be torn type clothing.
1. I didn't get the chance to to get in the role-playing but I did participate by telling them what were wrong and right.
2. The character that I voted to be in the game was very great for the game.
Today in GK we learned how to play the game. They showed us an example of the levels. I was actually the main player of the game. In my personal experience as the main character, I felt as though it was important to rescue the people in need. I didn't feel like the character resembled me at all. She had really curly, short hair and it looked like straight hair. She had high cheek bones.
Well I didn't get a chance to experience role playing, but I did view my fellow classmates role play and "What a surprise it was ".
1.In the game my experience grew because I got a better understanding of the game.
2.In the game I played the role of the game.
3.The game gave me a good understanding of the game because I got to know the roles of the characters.
4. I like the giver's role because all they had to do was give supplies to the main character.
Today in global kids me and my classmates were reviewing the game we are creating for the year. While my classmates and I were role playing i found it to be very interesting because we got to act out the description of the game. This gave us a better perspective of what to expect when the game is actually able to play.
The role I played was an observer. I watched as my classmates acted out how the game would be when it is published. I felt that this position for me was really important because this gave me a chance to give the play my undivided attention without distraction.
The character art that i liked the most was the third one of the female wearing the shorts. I liked her the most because she had the most detail to her features comapared to the other women who were demonstrated in the character displays.
Art B does not need anything change because it's fine just the way it is. It can be used in the game
The role-playing game that I have experienced today was kinda fun.
I really personally think that the Concept Art decisions were a bit awkward, but it was fairly acceptable. There were only two pieces of art that were good but I didn't really figure the difference between the two pictures. But instead I chose the the one with the jeans because in that picture, she really look like she was going on a real adventure but really that was the only reason why I chose it.
My experience was that it was fun because I got to learn more about the game that we are making. I also got to learn about the different people in the game like injured people, the givers, the informants, evacuee and the injured evacuee. I was the Evacuee. It was fun. Yes this activity gave me a better understanding of the game because it help us see it so far. I like the third character art because that one looked like a real person to help people. the changes that could be made is that they could add something to her bandanna and they could make her look a little bit more muscular.
My role with playing the different levels of the game was actually a great experience because it gave me a bigger perspective of how the game was. I played a roll of a giver giving supplies to the main character. This activity actually gave me a better understanding of the game. I like the girl with the short pants but I would suggest that she be black because a higher population of New Orleans are black people. And she would be more bigger.I really suggest the girl with the long pants and a timberland boots .
Hello its me Christopher again. Well today we were role playing our game (I was an NPC)
It was, I'll be honest.... Boring. trust me it did not feel like a platformer it felt like an RPG or something slower.
Well we looked at about 5 IMGs. for the concept art and only two ticked my interest. They're both ok so i don't think we can improve on it. (Yeah i like the less is more idea.) well thats it ciao!
On this specific day (Monday, April 28, of 2000...and 8 to be exact and precise), the road to creating our game has continued and let's just say that all of the participants got a first-hand look at what many will come to expect....the only difference, we didn't see anything. Instead, we interpreted one of the levels in the game and i must admit that it was very entertaining in terms of completing the project. My part in this activity was what we call an "Injured Evacuee" (E+) and I assume you already know what I had to do. I must say that I have never had that much fun acting in all my existence. My experience wasn't that much of a freight to me because this wouldn't be the first time I have acted as someone or something I wouldn't normally interpret be it for a project and/or a video/documentary/etc.
For the extension of this entry, I must also admit that this activity actually KEPT ME AWAKE!!!
But for the most part, I got a more heightened understanding of the concept of the game, let-alone what should be expected in terms of playing the game in general. The p4k gang also had to choose both a character and a background for the game, (four characters, two backgrounds) and the one that I was most satisfied with was the female character in shorts (holding a flashlight), because, (not to be confused with Lara Croft or anything in particular), she embraced the type of attitude unlike any other video game character and seemed to look as though she was ready to handle any task and overcome any obstacle that stood before her. I also chose the background of shadows, as i call it, (just a bunch of houses with a shadowing background), because it had a lot of details needed for the theme of this game.
In a landfill I think that we will find old furniture, food, old metal parts, out of date electronics, glass, wood ,paper, and plastic. I think so because after a while almost everyone throws these items out, especially the paper, out of date electronics, glass, and food because in my very own house that is what gets thrown out more often.
i think that you will find used ipods, food, cardboard, parts of cars, paper, cans, and even old furniture. And you will find these items because they are no longer used and things that will remain are ipods, food, parts of cars, and cans.
some items i might find in a landfill is likely to be cans,bottles,plastic bags, papers, straws,and food. i would find these items because these are things people use everyday and people throw it out all the time and it cause more trash.
the things you can find in a landfill is garbage metal and some food
i think that i would most likely find garbage in the landfill. in the garbage you would find like old bottles, car parts, cans and etc. i think that they would be in the landfill because once you are done with it then you just throw it away.
The items i think I would find in a landfill is plastics, cans, used items, food, paper, and old furniture. I think you would find those items in a landfill because they are non-renewable and people can get more of it.
Landfills
The types of items i think i would find at landfills would be a variety of things ranging from plastics to old tv's.
-plastic bottles
-plastic wrappers
-card board boxes
-old mattraces
-old tv's
-Cans
-Paper
These things would be most common because those things are you used by almost every human being on the planet and take hunderds to thousand of years to biodegrade if.
Items that i would most likely find in a landfill would be trash and other disposable items.An example of what would be in a landfill is food . Food cannot be disposable
the items i might find in a landfill is unused junk that broke the first time the person used it and used things that people had alot of fun with it and they just decided that they have too much things so they throw away most of their things and that item is one of them You would find them in a landfill because people think that they don't need it but they should keep it because it is a waste of money but most people don't realize it
I would say that Naples is in a serious need of a clean up. If this dose not happen i don't think anyone in their right mind would want to visit or even live there.
Item I think i will find an a landfill would be clothes people threw away, chair that may not be good anymore,cup,glass old smelly shoe, food that people threw away used car pairs, maybe computer desk top, keyboard, mouse maybe cardboard, cans, paper.
The items i think i would likely find in a landfill would be garbage, food, clothes, toys, games ,cardboard, fruits, plastic , cans ,bottle caps, and all different kind of food. i would find these things in a landfill because a landfill i believe is were you pack garbage there all the time and when you have garbage you will find a lot of things like food inside. Also the reason i would find these in a landfill because theses are things i put in my garbage and family members also do so i believe that those are some of the things i would find.
Below is a post from the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning blog in which Barry Joseph writes about Comparing Apples and Oranges in Virtual Worlds.
Global Kids reflects on lessons learned from a massively multiworld simulcast of Kofi Annan’s receipt of the MacArthur Award for International Justice.
Not all virtual worlds are created equally, even those with the greatest potential to host educational content. On March 20th, Global Kids hosted the first massively multiworld simulcast across four virtual worlds, bringing a live speech by Kofi Annan after receiving the first ever MacArthur Foundation ‘s International Justice Award to Second Life, Teen Second Life, Whyville, and There.com, not to mention the web.
To see what I am talking about, please watch the brief video below:
The above statement and the accompanying video, however, erase the very important differences between these very different places that we conveniently label “virtual worlds.” But what choice did we have? As we begin to develop a more sophisticated way of publicly talking about the social impact of this emerging medium, it is important we learn better ways to distinguish between them than just 2D vs. 3D.
If we focus on just two of the venues, Teen Second Life (TSL) and Whyville, we can see that the outcomes were similar; in both locations a group of teens watched the live stream of Kofi Annan while participating in a reflective conversation led by adult facilitators. The experience, however, for both teen participants and the Global Kids staff members facilitating their conversation, could not have been more different.
While TSL residents could design and embody 3D designs of elaborate avatars, Whyvillians are limited to “face parts,” which is to say simple 2D images to stick on their head, somewhat akin to Colorforms.
When TSL residents arrived they walked, flew or teleported into our arena, stood around or sat their avatar in one of the chairs we provided on the Global Kids estate, waving their arms, applauding, or doing flips while watching the projected video on a virtual screen. When a Whyvillian entered the Greek Theater designed and managed by Whyville, they watched their avatar float across their screen and come to rest in an open seat and, other than occasionally jiggle around their seat, couldn’t budge. Meanwhile, on the same Web page used for viewing Whyville, the video stream was hosted, which could be watched not “within” but “alongside” the 2D space occupied by their avatar.
TSL residents participated in an open chat, with its own chat history for reference, and which offered the sort of basic options one would find in a text editor, like cut & paste. Whyvillians, however, are significantly constrained in their ability to communicate, with no chat history, no ability to cut and paste and, in fact, no ability to edit a sentence without using the backspace key.
Finally, while the TSL residents were equals with us adults at Global Kids, albeit from a technological perspective, the Whyvillians were far from equal. Adult moderators control who can walk around the stage area, can pose questions and polls, and can click on a Whyvillians to feature their comment in the center of the screen. In fact, many of these powers were not even available to Global Kids staff but were reserved by our partners at Numedeon, which administers Whyville.
So on the surface, TSL offer a much more sophisticated toolset for both self-expression and communication and offers greater powers to educators seeking to work in such spaces. Yet, nonetheless, as mentioned above, both outcomes were similar. How could this be?
In part, I think this is answered by the different age groups - Whyville serves the middle school crowd while TSL serves older teens. While those in high school might bristle at constraints, it was clear that Whyville’s toolset was designed to provide opportunities for teens to please the adult (e.g. featuring individual comments). And while Teen Second Life might offer more sophisticated tools, the learning curve is considerably steep, too steep for many teens, while Whyville’s web-based world can be easily accessed by even the oldest of computers on the slowest connections.
The lesson learned? On one hand we need to develop more sophisticated language to easily differentiate between different worlds in such areas, for example, as tools for self-expression, communication and adult facilitation. But doing so needs to be developed in parallel with research that can highlight the elements of virtual worlds that are most likely to develop informed and engaged global citizens.
On Friday, Tabitha invited me to attend the PodCampnyc Conference in Brooklyn. At the conference, I was highly nervous to introduce myself as VVP student on behalf of the others in Global Kids. I barely understood much what the educators there were chatting about, but I pretty much understood that they're trying to find better ways to educate students they work with, including themselves. I was selected by Tabitha, and I enjoyed my time to be with Tabitha at this conference to represent Global Kids to the educators and others attending. As I was highly nervous, I tried my best to support her. The good thing was that most people at the conference were very interested in what she was saying. Most of them didn't know about this online game called Second Life, but most of them were interested in how we use it. Some educators were asking me questions about VVP, and I answered them. After the conference we had lunch, Tabitha paid for me. This was a great opportunity, thanks!
-Matt
The 2nd OLP Symposium was great! Compared to the first, I thought it was really exciting; however, I don't know if I am the right person to judge because in the first symposium the Virtual Video Project was in semi-working mode to complete what we were working, which later was used to screen at the museum. Then again, I think everyone enjoyed it at the bowling alley even if we weren't good bowlers.
I thought it would be interesting to bowl with my non-dominant hand (left hand) for some reason, and it was. Mathew, Yessenia and I tied for first place on the first round. However, when the second round came along my arm got tired really quickly, and I probably should have stopped using the heavy ball! Nonetheless, it was fun!
Upon returning to the office, we took some time to relax since most of us were exhausted. Then we went onto showing some of the first machinimas from this year’s VVP. It was the 10 seconds machinimas based on how we represent ourselves in Second Life. This was our first try at filming in a virtual platform for display. It was nice looking back at that and having a good laugh about it. After sharing about the objectives of VVP for our final project, we heard from a few people from other programs such as Playing 4 Keeps (P4K) talking about what they were doing, and the same with the Digital Media Youth Advisory group. It was nice hearing from the P4K group because it really seemed like they were going through the same struggle as we were; trying to pick a topic. At the end, I think everyone had a hopeful perspective on the future and what we could accomplish! So overall, it was a great day!!!
Global Kids, the International Human Rights Law Institute and the Institute for War Peace Reporting invite you to participate in a virtual discussion "ICC101 -- a basic orientation to the International Criminal Court" on Thursday, April 24, 2008 from 4-6:30PM PST. Held at the International Justice Center in Second Life (click here to teleport), the event will feature a video simulcast and Q&A from an “Introduction to the ICC” event at DePaul University, in Chicago.
Head to Justicecenter.net to view the live stream or come participate in-world!
The full event description follows...
Here is the full event description:
Global Kids, the International Human Rights Law Institute and the Institute for War Peace Reporting invite you to a basic orientation to the International Criminal Court, where you will find answers to important questions like:
To get answers to these questions and more, come to the Global Kids’ International Justice Center (teleport link) on Thursday April 24 from 4-6:30PM PST to get a basic introduction to the International Criminal Court from a panel of ICC experts.
WHAT: Video simulcast and Q&A from “Introduction to the ICC” event at DePaul University, Chicago, USA
WHERE: International Justice Center Amphitheater (click here to teleport)
Also viewable on the web at http://www.justicecenter.net
WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 4-6:30PM PST
SPEAKERS:
Global Kids, in cooperation with the International Human Rights Law Institute, will be streaming live video from this panel at DePaul University in Chicago into Second Life at the International Justice Center as well as on the web at http://www.justicecenter.net. Virtual participants will be able to ask questions to the participants.
For more information, contact Global Kids at rik@globalkids.org or see the International Justice Center website at http://www.justicecenter.net.
About Global Kids
Founded in 1989, Global Kids’ mission is to transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civil life and the democratic process.
In 2006, Global Kids became the first non-profit to develop a dedicated space for programming in the virtual world of Teen Second Life (TSL). Global Kids brings students from its New York-based programs into the organization’s headquarters to conduct youth leadership programming and stream audio and video of major international events. This innovative program is conducted in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, UNICEF, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Youth Venture, and the International Criminal Court, among others. More information on this program can be found on the blog http://holymeatballs.org/second_life/ and on Global Kids’ website at www.GlobalKids.org.
About the International Human Rights Law Institute
The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) is at the forefront of contemporary human rights research, training, and advocacy. Since its founding in 1990, the Institute has engaged in human rights training, post-conflict justice programs, and large-scale human rights documentation projects throughout the world. IHRLI conducts scholarly research on human rights, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law. The Institute also prepares DePaul law students, activists, and scholars for careers in human rights through fellowship programs, special courses, internships, and research opportunities in Chicago and abroad.
About the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is the world’s first international human rights tribunal, designed to investigate and try those accused of committing some of the worst violations of human rights, including genocide, mass rape and war crimes. The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands since 1998, is investigating and trying crimes committed in Sudan, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.
The IJC is a project of Global Kids and is supported by a generous grant from the Digital Media and Learning Initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The IJC is an independent initiative and does not purport to represent or imply any formal association with the International Criminal Court.
Henry, as Dumbledore, speaks with GK's Barry Joseph
This past weekend we were able to bring back to TSL one of our favorite people here at GK, Henry Jenkins. Two years ago Henry outlined 11 skills, what he called New Media Literacies, that he thought would be essential for teens in the 21st century, and Global Kids has since then been thinking about and framing our work in terms of the skills and challenges to their acquisition that he talked about.
We've also thought that it would be fun to bring Henry directly into our work, and so that was the impetus for his second visit to the residents of Teen Second Life. Cosplaying Dumbledore and talking to a dragon version of our own Barry Joseph, Henry participated in what we called the Hogwarts Dance Party of Good and Evil.
Jenkins dancing with fellow fans in Teen Second Life
Alternating between dancing to Wizard Rock bands like Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys and The Whomping Willows, Henry and Barry chatted about Harry Potter fan culture, its relationship to what Henry calls Participatory Culture and the linkages that Potter-related participatory culture has made to civic engagement around issues like media consolidation, human rights abuses in Darfur and HIV/AIDS.
One of the amazing things about the dance party/lecture format, something we've done before with Henry in TSL, was that we were actually able to bring the conversation we were having back to the songs that we were dancing to, as many of them were expressions of that very civic engagement culture we were talking about; songs relating to how the media can't always be trusted, or thinking about government's role in society.
On the whole, I love bringing events like this into TSL, ones where we really are able to get down and have fun on the level that the teens are at (and there are tons of Potter fans in TSL, I found about a dozen groups in the run up to the event), while also bringing them a level deeper, getting them to think critically about their participation in youth cultures like these, and what it means for their lives. Doing this actually addresses one of the main issues that Henry has written about, what he calls the Transparency Problem; the fact that teens are learning from their involvement in all sorts of media and culture, though aren't aware about the skills that they're developing as a result of this involvement.
A big thanks to Nicholas Kit, who put together the build for the event and helped with tons of the logistics in-world, Sylver Bu, who put together Henry's Dumbledore costume, and Mercury Metropolitan, who came in to help with some last minute preparations.
Check out a full machinima of the lecture below:
And the short version:
And photos from the event.
Tabitha Tsai, Multimedia Curriculum Specialist, will be speaking at the opening plenary on Friday, April 25th, at the Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Join her if you want to learn more about GK's work in Teen Second Life, the Virtual Video Project, or the CRC machinima camp with UNICEF last summer.
"Podcamp NYC is an “unconference” focused on educating participants on how to use, implement and share any/all new media tools including, podcasts, videocasts, blogs, Second Life, Facebook, and YouTube. The conference is FREE to attend and you’re a “participant” versus an “attendee” at our event. You also make our conference happen since you register to speak. You can talk about anything you want as long as it focuses on new media." Learn more on Podcampnyc.org
We've got our first concept art sketch. Let us know what you think!
Okay…how do I start this...
As I remember, I came into the GK office at around 9:10am, I was early so I waited for staff and students to show up. Then everyone came and the trip to the bowling place was fun. I have played along with Jamila and Sabina. Bowling was funnyt, hehe. At bowling, we assigned 5 players to one lane. I was with Nafiza, Yessenia, Michael and another cool friend from P4K (I forgot his name). This was my first time bowling! So when I tried it, I played well for a first-timer, but then in the second round I didn’t do as well, I kept missing those cone-shaped pins...
Then after bowling, as a group we went back to the office and introduced ourselves, and the programs to others I’ve never met before. It was fun.
Matt
It is with great enthusiasm that Global Kids announces the launching of RezEd: The Hub for Learning and Virtual Worlds!
Each month RezEd will feature inter-related podcasts, digital resources in the library, and featured blog posts. RezEd launches with a special focus on virtual worlds having their day in Congress earlier this month. Listen to the podcast interview with Larry Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, as he describes he experience testifying in Congress, read his and the other testimonies submitted that day, watch the full video of the hearings, and respond to this week's featured blog asking what YOU would have told or asked Congress.
Join us at www.rezed.org
Where do I begin on this entry? First of which, it's the second day on what i think is supposed to be Spring Break for all. Second of which, i am currently at the office of Global Kids (Had they not invented trains, i wouldn't be here right now)...Third of all of which, those who affiliate themselves with GK are going bowling! That's right, i said basketball, and we plan to have fun...if not, we will all be bored to tears, but what are the chances of that happening?
Heritage and culture - they define our identity. No matter where we turn, we are unconsciously exposed to snippets of other cultures, whether it is the taco restaurant around the corner or the fashionable kimonos at the mall. In today's global society, cultures are fusing - we have acquired numerous cultural characteristics that are not native to us. As members of a global MMORPG such as TSL, we need to question ourselves: do we parallel the real world by exhibiting and recognizing other cultures within our grid or do we assimilate?
On March 15, 2008, the Heritage and Culture within TSL intern event was held. The purpose of this event was to discuss if and how does culture play a role in TSL. We started off by defining what one would consider culture and heritage. We came to a consensus that heritage and culture are characteristics that are displayed by one's family origins that are shared by a regional or ethnic group. From there, we routed to the interactive map activity!
Red cylindrical place markers were distributed to the participants. Participants were encouraged to place two markers on the countries/nations of their family background. One participant was not able to place markers due to a lack of knowledge of their background, which did not hinder their participation in the discussion. After that, we proceeded to the next activity, which was an inventory scavenger hunt! The primary objective of the inventory scavenger hunt was to find an object that portrayed one's culture or background or any other particular culture or background. The participants appeared to have some difficulty in this activity. Regardless of the difficulties, we discussed how culture and heritage had an impact in TSL.
Interestingly, the difficulties in completing the second activity demonstrated an intriguing social dynamic in TSL. The participants were not able to find anything that distinguished their culture or the culture of someone else (this was surprising because the event was held around the same time St. Patrick's Day occurred). Through our short discussion (my SL client had crashed ) we came to the conclusion that irrespective of how global TSL may appear, TSL residents do not significantly display any sort of cultural distinction in their online activities. In the eyes of some, TSL residents attempt to assimilate into the TSL culture around them.
Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to pose the following questions or thoughts, so I shall pose them here and now. Due to the fact that TSL is marketed to numerous cultures, one would assume that the atmosphere on TSL is as diverse as the real world. However, according to the results of our discussion, it is foolish to assume so. Why? Why would it be uncanny to believe that TSL has a lack of cultural distinction when you have residents from both hemispheres? This question can only be answered by examining the past, present and the human psyche. As I had mentioned during our discussion, the United States in particular demonstrated what would be called a 'cultural melting-pot' during the 1950s. Offspring of immigrants abandoned their distinctively ethnic surnames for more 'Americanized' ones. Families attempted to mimic that of a Norman Rockwell painting. Consumers began to shop around for the latest trends because their friends said so. Why? The answer is simple: acceptance. Acceptance is something that everyone desires. The only big difference between the atmosphere of the 1950s and the atmosphere of TSL is that TSL is TSL. You are a character on TSL. One may decide to change their online persona in fear of not being accepted. After all, it is said that, out of all of the age groups, teens are the most critical of their peers. Perhaps some teens feel it is best to display little cultural distinctions out of fear of alienation. Or, perhaps some teens dislike or are embarrassed of their culture. Perhaps. Until we start asking questions, we can only continue to premise. Regardless, we should strive to make TSL a diverse place where residents feel comfortable with sharing their culture and heritage with their TSL peers and the general TSL community.
This was the location of the live stream from the event. In a few days, the footage will be posted online and available from this location. Thank you for your patience.
This was a huge week at Playing 4 Keeps! A huge gigantic week! I have long been writing in these posts that we’ve made progress here and there, this decision and that. Well this week we took a quantum leap and I’m proud to make two announcements.
This past month we received a generous grant from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). The funding will supplement the support we receive from Microsoft and allow us to partner with professional game developers. And that’s the next announcement. Playing 4 Keeps is now working with Digital Creations, Inc. to produce our game about Hurricane Katrina. Our goal, as always, is to maximize student involvement in the game creation process, but there are certain technical hurdles that inhibit student involvement in the production process. While we pursued some interesting options to have our GK leaders produce all the artwork and coding for the game, we eventually concluded that it just wasn’t feasible to have our students put in the number of hours necessary to produce a game by the end of the school year. Much as I would like to pull everyone out of school and run a super intense P4K 60 hours a week until June, well, some people might object.
Our program’s focus is on game design more than game creation, and so we’re happy to be partnering with Digital Creations to realize our vision. As I said to our students, “You’ve all been promoted to project managers.” Throughout the next couple months, our students will make key decisions in the design, sign off on artwork and sound design, and play test the alpha and beta to provide feedback. Digital Creations has a design document that represents the many decisions the students have already made, and they will be constantly working to ensure the product we see in June matches the vision that’s been evolving in our classroom. We’re very grateful to AMD for empowering us to pursue this relationship, and develop a game that will meet the high standards set by Ayiti.
With this new focus, we spent this week focused on what assets Digital Creations first needed to begin work. Students developed asset lists for the game, brainstorming what supplies people need in a catastrophe and which of those we want included in the game. We also explored an interactive flood map that the Times Picayune produced to see which neighborhoods flooded in what order. We then thought about what neighborhoods should appear in our game on the different levels, and found images of those neighborhoods to pass on to Digital Creations for concept art.
Finally, on Thursday we focused on sound design. Often, there are way more sounds in a game than players realize—separate jump up and land sound, ambient noise, three different sword swing sounds, etc. To help students understand this, we had them play different games and analyze the different sounds in the game. Then we distributed pages from our own design document and had teams list all the sounds they thought each level needs. We can now take those lists and use them to develop our full sound asset list for the game. So, as I say almost every week, there is still lots to do, but we’re making steady progress, and it feels great to have a clear direction and structure to work with.
Vacation Homework: Create a poster showing the following:
1) Use Google Maps to locate Naples, Italy and print out a map showing its location.
2) Use your knowledge and online research skills to compare and contrast the two sides of Naples we have looked at: The beautiful city that tourists love to visit and the city that is suffering from a huge trash problem (show your internet sources)
3) Discuss the impact that the problems of Naples have on the city's sustainability
Global Kids is delighted to have been invited to work with the new Joan Ganz Cooney Center to stream their inaugural, invite-only symposium on May 9th to a broader audience, live, through both the web and Second Life.
We will be streaming the event live on the web and broadcasting it live into Second Life were we will be hosting a viewing event during the entire day's events. Please join us in the NMC sim Teaching to attend virtually or click here to view on the web.
We encourage you to attend and submit questions to panelists throughout the day.
Further information and a schedule of panels follows:
9 AM -- Welcoming Remarks
9:30 AM -- Special Reports
10 AM -- From Virtual Worlds to Digital Classrooms: How Today’s Kids Are Knowing and Growing Today
11 AM -- Something Old, Something New: Literacy Challenges In a Global Age
12 PM -- Break
1 PM -- Keynote: The New Culture of Learning
1:30 PM -- Meeting the Challenge: What Key Sectors Can Do to Accelerate Children's Learning
2:30 PM -- Technology Forum: Presentation of Digital Media Best Practices
3:15 PM -- Wrap Up
Information about the event:
As children everywhere tap into the new digital playground through gaming, mobile devices and the Internet, educators, researchers, policymakers and high-tech industry leaders are joining forces to examine how these latest technologies are shaping the education of today's children. Galvanizing this effort is the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, an independent, not for profit research institute named for Sesame Street’s visionary founder. Today, Center executives announced plans to host a May 9 symposium in New York, “Logging into the Playground: How Digital Media are Shaping Children’s Learning.” This first ever, invitation-only event will explore how digital media can improve children’s literacy, learning and development.
Sponsored by McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions, and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), the leading interactive entertainment software company, the gathering will convene thought leaders from across research, communications and policy to discuss new research findings, the expansion of effective models, and new partnerships.Michael Levine, the Center's Executive Director, said: "Today's children are growing up in an era of rapid change. Unprecedented learning tools are at their disposal: real breakthroughs and remarkable gains in education are possible. We can and we must harness these promising communication technologies for children now, especially those who are lagging behind. The early endorsement of partners like McGraw-Hill, EA, CPB and PBS reinforce the importance of our mission. The symposium is a timely opportunity to convene the critical sectors to advance innovation and mobilize change."
The agenda for the day-long event, comprised of panel discussions, children-led demonstrations of new technologies and a hands-on forum promoting two dozen of the best digital media initiatives in the nation, features a keynote address by EA's Chief Creative Officer, Bing Gordon, and one of the first demonstrations of BOOM BLOX, a new game for Nintendo Wii developed by EA in association with director Steven Spielberg. All panels will be streamed on the web by the Center's partner Global Kids.
“This a momentous event, thought leaders from many different industries have come together to work toward one cause – to better the achievement of our nation’s children, “ said William Oldsey, executive vice president, McGraw-Hill Education. “The classroom is likely to change more in the next five to 10 years than it has in the last 50 or even 100 years, with technology being the key driver. McGraw-Hill Education is at the forefront of this change. Events like this one allow us to incorporate expertise from varied fields to better serve the technological needs of teachers and students.”
"EA is delighted to sponsor the very first Joan Ganz Cooney Center symposium on digital media’s impact on children’s development,” said EA Casual Entertainment Marketing Vice President, Russell Arons. “Digital Media’s impact on children is an area of great interest to EA and we’re excited to showcase the upcoming video game, BOOM BLOX, which combines strategic puzzles with fast paced action as an example of the video game evolution of learning and fun."
The results of three special reports will also be released at the symposium. The Cooney Challenge report will focus on the perspectives and recommendations of over 60 thought leaders who identified key research, policy, and practice issues to accelerate children's learning; a national survey (developed in association with Common Sense Media) exploring the perception of parents and educators about new media's educational potential; and a report featuring potential strategies to promote children's literacy and learning by the noted game expert and professor James Paul Gee from Arizona State University.
Journalists and experts in the field of digital media for children including Time Magazines' Claudia Wallis, author Lisa Guernsey and Children's Technology Review Editor and NY Times columnist Warren Buckleitner, will moderate and participate in panels on a variety of topics including the ways in which digital media shapes literacy development, critical thinking, creativity and cultural awareness. In addition they will discuss how to meet the new challenges that come with the growth of digital media, emerging learning technologies and which priorities the next President and the critical sectors should tackle first.
I just want to start off by saying that the NYLC conference in Minneapolis was outstanding. At this conference I learned a lot about youth empowerment and youth being able to change the world. I never knew that there were so many youth out there in the world trying to make a difference in our society. Being in this conference made me realize that although we have many organizations in the USA, there should be more youth trying to make a difference so that we can have a better future.
There were many organizations from Minneapolis that was just fabulous. In these organizations these youth wrote songs, used media, games, etc., on how we as youth today can make a difference for others in the world. As a youth I was very impressed on what they were doing. One of the things these youth did was to try and raise money for children in other countries who does not have any opportunity for better education or other things that they may need to survive.
Located inside the conference hall, there were many booth exhibits. Each was on something different to help create a brighter future. For example, one of the of the booths represented youth donating clothing to children in other countries with HIV/AIDS. At this booth, there were plain white shirts and different types of pants. Youth and other people at the conference was able to create and style clothing for these wonderful children in need. Every booth dealt with different things to help children around the world to stay healthy and succeed in life. Some booths had creative things to do and some were just informational.
As a youth facilitator at the NYLC Conference, I realized that the way Global Kids run our workshops was very fun and informational to others. I enjoyed being a facilitator because the people were wonderful and were very respectful. We didn’t even really need to emphasize the GK guidelines because they were already respecting all of our guidelines.
I loved the environment in Minneapolis. All the items over there were way cheaper than NY. Besides the conference, another thing I enjoyed in Minneapolis was the Skyways. We never had to walk outside in the bad weather from our hotel to the conference because of the Skyway. Minneapolis seemed like a safe and welcoming environment.
This trip to Minneapolis was great. I really learned a lot from this experience. At the end of the conference I took a lot of important information to take back to my school. At the end of this conference I only wish for one thing – that I can see more organizations like the ones I saw in Minneapolis to be in New York.
one thing that i looked at in naples is that they have a garbage problem most of their garbage is on the streets because the garbage piles up or the dump is full of it
and the inaccurates are the hotels because their hotels from what i saw the hotels are the cleanest places in naples
On March 20, 2008, Global Kids produced the simulcast of Kofi Annan receiving the MacArthur Foundation's first international justice award. The simulcast was broadcast not just to the Web, but to four online communities within virtual worlds, each within its own simultaneous but unique event: Second Life, Teen Second Life, Whyville, and There.com
In Naples I think the trash and the tourists are an accurate thing because I have even wanted to visit Naples since the seventh grade where i learned about the ancient times of rome including Naples. I think the video where they show only the good parts of Naples is technically inaccurate because even though it may be there that video is basically just hiding the true facts about Naples and all of the trash that is there.
Information that i found was accurate about naples,italy was that there trash bags all over the street. Inaccurate info about naples is that naples is clean and everyone would enjoy being there. This be may because of media and they wanted people to visit naples.
The information that i have looked up about naples that i think is accurate is all of the things that they say about the garbage being all over the floor. The information that i think is inaccurate is the views that they were showing us from the hotels. I think that is in accurate because that is the only video i saw of naples looking so nice and i saw like 5 videos of where they show garbage all over naples
The information that i've looked at about Naples that i think was accurate was the videos that showed the trash problem that the country was having. The reason i think this was accurate was because i saw it in many different sources.The one that i think was inaccurate was the one where they were advertising the hotel.It looked fake and it was different from all the other information that we looked at.
Some information about naples that is accurate is it has a problem about the trash everywhere on the streets to the sidewalks. the information that would be inaccurate is that naples is a nice place with beautiful things.it might be this way because they would not advertise the bad things and they try to make naples look like it have no problem.
i think that the information on how clean naples is, is not accurate. i think that some parts are clean but most places are filthy like in the second video.i think it was set up this way so people can visit naples.
The information that I looked at about Naples that I think is accurate is the paragraphs that I read that said that Naples is dirty and polluted because there is no more room to put the trash away. I would say this is accurate because it also showed that it was polluted in one of the videos that I saw the man that was holding the video camera was just showing the streets of Naples. The information that I think is inaccurate is when in the video they showed a hotel and made it look like Naples is so clean. It might be this way because they want people to come to Naples.
Some information that I had read about naples is that in some places the garbage is all around the place and I watched a video about naples and you cab see the garbage all over the streets because they don't have place to put the garbage. And I think this occur in many countries or states because there is no space to put the garbage.
During the video all we or what I saw was ; Naples attractions of the not so wonderful Naples. From what I saw, I really don't think thats all the sites that Naples has to offer the also have a bunch of incinerators, landfills ,piles and piles of rotten bug infested trash on the street.
the information you can trust was the one with all the garbage in the street because there telling all the information about Naples. and the one you can not trust is the one with the hotels because there not telling all of the information
The information that i got that i think is accurate is that the streets are full of trash. The things i thought was inaccurate was that the streets were clean.
The foremost goal for science education today is to help students develop the knowledge and skills to deal with 21st century, real world issues.
In the 2nd Unit of the Science Through Second Life curriculum, students will be scientists, work collaboratively, investigate, test, do research, and offer solutions for the given problems in a virtual town in Second Life. They are learning how scientists work collaboratively, how they decide if the information is reliable or not by looking at the several digital resources as well as by discussion led by the teacher. The activities the students' do have the potential of increasing their inquiry skills while engaging them in a fictional story line and give them the opportunity to create their own narratives while learning from their friends and from the provided materials. By doing so, students will increase their critical thinking skills and start looking at the real life scientific problems with a scientist's eye.
Global Kids and the International Human Rights Law Institute invite you to "ICC101" -- a basic orientation to the International Criminal Court, where you will find answers to important questions like:
WHAT: Video simulcast and Q&A from “Introduction to the ICC” event at DePaul University, Chicago, USA
WHERE: International Justice Center Amphitheater (click here to teleport)
Also viewable on the web at http://www.justicecenter.net
WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 4-6:30PM PST
SPEAKERS:
Global Kids, in cooperation with the International Human Rights Law Institute, will be streaming live video from this panel at DePaul University in Chicago into Second Life at the International Justice Center as well as on the web at http://www.justicecenter.net. Virtual participants will be able to ask questions to the participants.
For more information, contact Global Kids at rik@globalkids.org.
If Im doing a data and Im not sure if my data is reliable or unreliable I will get help from teachers or someone who are good in doing data. Also I will get good topics and god information from the internet or check in somewhere else to determinate if the data that I was doing is reliable or unreliable.
Rules you can use to determine if the data is more reliable if the source is updated or if you can find the same information from another source.
To find out if the information im looking at is reliable or unreliable, I check another source to see if they match up.
There are many diffirent ways to do this but i think the best and most reliable and effective way would be just to check the work your self reliable most be lofical and proven.
When determining how reliable something is you can check how many times the web site has been updated or you can check other web site or other resources to see if it's the same.
Some rules i can use to determine how reliable data can be is asking people about it,do some research,run some test.I would know its reliable if it seem realistic and if the information is correct. I would know it's unreliable if the information isn't correct.
i think to tell how reliable certain information is the web sites you go to. if the web sites you go to are not certified the information might be wrong. if you go on more than one web site you can also tell if the information is credited.
I can tell if something is reliable if is been undated more recently. Also you can look somewhere else to see how much times it will come up and the more it comes up the more reliable it is.
When I need to check if a websites information is reliable or not I just usually check other sites or the date from which it was posted because normally if it was from a really a long time ago then it would more than likely not be valid.
THe best way to find out if something is reliable or unreliabile is by asking somebody else so you can get there opinion and or looking up your statements on the internet.
You can confirm your info with your partner or if you check it over somewhere else and it has the same info.
How do I know that information is reliable? The way I know that information is by doing a little of investigating. The first step is to make an experiment or a chart to see if the information fits into the problem, this is to see if its like a missing link sort of and then i can search the info up on the internet to see if its creditable (etc...)
when you look up the data on the web site and find out more information
Well i determine if a source of data is reliable by checking other sources and see if the information is simular with the last source.
If i don't see the same kind of information on other sources i thou that data is unreliable.I could also read the certain and see if it makes sence. I can also look if it being updated daily.
The way i know if it is the data reliable is if i find the exact or similar information on a different website.
To tell if something is reliable and not reliable i would found research and recheck what i have to my such what im writing is right.
the rules you could tell if data is reliable just do research on the internet or just use common sense or you could just look back and if its unreliable then you wold do the same thing
You can tell if data is reliable if it answer the question or questions that are being asked. You can also tell that it is reliable data if it goes hand in hand with the questions like if they have the same key words. You can tell that it is unreliable if it doesn't answer what you need to know.
One reason why I want to tell a story today is to make people believe that things are happening in front of our nose and we are not seeing things happening, like racism. And if no one stands up for the problems that we are seeing everyday in different countries, the issues would never be solved. Another thing is to make sure everyone gets what we are trying to say by demonstrating true action!
There are many various reasons why scientist might come up with different answers to the same question one being that the were mistakes made or incorect observations and then incorrect calculations.
It is possible for two scientist to have the same event and have different observations because they cold have got different info from different places
I think two scientist can investigate the same event and come up with different conclusions.because they would have different ideas about what they found and it would make them think differently.
yes they can. if two scientist investigate the same event it might not be the same because every outcome is different. the experiment's outcome might change if they have different interpretations.
Yes two scientist can investigate the same event and come up with a different conclusion. It is possible because if you do them at a different time your results can be different. Also it is possible because they can have two different point of views.
Yes, I think this is possible because there are usually more than one answer to many things and there are also many different effects from different effects that take place.
Yes two scientist could investigate the same event and come up with different conclusions because not all the time an event has only one conclusion and half the time thats the reason why there is multiple scientist working on one event so they can see the different solutions from all of the scientists.
Can two scientists investigate the same event and come up with different conclusions?
I think so!!,This is possible because two scientist can see different things the other didn't and may look at what the find in a different way.
Yes this is totally fine. If that was to happen then 1 scientist is wrong and the other is right.
yes 2 scientist can come up with different conclusion because 1 of the scientist could have did something different and came up with different conclusion
Yes two scientists can investigate the same event and come up with different conclusions. They may observe differently or might have had made a mistake.
Two scientist can investigate the same event and come up with two different outcomes and or conclusions. The reason that, that is possible by two different prospective and or point of views of the 2 super intelligent scientist. One scientist could see things that the other didn't think was important to the study and that could help them understand and or find two or multiple answers. So yes it is possible for two scientist to investigate the same event and come out with 2 or more outcomes. 
Can two scientist do the same event and come up with a different conclusions. I would have to say yes because one people may have another idea an the other one may no agree with his or her statement.
Two scientist could get the same project and get different solutions because one of the people could be doing the hypothesis and one of the scientist could be doing the graph and they both get different conclusions/outcomes. javascript:insert_smiley(2)
The GK conference was really fun and exciting. The start of the conference was one of the most exciting part of the conference that I will remember, because so many people came up to talk. I got to meet and hear Carole, the Founder of Global Kids. There was also a show by students that included many historical and political facts from different countries. The music and dances in this show was awesome. I saw how dedicated the kids were, and how much they wanted to make their point clear to the audience. They did an amazing job!
This was the first year I attended the GK conference, and it was great! It’s just a shame that I won't be able to attend next year being that is this my senior year, and I will be attending college next year. But while it lasted, it was fantastic! The entertainment was awesome and I loved the fact that the performance was very diverse. My first workshop was the introduction to politics and I met many GK members. After the first workshop, we had lunch (it was great, by the way.) In our second workshop, we learned about the media and how things are presented according to how people want it to be seen and, sometimes, not the way things really are. The conference was just great!
Last week we worked on our project, which is about discrimination on education. One thing that I learn from my research is that there are many people who can't go to college because of their skin color, and this happened in Florida. Because of the color of their skin, they did not get accepted to the college they applied to.
Yesterday, for our first Fireside Workshop of April, we focused on the topic of Race in America. Race isn't often a topic that comes up in Teen Second Life, but as became clear in the workshop, is certainly one that affects the real lives of TSL residents. Over the course of the workshop we did some brainstorming on relevant terms, like power, ethnicity, discrimination and education, and over the course of our time were able to establish linkages between many of these terms. We watched a portion of the recent speech by Barack Obama called "A More Perfect Union", in which he speaks directly to how issues of race manifest in this country, and then played a classic activity we do off-line here at Global Kids, called "One Step Forward", where the facilitator says a statement asks participants to take steps forward or back depending on whether it applies to them. (eg - Take one step forward if you were born in the United States, take one step back if you're from a minority group and have sought healthcare). The activity helps to highlight the opportunities that different people have as a result of their race, gender, sexuality, age, income and other factors.
This activity was particularly interesting to see happen online in Second Life versus offline in the schools we work in. Whereas offline we have many of our students stepping back as we say statements, it was striking to see how often the teens in Second Life were able to step forward, and how powerful it was for many of them to realize how much more opportunity they have than so many people not only in the world, but even in this country. Our team has always been aware that working in an environment like Second Life would mean that we reached a more privileged population, but it was really wonderful to see some of this population realizing that they were privileged, and internalizing this fact to varying degrees.
One of the other things that made this workshop unique was the mode of facilitation. Since spatial voice chat was implemented in SL this past year, we've been experimenting more and more with it during our workshops. Unfortunately, we found that often not every teen in a group would have a microphone, and so wouldn't be able to participate in a voice conversation, whereas others were able to, which created two unequal tiers of participation. So for this workshop, Shawna and I decided to facilitate via voice, and have the teen grid residents respond and communicate just via text chat. We found that this worked brilliantly! All the teens were able to participate on equal footing, and as facilitators we were able to keep the activities more lively, have our instructions be heard more fully and clearly above the chatter, and respond more flexibly than we could via text. Looking forward to seeing if we're successful in trying this in the future!
Well last Thursday, I led about 40 minutes or so of the workshop. Basically I showed them Alex Chan's "French Democracy" machinima, and asked the group a few processing questions. I guess in the beginning I panicked a little because I really did not know what the workshop was about nor did I have a copy of the actual workshop. But, it wasn't too hard to ask questions that were relevant to us after watching the movie. I spent a lot of the time going over the story, and what techniques were used. I thought it was more appropriate for us to discuss that in depth because it will most likely come in useful to us when we are filming and editing. But yeah, the worst part of setting up everything was getting the right dongle and speakers to work. Otherwise, everything went pretty smoothly.
I think we made pretty good progress later on too. I thought it would be a good idea to show four stories/injustices occurring in the different countries we researched before, and making short movies on the struggles from each country. Then we can connect them to the laws that were violated by not allowing the children to have equal access to education. Then someone added the idea that it should be connected to when these children that faced injustices are growing up, in terms of time frame. Vanessa strongly thought that they should be college students because it made it significant that although they struggled, they still elevated in the end when it came to education. I think this is a pretty interesting way to portray the message we are trying to depict. Thein brought up a good challenge we might come across as well...he thought we might have difficulty connecting them; I think we can get some ideas of how to connect these stories through a similar movie I watched with Global Kids on education around the world.
I don't remember the name of the movie exactly, but it basically followed one child from several countries around the world (including Japan, India, etc) and what kind of education they received. Although children in Japan had the best education provided to them, and a girl in India was not culturally required to be educated the stories were still connected through the overall theme. I think if we watch two or three clips from the movie we might be able to better understand how to connect our stories too. But overall, I think it was a productive day!
If it was me I would start my observation in my neighborhood and see what wrong and out of place . Then I would wonder the streets of my neighborhood and take notes on what I can change and make sustainable.
If i were to become a scientist i would investigate and study a ecological problem by taking observations and then comparing them with later observations to see what changes over time and also give surveys out to the community to gather even more and more information so i can have a better understanding of the problem which will in return help me to isolate the cause of the problem and hopefully find a logical and realistic solution to the problem.
As a scientist i would investigate air pollution and the affect it has on our health.I would go to factories in new york city i would obsreve the amount of toxic air tht cometo our bodies
I would investigate an ecological problem in the environment by first looking it up on the internet so i can get more information, and when i get more information i would start looking for the ecological problem.
As a scientist i would investigate ecological problems by observing certain things that can harm the environment. like burning trash,dumping things in the water,etc.i would look for things that is unusual.things that is not normal in the environment.
If I was a scientist and i was investigating an ecological problem in the enviroment i would start in my community and observe any problem that i see. After i make my observations i will take action in solving the problems.
if i was a scientist and had to solve a problem about our environment i would do it on my community and how people around where i live .
i would go to the park and look for a problem going on there and from there, i would try to solve the problem
if i was the scientist and had to investigate a ecological problem in the environment the first thing i would do is to gain research about the topic. then i would go out and see what problems are in the community.
As a scientist the way I would investigate an ecological problem in the environment, would be to take a survey of the people of a certain environment/ community to see what issues they seem to be more concerned by and the effect and or impact that this specific problem or ecological problem is causing. People should give me their point of views; that would help me generate a solution.
If i were a scientist i would investigate an ecological problem in the environment by observing and taking noted searching for an unusual problem(s) and see what problems in the community people want to fix.
i would start in my house and see what's wrong with my house and try to make it better
As a scientist I would investigate an ecological problem in the environment by going out to different countries find out all of the bad habits that people have and try to determine ways that we could make these countries more sustainable and take notes on the information that I found out.
I would study everything in this area. From the animals to the insects and even the soil. These things will help me out with what i am investigating.
If I was a scientist and if I had to investigate an ecological problem I will need help from other scientist and we will work together and make plans and share our ideas.
i would search the world just to find the states ad places that are polluted just to investigate the ecological problem
Each month, our Digital Media Youth Advisory meets with people that are doing work in the field of digital media and learning, and this month was no exception. What was different this meeting though, was that the person they met with, Deen Freelon of the Puget Sound Off project, was about 3,000 miles away. Pictured above, Deen joined us from Seattle via Skype video.
Puget Sound Off is a project out of the University of Washington that aims to create youth engagement around local civic issues in their community, from education to technology to animal rights. It's part of a larger initiative to study how youth civic engagement is changing as a result of the digital media. The members of the DMYA spent about an hour and change with the site, testing out everything from building profiles to uploading pictures to leaving comments on blogs. Hopefully their feedback will be helpful to the project, and all the DMYA members wish it luck as it gets ready to launch!
I think other countries save more energy and water then America does. And in most foreign countries there is more land and for animal to live and live in there kind of abate, like farm animals and wild animals.
Last night i stayed up to watch to watch a program on the national geographic chanell called "The Human Footprint"and it was talking about the "human foot" print it showed through examples and numbers how much resources the average american uses through out there life time and the numbers where first suprising but when i thought about it ,it all added up.
I think that americas ecological footprint would one of,if not the very largest ecological footprint on the earth because i think that other contries are not as wasteful as americans.
I think the ecological footprint in other countries is less than the united states, because other countries have a different way of living. Some countries have a dense population and don't have certain resources as we do.
Ecological Footprint in other countries beside U.S.A. are smaller. Other countries conserve more water,energy,and there are fewer people in the countries. We as Americans cosume more fastfood
I think the ecological footprint for countries outside of the United States is WAY smaller than ours.I think so becasue the footprint of the United States is very large and if there is a country that has a bigger than ours, the earth will hardly be sustainable.
I think ecological footprint in other parts of the country are the different then the ecological footprint in the United States because the United States take things from other countries and because we eat more than other countries. Also because we use more resources than other countries.
I think that In our country we waist more things than other countries,we waist more food,fruits,plants ect..... I think that in our country our ecological footprint is less than other countries and is because in some other countries they dont waist a lot of food and all that.
I dont really have a lot of knowledge about the ecological footprints of other cultures, but i think that other countries would have smaller ecological footprints than America because America waste a lot of food and its bigger than most countries.
i think others countries ecological foot print is not like the our foot print because some of the countries don't eat meat like we do so that means they don't kill cows like we do. some countries don't have houses to live in if they do some are made out of sticks
I think the ecological footprints are different from ours in places outside of the USA and much smaller because the USA is rich and most places don't even have enough money to have an ecological footprint like ours, places like Africa has people starving instead of over eating and wasting.
I think that the ecological footprint might be larger. i say this because places like tokyo and irack uses to much electricity. and having t o much electricity is not sustainable for the world.
im guessing that other ecological footprints would be much smaller
I feel that the ecological footprint in other countries is less than it is in the u.s.
For example when i went to iraq they used less water and less food and had certain times to eat drink and bath.In the u.s w eat way more meat then other countries,and they need land grass etc which takes up alot of resources.
Spring is finally here! Bring out the flip fops that takes you on a slapping musical journey with each step; the cute spring jacket that you were dieing to wear the entire winter; and let the blades of grass crease your toes - making you feel human again. Howdy readers, glade you survived the winter, and if you don't live where winter never greetings you, embrace spring with us. As always our brains are on the treadmill coming up with ideas, observations and reflecting about our world in the digital media and education landscape. Enjoy rummaging through our thought process.
Enjoy reading our blog.
Amira shares what it felt like to stand behind our GK youth leaders at
the Annual Global Kids conference this month.
The Youth Leaders of the GK Annual Global Kids Conference
Barry writes about what he might have said if he had been invited to give a testimony to Congress on virtual worlds.
My Testimony For Congress (had I been asked)...
James writes about the queerness of the justice system.
And justice for all
Kathy gabs about her exciting events and conferences that happened on March, and will be happening in April.
Rezday, Guggenheim and much more
Meghan reflects on the challenge of breaking the virtual world/real world barrier with the DIDI Teens.
But is it ‘real’ ?
Rafi talks about taking part in color war on the internet, and what it means to have play present in learner/educator relationships.
Color War, @RedTeam and Play in Informal Learning Environments
Rik considers how his Quaker beliefs intersect with Global Kids' process.
Global Kids & Quaker Practice
Shawna looks at the social politics, the upcoming US presidential elections and being political conscious in the social networking generation.
Social Politics
Tabitha reflects about the amazing night she and VVP Students met World Leaders.
A Night to Remember
We had another short week at Playing 4 Keeps. Due to various unforeseen circumstances, the group was only able to get together on Thursday, but we had an interesting day and our design is moving forward so we’re still feeling good.
We divided the class into two main tasks on Thursday: research and brainstorming. First, we spent time researching the everyday heroes of Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard did an amazing job in the disaster and we want to represent that, some of the New Orleans police acted heroically, and eventually the military arrived, but the real story of the disaster is the bravery of regular people. Neighbors helped neighbors, strangers saved strangers, and there was sharing and respect in the midst of chaos, suffering, and violence. While there are stories of treachery, opportunism, and misdirected frustration becoming wanton cruelty, we want to celebrate the selflessness that shone through the worst situations.
Our students researched and presented their findings on a handful of the many heroes that emerged from the tragedy. Jabar Gibson was a 20-year-old man who commandeered a school bus and evacuated residents to Houston before the first FEMA bus arrived. Deamonte Love was a six-year-old child who cared for a group of toddlers after they were separated from their parents and sent to Baton Rouge. Mama D and the Soul Patrol started cleaning the Lower Ninth Ward and getting it ready for people to return without any help from the government. Malik Rahim founded Common Ground with two friends and a fifty-dollar boat. They’ve expanded from rescue operations to all volunteer free health clinics, legal services, and rebuilding efforts, and are still growing today. The Cajun Navy and the NOLA Homeboys are groups of citizens who had access to boats and decided to put them to good use helping stranded people.
After discussing these people, and the many others who put their own safety second and the needs of others first, we began a discussion of who our hero should be. Our GK leaders offered physical attributes and personality traits that they wanted to incorporate into the character. While everything can’t be included, we developed a rough sketch of a teenage African American woman who has left New Orleans, but still has family there. There are still many details to work out, but every meeting progress is made.
The GK Annual Conference was a strong testament of what our work means. What really touched me, more than the tremendous effort of the staff up until the event, and more than the incredible energy on the day of, was our own leaders, as we all stood behind them, knowing, that they had arrived.
They shined.
They led workshops on politics to an audience of councilmen and academics.
They questioned complacency.
They refused to become docile.
They reimagined democracy.
They participated critically.
They questioned authority.
They led.
In one day they captured the necessity of our work. They captured progress, and education.
No Annual Report could have prepared me for this very real accomplishment that Friday April 4th would be. It was a proud day for all of us as we stood behind our youth leaders. There was so much to learn that day, so much to feel a part of, and so much to be hopeful for.
i chose Cozumel Mexico because in this country, they have child labor.MEaning they put children to work in factories at very young ages instead of them being in school learning the things that they need to learn in life. this to me is a big sustainability problem.
i choose this picture because where i live every one waste food and trash where my grandmother live it's very nasty every trash every were this is not a sustainability place to live
In this image you can see the country Turkey where there is actually a landfill where large amounts of trash is put in to every once in a while. This landfill is so huge that it actually creates a strong odor that goes around the entire city around it, it is also said that the civilians of the city around the landfill admit to being partially responsible for creating this giant landfill that which its only use is to create air and land pollution.
I learned that a lot of things from watching this videos. For example, in one of the films i learned that they take the plastic bottles that we use for soda and water etc... into things with more value like a play ground for kids
the reason i choose this picture was that in the united sates we use up or resources by using to much water,not recycling,wasting food,cutting down trees,etc.i thought if we could use less of our resources it would be helpful to the enviroment.
i picked this picture because this is where i live although you can't really see where my house is clearly that s where i live
I learned a lot today I learned that some amusement parks use machines to recycle there amounts of water being they use the same amount for all rides so when one ride is being used the same water is being used over and over again, and thats one way of sustainability. Next I learned that soil is being held of the moon. I think since that there is soil there when earth runs out we can get some from the moon. And last I learned that some people use and to plant different things and if we decide to use sand to plants things like grass or flowers we will have more soil to plant vegetable, fruits and other types of food.
After watching three videos about recent activities and projects in the world I have learned that the worlds sustainability may just have a chance at sustaining a little longer while also learning that it is in worse shape than I thought it was earlier. In the first video I watched I learned that now in this day there is a higher chance that a random big fire might soon occur somewhere in America, that is normally the effect of land where dry vegetation is. I also learned that there are now remote-sensing satellites that takes pictures of nitrogen oxides every three days. This may help us to find where there are still coal burning power plants and how much coal that is being burnt.
The topic i chose is geographers map likest places for big fires. To sum up my summary things that are likely to cause a wild fire is mountainous, dry vegetation,wild land urban interphase can cause wildfires.the issues of sustainability is is that less vegetation is less food.
I chose three videos but I think that one video that I chose is kind of funny because some people use fishes in a tank to see if something changes,the fishes are set off an alarm and when something changes I guess that the fishes start to jump or may be they start to swing faster. The second video that I chose is "Geographers map likeliest places for big fires". This is a videos about some foresters and geographers that they use a mapped locations in the Santa Monica mountains where the most destructive fires are likely to start so this means that they are ready to prevent a big fire. The last video is about "Electrical engineers create money saving light system". This means that a microcontroller automatically calibrates amounts electrical light accordingly.
my video topic was "The science behind wave pools and to me t just showed that it was a non sustainable thing because they can not sustain the water supplie
In todays lesson, ive learned how plastic bottles are made, how wild fires spontaniously start,and how scientists observe our fish for water spills.
The article I pick was how the Environment Toxicologist link household bacteria to asthma. And the article scientists have found a chemicals called"Endotoxins"it can inflame your airway and trigger asthma. To protect your self from this you have to wash your bed sheets every week and don't eat an bed.
It takes a lot of effort to avoid the presidential race in the US these days. And that is without even turning on the television or opening a newspaper. Instead, I open my Facebook and am greeted with videos, quotes, fan pages, and friend requests. All of which are about my preferred presidential candidate. Then I log in to my email only to find messages containing linked articles, websites, and upcoming events all about… who else but that very same presidential candidate.
I am far from alone in this campaign of increased interconnectedness. The International Herald-Tribune estimates "Between the two sites [Myspace and Facebook], Obama has about one million "friends," Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination, has roughly 330,000, and Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, has more than 140,000." Be mindful that "friending" is just one means of connecting to your candidate, this does not include the fan pages, groups and embedded and linked articles, speeches, and quotations. Now, consider this, according to the same article, "Fully two-thirds of Web users under 30 say they use social networking sites, while fewer than 20 percent of older users do." I, like many others, find myself more connected to others, including presidential candidates, than ever before. I have access to the politician's issues, words, rallies and likeminded supporters in a few simple clicks and strokes on my computer's keyboard.
As the under-30 generation had been previously criticized for its passiveness, perhaps its means and ability to mobilize was simply unrecognizable in this new era of social networks and web-relations. The Herald Tribune affirms, "According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well — sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks. And in turn, they rely on friends and online connections for news to come to them. In essence, they are replacing the professional filter — reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com — with a social one."
The National Youth Leadership Council hosted its 19th Annual National Service Learning Conference in Minneapolis from April 9-12th, 2008. The NSLC is the largest gathering of youths and practitioners involved in the service-learning movement where participants connect through three days of plenary sessions, featured forums, and service projects.
Keynote speakers were: Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and urban educator and Pedro Noguera, author of Unfinished Business: Closing the Achievement Gap in Our Nation’s Schools.
Location:
Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55403
For more information, email or call NSLC at: (800) 366-6952.
Global Kids streamed this event live on the web, in Teen Second Life and on the Main Grid (click here to teleport), as well as in Whyville.
If you could not attend this event live please enjoy the following keynote from Archibishop Demond Tutu:
Photos can be viewed here and a blog post from a student can be read as well.
Join us at various points during both days for great plenaries, performances and speeches from the Learn and Serve Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Date: April 10th, 2008
7:00 - 8:30 a.m. (PST)
Plenary session with Pedro Noguerra, author and Urban Educator
Pedro Noguera is one of the most important voices on education reform and diversity in the United States and an advocate for a strong, vibrant public education system. A prolific writer, Noguera's most recent book is Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Nation's Schools.
8:45 - 10:15 a.m. (PST)
An Unfiltered Conversation with America's Service Leadership, moderated by David Eisner
Engage David Eisner, Henry Lozano, and Ronald Tschetter - three avant-garde leaders of our nation's service agencies - in a frank and open discussion about the evolving roles of civic engagement and community service. Representing the Corporation for National and Community Service, USA Freedom Corps, and the Peace Corps, they will draw on their unique backgrounds to offer distinct perspectives on domestic and international service.
11:45 - 1:15 p.m. (PST)
Embracing Hip-Hop Music and Spoken Word Through Service Learning
This innovative forum will explore the connection between hip-hop music, spoken word, and service- learning. Through presentations and dialogue, participants will explore the meaning and origin of hip-hop music and spoken word; explore the social justice and controversial messages contained in many forms of hip-hop music and spoken word; and develop a plan of action that will integrate hip-hop music and spoken word into the service-learning framework.
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Date: April 11th, 2008
Be sure not to miss Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an activist who helped end racial segregation in South Africa!
7:00- 8:30 a.m. (PST)
Plenary session with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, human rights activist and Nobel laureate
Archbishop Desmond Tutu's faith in and commitment to the peaceful destiny of South Africa earned him the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. He served as his country's voice of conscience during its long struggle against apartheid. During those years, Archbishop Tutu soothed the spirits and rallied the hearts of his people with simple words of passion and dignity. Those words also united the world against South Africa's apartheid regime.
8:45 - 10:15 a.m. (PST)
Responding to Tutu's Global Call to Action
Calling all youths! Don't miss this opportunity to hear young people's reactions to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's plenary address and global call to action. You will spend this session responding to issues discussed in the plenary session such as Jewish relations, Darfur, and HIV/AIDS.
12:30 - 2:00 p.m. (PST)
Tabitha Gkid's workshop on Using Virtual Worlds to Promote Service-Learning!
This session highlights some of the exciting work that young people are undertaking both on- and off-line to address significant problems faced by youths in the 21st century. Come hear what youths around the world are doing in virtual worlds at Global Kids, a New York nonprofit, to promote service-learning, and learn how you can do the same in your community!
2:15 - 3:45 p.m. (PST)
Youth in Media: Leveraging Our Power
Are you a middle or high school student who feels that you have creative media ideas to help change the world? This forum will feature panelists whose lives are focused on making change through media. This forum will ask, document, and seek to answer questions such as: What is the media feeding young people? How can media and service effectively complement each other to make change?
As I understand it, Global Kids has three basic rules that form the basis for all of our youth programs:
The youth who participate in our programs are asked to agree to these basic rules at the beginning, and quickly adopt them as their own. When a heated debate is going on, and everyone starts speaking at once, you hear them cry out "One Mic!" and "Safe Space!" which almost always quiets everyone down.
I'm a member of the Religious Society of Friends, better known to the outside world as Quakers. At Quaker Meeting for Worship this Sunday I was thinking about how much Global Kids' rules of engagement reflect standard Quaker practice for how we conduct our meetings and discussions.
One Mic
Quakers believe there is that of God in every person. Therefore everyone has the capacity to be a vessel for God's will and voice to speak to the rest of us. This is the root of our belief in the basic equality, dignity and worth of every human being. And it's why Quakers in conversation don't tend to talk over each other or try to dominate the chat.
Safe Space
Quakers worship in silence. We do this to create a sacred, meditative space where anyone can speak out their own truth to the community. In our business meetings when we are discussing important issues of concern to the community, our goal is not to "win" an argument or debate, but to seek a higher truth and respond to the God's leading for us.
Participate
Quakers have no paid clergy or ministers. Instead we believe that everyone is called to be a minister, and that everyone has their own unique ministry. We are in some sense all leaders, and all called to be open to being led by others. Or as other Quakers would say, we are collectively trying to hear the leadings of the Spirit.
It was a comforting realization knowing that the rules of engagement at my workplace matches so well the foundational principles of my faith.
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After taking a bit of a break from my event I hosted as a Global kids intern, I was asked to help out with a new project for GK. After being given a bit information on the Visions of Global Art Contest, it seemed interesting, and something I could participate in helping with . Right from the start, I began to compile a list of things essential to promoting and getting the contest started. Of the first tasks were posting in the forms/event list, and creating a poster that would reach out to teen residents to participate. After doing a little bit of thinking for the idea of the poster, I was soon finished it, and it was ready to be put up and displayed around Global Kids Island. Once the posters were placed, events listing of the Global justice workshops and the announcing of the winners went up.
Soon I began to get between 5 to 10 IMs at a time upon logging in, which gave me a good sense that the contest was well on its way. After I passed many informational notecards out, to those who were interested, we soon received the first entry of the contest. It was then, I knew it was getting close to the judging of all the entries we would receive, which meant it was time for me to find judges! After a quick consideration of who would be a good team to judge along with, I choose Lucky Figtree, and Mercury GKid. Both of them have been involved with Global Kids for a while now, and seemed like the right people for the job.
What felt like a short time after selecting the judges, it was time to bring in those last entries to put up in the event area. After setting up all the entires, and placing notecards of the explanations of all them, it was time to let the judging begin. When judging, it felt reassuring to have other people judging along side with me, to make sure those who deserved to win, did just that. Once the judging came to an end, all judging cards were handed into Shawna to tally up, before the big announcing of the winners event took place. Once all winners were announced and given their prizes, everyone proceeded on to the RezDay event.
Once the crowd started to die off, and most of the GK staff began to log off, was when I felt that the contest was a success. After being weary at first on taking on what seemed to be a large project, it felt great to had helped out and to have finished up with everything.
I can't explain how I felt, but it was pretty interesting to be there. Everyone came with great energy that everybody in the conference. Everybody cheered to every speech and performances, especially the great performances. It was awesome! I also saw one of my friends from VVP, and we all had a great time...although I was a loner....T_T
- Matt
I attended the Global Kids Annual Conference on April 4. It was really fun. We got free bag and lunch. We stayed until 4pm. There were two workshops that I participated in. One was in the morning and one in the afternoon. There were different facilitators. For entertainment, there were some performances including an Indian dance. It was fun to work with different students from different schools. My day was awesome.
It has been more than 2 months that students have been learning how to do things and get around in Second Life, they have been sharing their ideas with other teens on this blogs, and started to learn science by using various digital media and information from the web.
It's a big challenge how to assess the students' achievement in virtual worlds where there is no multiple choice tests or written exams. In this case, it comes to how much students are engaged in the learning activities in the virtual environment. At that point, students in Ms. Rebe's class have been achieved a lot; I can see the difference at their speed how fast they can do the given tasks compared to a month ago; how much they get impatient to log in to Second Life and start doing things. The more they get familiar with the tools in Second Life, the more they get excited about their achievements.
Of course, there are differences in students' learning styles and preferences, however, it's almost impossible to design a course will fit perfectly to all students' abilities. Some students prefer just copying notes from the board because they find it easier, but when it comes to how much they learn... it's most of the time when they do things and actively engage in the learning process... In Ms. Rebe's class, students are learning how to approach to scientific problems and how to do scientific inquiries... they are actively participating to lesson... they are engaged...they are learning although they don't always realize it 
Well once again, it’s crunch time. It's time to make all those details that need to be made in order to finish our machinima. It's a little ironic that just yesterday I was looking back on some of my old blogs from last year and complaining about having to make these decisions, and I was also talking to someone from last year’s program and I came to the realization that it's almost been a year. Also, in a couple of months I'll be in college. Isn't that amazing? Anyway, I just thought about how much time has control over our lives, which it really does. If you think about it, time can change your life entirely. You could be born 1 minute after some other person but if you are born at 12:00AM on January 1st you might lead a completely different life because you’re born in a different year!
But that's enough of my ranting. I think if we will have any difficulty completing this machinima it will be time constraints. I know for myself, say for example I am making a layout, I can sit in front of my computer for hours perfecting each and every detail; however, in VVP we only have about an hour and a little bit to finish as much as possible. In order for that to successfully work out, it will take complete concentration and focus every moment we are in the program. The problem is, we are not superhuman creatures, or you know, a super-bot. However I do have faith that we can collaborate (or well...that's a hopeful idea, we most likely have to just make compromises), and through this we can produce something that we can be proud of.
As for what it should be...I think it should be under the "drama" genre, because for the most part things about discrimination end up being under that genre. At the same time just because it's classified as drama it doesn't mean that it can't be an action-filled psychological-thriller adventure! I think we can mix everything; I think horror, although it was said to be off limits, would be a good way to get attention. Being able to do a psychological thriller, that would be amazing but unrealistic; although I'd love to work on that story…it would take a lot of time to actually produce it. I think our safest bet would be to make it drama, and have entities of horror and action embedded into it. Plus, like I said before, I think watching Alex Chan's "French Democracy" would be helpful for us.
I think what I found interesting was a movie called "Murder on a Monday Morning," which was about an African-American boy in Florida wrongly accused of a murder. It's really interesting, especially all the injustices that happened to him. They failed to inform his parents that he was convicted and didn't even bother allowing the boy a lawyer. They also brutally abused him on several occasions. I think it really was about injustices that happen under the law that is overlooked because of discrimination. I think it would be interesting for everyone to see that as an example too. I also think something about Guantanamo Bay would be interesting...I'm really unsure though, what we might end up doing.
Disposal is a process when you throw out thing you are finish with. when throw away paper in garbage instead of recycle you are polluting. By preventing this you can throw papers in the recycling bin.
An example of the lack of sustainability would be the city of las vegas in nevada the city is growing larger and larger every year and with this ever growing population comes the need to provide more and more water this has been proven to be difficult being that las vegas lies in the middle of the desert so the city often imports water from other major american cities which cause those cities to have less water.
In Turkey lakes are starting to disappear . People in the area need water so that can grow crops on their farms . Global warming is affect the weather which makes the water in the lakes to evaporate.
The example of sustainability that i will be explaining is distribution. We do not buy our own things. The metal comes from South Africa, the petroleum comes from Iraq, the plastic comes from China, and the assembly line is in Mexico.
one of a sustainability example is people leaving their countries to come work in america factories. they deal with toxins that pollut the air and can affect people body system.In the congo and mexico kids that are 15 years old have to drop out of school to work in factories or mine resources.
One example of sustainability is recycling. Recycling is very important to a community. One lack of sustainability is extraction, that means that the take natural resources(mine from the mountain, use all the water, and cut down trees) and make them into toxic chemicals. That is very bad for the community.
For the pas few weeks we have talked about many examples of sustainability and examples of lack of sustainability. One example of lack of sustainability that i learned about is the cutting down of trees in the Amazon Rainforest, in South America. This is bad for the earth's sustainability because the more trees we cut down the less oxygen we are getting. Also by cutting down the trees we are destroying the homes of certain animals.
A city in U.S. that has sustainability problems is Las Vegas. This city is using up way more resources than we have to give. In doing this they risk us of having a chance at survival.
A city in U.S. that has sustainability problems is Las Vegas. This city is using up way more resources than we have to give. In doing this they risk us of having a chance at survival.
One of the example that I chose of sustainability was oil and the country that I chose is Africa.In Africa oil is the foremost window on the developing oil service industry in South Africa.
The example of, Lack of sustainability that we have discussed in the past month. The cutting down of trees in the amazon. Fact " every 2 min we cut down 2,000 trees from the amazon" . The effect of this is that many animals lose their homes and we consume a the goods but we dint care what happened or what people had to give up for us to have this Ex. Coffee
one example of lack of sustainability is cutting down trees. people cut down trees to make paper and other objects. In the amazon over 15 thousand trees were cut down. when they cut down trees we lose air for us to breath.
AIR POLLUTION!!!!! air pollution is everywhere. It starts at one place then travels through the air and spread all over the world.We pollute our air every day by smoking,driving cars that burn gas,etc...... We can use hybrid/solar power cars to make this situation better. we can also use light bulbs that use less energy and also save us money. One example where there is a bunch if air pollution is New-York.
The trees get cut down while use for paper toilet papers or chairs. And when we get finish with the tuff we just through it away. But we dont think of where we get the papers from .we get from trees from other countries we cut down the forest and take there trees and make them ours then turn it into paper so that we can have paper. Other people are suffering from us just having papers and we just throw it out when where done with it. We use more paper then we need. you get paper from stores
javascript:insert_smiley(1) hi my name is Shaquille and one example of sustainability is DISTRIBUTION distribution meaning giving out things like air pollution and air pollution happens all around the world not just in states or countries in factories and other parts of thee world that i might not know of but i do know that when the factories pollute they pollute lethal toxins
The lack of sustainability that I chose was disposal. In disposal it shows that we dump out 4.5 pounds of garbage per person. We also put the trash in a hole in the ground and sometimes even burn it. When we burn it we let toxins into the air, we cause super toxins like dioxins. This takes place in the United States and we just dump our garbage in poorer places like Africa. We pay them to take the trash.
During this unit we have spoken about many different types, and personal examples of sustainability and the lack of sustainability. For a specific example of the lack of sustainability we can look down to Turkey where there is actually a giant landfill where large and definitely unnecessary amounts of trash is disposed into. It is even made worse because the people that live near the landfill and in town can smell the trash which is creeping into their houses. The people that are close to the landfill also admits to having a lot to do with the large amount of trash that has been disposed into the landfill.
A few years ago I was having a conversation with an Indian friend of mine about post-9/11 racial profiling of South-Asians. He was angry about it of course, but he also had an interesting perspective. “Yeah it’s wrong,” he told me, “but you know they’re just finally doing to us what they been doing to black people all along.” Yep, the oppression and suspicion weren't new, just the targets. Well, to every Sikh who’s been accused of being a terrorist, to every Iranian who’s ever been called Iraqi, I have some good news: there’s a new target in town.
Have you heard the news? Fox and CIA director General Hayden are all atwitter. Fear mongers start salivating: there’s a white Al Qaeda. It’s official folks: Goldstein is everywhere. White boy with the pierced nose, fatigues, and 9/11 Truth shirt, considered yourself warned.
Meanwhile, there’s a real uprising going on in Middle America. An association of the Lakotah People have reasserted their independence and announced the formation of the Republic of Lakotah. This is not a rebellion because they’ve always been a sovereign nation. It’s simply a rejection of all the unfulfilled promises and broken treaties the United States government has used to bind and bend a proud people. According to national and international law, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Republic of Lakotah is perfectly legal. This is not the annexation of new territory, only a demand to honor old agreements.
After the Holocaust we created Israel for the Jews. Liberia followed slavery. And now the United States supports independence for Kosovo. Who could possibly argue that the Lakotah have any less valid claim to their ancestral land? After all the diseased blankets and tearful marches, the racist Indian schools, corrupt tribal governors, and the systematic destruction of the American Indian Movement, how could the United States government say it is unjust to acknowledge ancient ownership?
A government that denies the validity of this claim denies the validity of its very existence. To attack the Lakotah is to shed the last scraps of legitimacy clinging to the Capitol’s veneer and reveal a naked fascist monster, it’s mind pure Thanatos. The audacity with which the elite insult our intelligence is outrageous. A steady stream of spectacle keeps us docile. Our nation is titillated by scandal and then moves on laughing to consume the next fetid atrocity like fattened hyenas. Televised tragedy should not be cathartic. “Hurricane Katrina laid our racism and iniquity bare. What a relief to finally face the truth. Ohmygawd! Paris Hilton isn’t wearing any underwear!”
We are not the stunted persons of Black’s Law Dictionary who share Constitutional rights with corporations. We are humans, and at our best we are humans with honor. There was a time when a man’s word was his bond and oaths were made of steel and shared judiciously. Now, every interpersonal experience is mediated through prejudices and dreams installed by hucksters for the entertainment-industrial complex. How do we reconcile integrity and game theory? How can there be justice when our legal code is more convoluted than the Gordian knot? Where’s Aaron Burr?
We live in a world now where language is no longer sacred. We live in a world where almost nothing is sacred, and that which is gets mocked by sardonic talk show hosts and elitist intellectuals. But the world was not made to be made bite size. Songbirds don’t sing in sound bites. The greatest artists, explorers, and scientists tremble before the Universe. I say, “All Power to the Great Mystery!”
There will be wrongs and bad bargains as long as there are humans. There will be errors and slights as longs as there are communities. Our goal, then, is to act with honor and to respect the inherent dignity of others.
My friends, now is our opportunity to mend our ways. End the wars abroad and end the war at home. I’m a white boy with a big mouth and I’m worried one day someone’s going to confuse my love of Life with hatred for America and decry me pale Taliban. I’m even more worried, though, that every coffee shop liberal is brave enough to hold a placard for Iraq, but too scared to support freedom fighters here.
First they came for the…
We had a short week at Playing 4 Keeps. Our Thursday meeting was canceled because of parent-teacher meetings, but we got some good work done on Monday. We had two simple goals and I think made solid progress on both.
We’re looking at other platformers in order to think about what they do well and what they do poorly. Though the content of our game is unique, there will still be significant overlap between our game and other platformers. We’re looking at how other games create mood and atmosphere, and how different stylistic choices affect the player’s emotional experience. It’s also important for us to simply think about what mechanics are fun, what control layouts are intuitive, and where different designs have weak points.
We’re also building an image library. The students spent a significant amount of time searching the web for photographs that will inspire our game art. We need our game to capture the look of different New Orleans neighborhoods, and we also need to look at the emotionally gripping, iconic images to see how details can convey meaning. The orange search team symbols spray painted on buildings and the hand-lettered signs made by survivors express volumes of emotional content. We have residents, police, and soldiers to draw and we need to look at who was there to decide how we should depict them. Every week the game evolves, and we have a clearer idea of where we’re going.
Today I went to a packed strategy session with forty-some human rights activists and advocates to talk about how to best take advantage of an upcoming documentary on the International Criminal Court. It was awesome re-connecting with old colleagues from my time at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, as well as to making new connections with people doing really neat human rights and justice work.
Leaving the strategy session, I started thinking about the enormous potential for combining socially relevant films and virtual worlds to complete the circle from public education to civic engagement...
I've long thought that virtual movie-viewing was a "killer app" of virtual worlds. Watching videos in Second Life has a lot of the advantages of going to the movies -- a shared social experience happening in real-time -- while minimizing the disadvantages -- having to travel to a movie theater, distracting chatter during the movie, exorbitant popcorn prices. One of my favorite all time experiences in Second Life was organizing a machinima festival in conjunction with a real world machinima festival in New York in 2006.
From a civic engagement perspective, virtual movie viewing is a great way to engage a broader public. Movies are automatic draws for lots of people, since they are rich media experiences. SL residents love the experience of watching live video together, and enthusiastically engage in backchat during the show that often is as entertaining as the actual movie.
Watching a socially relevant film in Second Life enables you to have a rich, guided conversation with the crowd as they are watching it. The filmmakers can get real time reactions to their work, even while a movie is still in production. Activists can suggest actions to viewers who are moved by the footage. Educators can provide links to more information on subject matter brought up in a film.
And at the end of the film, you can continue the conversation that will likely already be in progress among the viewers.
For the ICC documentary in particular, I think there is enormous potential to connect people in affected communities to communi
