Global Kids' Online Leadership Program

Today was the second day of the " I Dig Tanzania" intensive summer camp that Global Kids is running with the Field Museum in Chicago.  Today our intrepid groups of 16 teens in New York and Chi-town had a number of challenging tasks that we set out for them to make progress on their virtual fossil dig. You can read their own impressions of the day from their blog posts on Holymeatballs.org.

Here's my quick recap of the highlights...

The day began with more singing and language practice in Swahili, which the kids seemed to like.  Dominique did a great job of getting everyone pumped for the day.  Or maybe it was the fresh fruit and baguettes that he brought for everyone.

The most exciting part of the day was the actual fossil digging.  To accomplish this, we had expert builder Amulius Lioncourt (aka Midnight Sun on the Teen Grid) create a fairly complicated set of tools for unearthing the fossils that the teens had to wear on their avatars to get to the fossils.  Not only did the teens have to work together to cover the large area of their dig sites, they had to figure out the proper order of tools to use to not damage the fossils. 

After finding a set of fossils, the teens got another chance to interact with the team of real life fossil hunters finishing their dig in Tanzania (hence the name.)  The kids asked a number of really great questions, from how the scientists chose their tools to how many pieces of fossil do they need to find to identify a particular animal.  After collecting a large set of questions, I talked to several of the researchers over Skype, which we streamed into Second Life so the teens could listen in.

Then the teens returned to the task of preparing the virtual fossils that they found.  To do this, we showed them a video of how fossils are "stabilized" by paleontologists with a glue-like solution so that they can be transported safely. 

Then the teens had to mix their own stabilizing solution using several possible ingredients set out on a work table.  If they chose the right combination of ingredients, they were given a brush to treat their virtual fossils.

This is probably sounding pretty complicated at this point, but the kids really seemed to enjoy the tasks.  And they were rewarded with shiny white "stabilized" fossils instead of the dingey brown ones that they had unearthed.

One of the toughest tasks of the day was learning how scientists classify the various forms of life using phylogenic charts -- maps of the evolutionary path of various creatures.  The teens had to learn what a "synapsid" class of animal is, and create a sign describing a particular synapsid.  Although this was quite a challenge for a number of our teens, they worked very hard on their task and produced some neat signs.

To close the day, we did a fun fishing exercise to teach them about Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa that borders Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.  The kids got to pick up virtual fishing rods and "go fish" in a lake that Amulius set up for them.  Various kinds of fish, from tilapia to pike to Nile perch were caught by the teens in various quantities, to show how certain species have come to dominate the lake due to the introduction of non-indigenous species. 

Such a rich and amazing day!  Big kudos to my colleagues Shawna and Dominique for being such great educators -- particularly Shawna who soldiered through today despite having a nasty cold.  And the Field Museum staff Johanna, Krystal, Kate, Andy and the rest were awesome today.  And thanks to the Global Kids staff for being supportive and understanding as we took over the entire kitchen area of the office today.

Only two more days of camp left!

Posted by Rik at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think an important aspect to describe a specific fossils is describing there bones, body structures, teeth and nails. I expect a fossil to have these features because without it, survival for them would've been a lost quicker from lack of defense.

S I think we, as humans, should be less ignorant about the environment and appreciate it a lot more. By this, we can prevent animal preventions and even extinction of an animal.

Posted by VVP Jin at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our teams we asked each other questions, and each of us made sure every job was done. Yes I would say we are more efficient as a team, because if one person couldn’t do something, someone else would either step in and help, or take over while the other person did something else. Plus we could get our stuff completed sooner. The important things that seemed to stand out when classifying is the bone structures, and parts. No I don’t think ours appeared to have ever has feathers because ours had web like feet which suggests an amphibian and amphibians- and most reptiles don’t have feathers. To prevent major conflict, and current extinction, the government could make sure the ecosystems are balanced and healthy at the same time so the species currently there could survive, and others as well, along with solving the under population.

-Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think most of our group worked well together today, I think we were more efficient as a team than yesterday because we know each other better than we did before.
The features that seem more important when classifying a fossil are the ones that set them apart from other groups. For instance, it would be important to tell if an animal was either a synapsid or a reptile, that way you would know who their ancestors were and can classify them into a time period. I think once we have a few more identifying features, and have our fossils completely put together, it will be easier to tell what exactly our fossil is.

Since we are the most dominant force on this planet, we have the power to easily reverse the mass extinction we are causing. Of course this means that we have to use great effort on our part, which many people may be unwilling to do. We also have the power to help the conflicts in other countries, especially us here in the US, since we have a powerful influence over the world. We can easily help out places that have made mistakes such as adding the Nile Tilapia to Lake Victoria. We have the power to help them fix and reverse problems like these.

Posted by Jessica K. at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We could easily make categories for the fossils, but we haven't made anything yet. And it would be a lot of work and skill to make them branch correctly as well. If we were to simply leave nature as it is and do our own stuff on our own, we would be a lot better off. It seems that everything that we've done has had a negative effect. I think we need to plan out a lot better, and think of the natural world and how we will collide.

Posted by Alex L. at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our group work was pretty good. Jess did a great job on making the posters. Thein helped us a lot to find out information. Group work was very efficient for the team. Many animals and mammals are being extinct. Humans are causing this extinctions in many ways. They are killing animals and cutting up forest, that are causing many animal extinctions. Extinction of animals will affect people many ways. We are going to have food shortages.

Posted by Sabina R. at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I learned a lot about teamwork, second life and different types of dinosaurs. I think that humans have a lot to do with mass extinctions. We've been burning too many fossil fuels, this disrupts our ecology. Certain people don't realize how their actions are disturbing our daily lives. We definitely have to stop bringing species that are not native to Lake Victoria. the only outcome of this situation is conflict.

Posted by Beatriz N. at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The important feature of the description of our fossils were how big the animal was, how tall, whether it is a reptile or a mammal, or where the animal is warm-blooded or cool blooded. I expect my fossil to be a warm-blooded animal because it has the characteristics of a mammal. There were many important features but finding out exactly what type of animal we have is very difficult.
Because of the pollution animals are affected and also the economy. The major cause for pollution is humans. To help reduce conflict humans could be more clean and try to recycle. Humans should also try to help the environment, so that we would not be extinct. By corrupting the environment with garbage humans are causing the sixth mass extinction. We can also raise awareness around the world about this issue. Also we can probably make movies of what will happen if we help our environment and what will happen if we do not help our environments.
In any event today was a fun day. We went fishing, we dug, we painted, and we watched a lot of videos. I enjoyed today can’t wait for tomorrow.

Posted by Tarana L. at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How did your team work as a group today? Are you more or less efficient as a team? Explain. Just like you all had different categories for organizing your music, different scientists focus on different features as being important to categorizing the animals they discover. What features seem important to the describing of your fossil? Do you expect your fossil to have these features? Why or why not? Scientists today worry about extinctions occurring. We know that the current mass extinction is human caused. Based upon what we learned during our fishing activity, what human behaviors can we change to have a positive affect on not only the current extinction but also in reducing conflicts between countries? Why?

Today's activities were highly team based and I felt that we all benefited from that aspect. We worked really well once we got past the awkwardness of completing an objective cooperatively through chat. As a team, more information was allocated and constructed more effectively, so we were much more efficient than if we had done the objective individually. As a team an enjoyable activity was the digging up of the fossil. The features that are helpful in classifying the fossil include bone size/density and structure. As a starting point, structure is the simplest and most informative for researchers. Structure is often highly related to function and can also allude to evolutionary divergences or similarities.
In talking about extinction I feel that there are certain behaviors we can take in order to prevent such a fate. The mass extinction of our day is said to be caused by Humans, with one cause being global warming. Certain programs aimed at correcting this problem are in fact underway. These programs include the Kyoto Protocol which aims at instating a mandatory reduction in fossil fuel usage in the next five years. Sadly though, the U.S. is not totally convinced and has not completely signed onto the pact. This move doesn't necessarily mean that we are stubborn and unwilling to change, but it is more due to the fact that economically this plan will take a heavy toll through investment in newer energy sources. Often times it is difficult to change even if the long run looks better than the current situation. The problem of Global Warming demonstrates that success can only be achieved in unison by all parties. More impressive than the Protocol's goal, is its reach across national borders, an issue that will be seen in the spotlight throughout the next generation.
Along with global warming as a cause of extinction, other trends also lead to threatening conditions for animals. We need to be aware of our animal and human neighbors and give them the respect they deserve. It requires cooperation by both parties and a mediator, such as the government, to solve such issues. One thing that can be done is the implementation of restrictions and sanctioning by an institution such as the United Nations. All around us the world seems at the tip of collapse. The Civil Wars of Africa, Israeli Conflict, Tibetan Situation, Iraq War, and other human struggles require immediate resolution. But the issues involved in these struggles are so complicated that the issue of human equality is difficult to define. These problems, however difficult to address, require solutions in order to guarantee the success of human and animal species in the future.

Posted by Anil V. at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today our team worked great. We were finding information and sharing it with each other. Every one had a part today and all interacted well. We are more efficient as a team. I also noticed that Alicia is very smart. Some features that seem important as to the describing of our fossils are the way they are shaped and the size of each as well as the formation that it took. I expect our fossils seem to have these characteristics because even though some fossils seemed familiar, they were different in a variety of ways. Human behaviors that we can change to have a positive effect are, the effects of consuming more can be reduced in order to maintain a healthy eco-system as well as increasing the awareness level of the humans that inhabit the area. Reducing conflicts between countries can be maintained if they would somehow provide an equal system between the countries so that they each have a same amount and that the countries can all provide from the product.

Posted by Justin A. at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The features of my fossil that seem important are all the features which can narrow the field in which I am looking for the animal. For example, going from Kingdom to Phylum to Class, ect. Whatever can help me narrow the field is a useful trait to me. Some human behaviors we can change to result in less extinction is to stop introducing animals they are not native to. This will result in less unbalance in nature to stop affecting countries and such.

Posted by Alex L. at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am sad to say that my team did not work hard like we should had because today we were a little off today but other then that we still got our work done which was what had to be done. we are more efficient as a team because we put our idea together and get to working which mean that we get our work done faster. The features seem important to the describing of our fossil because by looking at it we were able to see how big it was and also we were able to tell that it was a animal that had far. I expect the fossil to be a reptile but once we look and observation the fossil more we saw that it may not be a reptile. So no I did not expect the fossil to have the features of a synapsed. If humans behaviors can be change to a positive one, it will make a lot of changes because then maybe people will stop fighting with each other .Also can help with the extinction of animals because then people will be constuil about not killing animals more then they have to and try not to do pollution.

Catherine

Posted by Catherine B. at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a group my team worked pretty good. We spent awhile trying to figure out who is going to do what, but after that each person contributed and we got the job done. We goofed a little but we got serious and did it. I think we're better as a group. I think it is important to know what piece of fossil we have, for example a toe or a ear. Knowing what you have makes it easier to know what you are putting together and how. People should eat more fruit and vegetables. This will put some kind of dent in the extinction of these animals. Also if possible start to recycle, many animals die because of the waste that is being thrown in the sea, which is toxic, if we recycle we can reduce all of this

Posted by Vanessa F. at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Working with my team today proved to be easy going. I think we all know what needs to get done and we try to focus on coordinating the tasks to complete them efficiently. The fact that four people are working together is not a problem at all. As my group and I examined the fossil we saw that the features helped us in our attempt to identify not only that its synapsid, but what class inside the cladogram it may be in

I think the most interesting thing we talked about this afternoon involved the effects humans have had on the progression of organisms’ development today; especially with Lake Victoria. I think the first way to change or improve the persistent problems of climate change, drought, over fishing, is to realize that they cross boundaries. Sometimes when we think of the United Nations, we think of war, but there are four more letters we should also consider: m,i,n,g. Global WarMING. The UN needs (and it has) to help countries improve the relations with each other to have a multinational plan to confront these issues that cross boundaries. As the example we say today showed however, the years of war, tribal conflict, and poverty may prove to much of a deterrent on that most important anecdote.

Posted by Alicia N. at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How did you team work as a group? More or less efficient. We work as a group better because we can work with each other better and was able to assign different tasks more easily.

What features seem important to the describing of your discovering. What features seem important to the describing of your fossils? Do you expect your fossil to have these features? Why or Why not?
The description of whether or not the fossils are reptiles or amphibian and determine the traits of the fossils.

What human behaviors can we change to have a positive affect on not only the current extinction but also in reducing conflicts between countries? Why?
Become more mindfully of the environment and take into consideration the effects of our action on the environment.

Posted by VVP Thein at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our group worked very well as a group. I think we are more efficient as a group because first of all it takes less time to complete the task because more than one person is working on it and because you don’t have to work alone and have to always do everything by yourself. This helps because you don’t have all the pressure to do the task by yourself and because you can have help with ideas instead of thinking of everything on your own. When you have more than one person it benefits you because it makes a better result when you have many minds working together.

Features that I think are important to identifying the fossils are how the bodies are shaped (their structure), and different features in the bones such as how they look and fit together. I do expect my fossils to have specific feature because all animals have certain features that separate them from different species. Depending on the species their bones will fit together certain ways, their bodies will have different structures and their will be variations in their bones.

Since humans are causing the current extinction we should do something to help. To help make a positive change we can recycle, reserve and do other actions to prevent pollution to our earth. We can also use chemical-free products to help our environment. In order to help conflicts between countries and other opposing groups, we can try to be more understanding and see the other side of the story. This will help people come up with solution that will benefit everyone and prevent violence.

Posted by Olivia B. at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First we watched a video on how to brush and use tools properly. Next we had to dig. In my group I had to dig. There were many tasks within the group such as field reporters, photographer, and researcher. Digging was a lot of fun. I think I found all the fossils for my group. I think we should dig more often. After that, we all went back to the campfire and we watched another video of one of the scientists.
For digging in different places we had to use different tools. The shovel was helpful for digging into the dirt and the rock hammer was helpful for getting the fossils. If we did not have the correct tools then we could not dig. It was important for us to use the correct tool or else we would hurt the fossils. I want to know, did anyone take pictures? How was the process of digging for my team mates? Did you guys find anything?

Posted by Tarana L. at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The tools were very helpful, while excavating. Without the tools there was no way we could’ve accomplish our goal. I’m still confused about excavating fossils. How do know which site is best to dig on. What are some obstacles while digging? How are Archaeologists positive that certain fossils belong to a particular animal? If my fossil belongs to a dinosaur then it roamed Earth around the Mezosoic Era. How are Archaeologists able to date fossils?

Posted by Beatriz N. at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today’s workshops was…interesting lol. Very different from what I usually do on second life. Saturday we collected a tool box, at first I wasn’t sure what we were doing to do with it, but today we finally took those bad boys out and started to dig. All tools seemed to be helpful, except for my hammer which was basically a triangle on a stick. Lol. Some questions I would ask the scientists now that I have experienced some kind of fossil digging is…how do they do it. I found myself getting a little frustrated and impatient, and I already knew there were fossils there. So how does it feel when you spend all day digging and found nothing? ☹

Some thought I have is that its probably going to be hard to start to put all the fossils together. Especially on second life, but in real life it has to be even harder.

Posted by Vanessa F. at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most of the tools were very helpful in the excavation process because some of the rocks were bigger and harder, so they needed to be broken up by larger tools such as the shovel, and some were more fragile and could be just brushed away.

I am sure that excavating in real life is much harder and more tedious than SL digging, I would like to know a brief overview of the digging process, (how long it takes, etc). The hypothesis I am starting to develop is that the majority of these finds came from the largest mass extinction period. I hope to learn about how to determine a species based on a few simple bones and hope to learn whether or not this species was from the time I assume it is.

Posted by Jessica K. at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Each tool was helpful in the process of excavating the fossils because each tool was for a specific purpose. The shovel for larger surface area and the chisel for smaller rocks.Questions that I still have for the team in Tanzania are: During your work did you happen to stumble across another animal that you were not aware about? If so was there any significant reason why that animal must have been placed there? Why are the fossils small and why are most fossils similar? How can you distinguish the difference between a land or sea animal is the question I have about the species type.

Posted by Justin A. at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is our first of digging for fossils. It was pretty exciting. We had to use different kinds of tools. To remove the rocks we used shovel and rockhammer. The rockhammer didn"t work for some of the rocks, therefore we used the shovel. My team was really helpful for digging process.I was a little confused about the map thumbtacks, so my question is how to use the map thumbtacks. We found about 16 fossil. Its really hard to say which species they are. We found some parts such as bones.

Posted by Sabina R. at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How was each of the tools helpful in the process of excavating the fossils?
Different tools aided in the various process needed to recover the fossils, the basic steps are to remove the dirt with the shovel, use stone hammer to break the rock, then use while using water to soften the dirt, use different size chisel, then finally use brush to recover the fossil.

What questions for the team based upon your recent experience?
Is there more tools involved in recovering the fossils then the ones we are using now.

What hypotheses have you started to develop about your find?
My first guess would be that it is a land animal due to it's hand shape. Other than that it was probably not that big as a Rex.

What questions do you still have about how to determine the species?
The various characteristic of the species so we can determine which species it is.

Posted by VVP Thein at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How was each of the tools helpful in the process of excavating the fossils? What questions do you have for the team based upon your recent experience? What hypotheses have you started to develop about your find? What questions to you still have about how to determine the species?

For Paleontologists, tools are always close at hand. In order to uncover and document fossils they must first uncover them, doing so with a shovel, chisel, brush, and pick. While I was out digging the shovel was the only thing that worked to reveal the primary topsoil, which led to the harder more dense rock material. This type of rock requires the use of a chisel requiring the utmost precision. Once uncovered it is a joy to finally witness the fruit of all your labors: a million year old dinosaur bone.
After uncovering absolutely no dinosaur bones I think the questions I would have for the team would be how they deal with the disappointment of not finding a bone they desperately sought for. This feeling is common everywhere when people devote immense effort into accomplishing something but find that they were using the wrong approach and fail to find what they were looking for. What a bummer! I guess the only advice for this is to move on and pursue future endeavors, and when that goal is finally achieved, how sweeter it will be!
My hypotheses on the bones my team found are still highly scattered, like a puzzle. We believe it is from an animal that lived during the permian age based on our research. Hopefully, we'll be surprised when we find that it is actually a tyrannosaur.
The only question I still have about determining the species is differentiating between species that look so closely alike that it is seemingly impossible to tell whether the bones belong to a dimetrodan and a tricphelodon (I made those names up).

Posted by Anil V. at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We haven't had time to check out the species yet. I was busy going through all of the dirt and trying to get the fossils out. It was fun, but I didn't like the fact that all I had to do was tap the dirt. I didn't have to do the digging motion or anything what's up with that!

Posted by Mohammad E. at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How was each of the tools helpful in the process of excavating the fossils? Each tool had a different role to play. The shovel was to remove the chunks of dirt, and the stone hammer removed the fossil from the stone.

What questions for the team based upon your recent experience? Some of the questions I want to ask the Tanzania project are; What is the basic process of digging up a fossils, What is the average timing to dig a fossil and how does it feel to discover a lost unknown.

What hypothesis have you started to develop about your find? What questions do you still have about how to determine the species? The hypothesis I developed is that the fossils will form into a mammal of some sort. Some questions that could still be asked are: What are the bone structures? Is there any beak or mouth structure?

Posted by VVP Jin at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

n the process of digging for fossils, each tool was used for a specific function and helped my group recover the fossils. For example, after removing the dirt with our shovels, we would break apart the rocks with our rock hammers, revealing a fossil or nothing. After this we would proceed to pour water on the fossil and chip smaller and smaller bits of rock off the fossil, until all we had to do is brush off the dust and take it into our inventory.

In the process of digging for fossils, each tool was used for a specific function and helped my group recover the fossils. For example, after removing the dirt with our shovels, we would break apart the rocks with our rock hammers, revealing a fossil or nothing. After this we would proceed to pour water on the fossil and chip smaller and smaller bits of rock off the fossil, until all we had to do is brush off the dust and take it into our inventory. Based on this recent experience, I would ask the team in Tanzania what other precautions have to be taken before excavating a fossil, besides wetting it. At the current moment, my only hypothesis about the find is that it is a dinosaur from the Permian or Triassic period. To reveal the species my group and I will have to put the fossil back together and observe specific traits from the bones. All said in done, this workshop has been the most fun I have had in TSL yet.

Posted by Alex L. at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The tools were helpful in the process of excavating the fossils because we were able to use them to look for our fossil but we had to be careful because not all tools work for the same thing. Also the tools help big time by making it way easier. If I were to ask the team in Tanzania questions based upon my recent experience, I would ask how many fossil have they found comparing to how many our group find in our dig. The hypotheses that I have started to develop about my find is that there kind of old because of the color and how the texture looks on each fossil. The questions that I still have about how to determine the species is how can you know what type of species it is by looking at it? Is there some type of pattern you have to look at to determine what species it is? However it was a great experience to learn because its not everyday that we go to dig for fossils. So in other words I had a great time digging for fossils.

Catherine

Posted by Catherine B. at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning my team began to excavate our field. We soon began to confront the problems that many paleontologists confront as they try to dig far enough into to matrix while still being mindful of the fact that delicate fossils are being unearthed as well. So keeping that in mind we, I concluded after some tinkering what tool were needed for each step. A chisel was inappropriate for breaking the ground, but the shovel was, for example. So there was a hierarchy in the tools found in our boxes.

Additionally, the water bottles acted as aides in assisting us softening the soil to examine closer the fossils. I think after working with the tools in the program, I would ask the scientist working in Tanzania if they have even more specialized tools than we were presented with. Additionally, although this was not a problem in our excavation, how much of a factor is the pH of the soil in the area that they are working in? Does knowing that it is acidic or basic play a factor in how delicately they approach the project? Furthermore, is time of the day a mitigating factor or not? Because ground is usually more wet (dew) in the morning.
Based on the little information we’ve been presented from the actual scientist via video and phone and also from the coordinators, I suspect that these fossils are from the Permian era around 250-80 million years ago. As well, I think that will we soon see the features of the actual fossils provide us evidence that they are in fact synapsid animals. As to the whether they are more reptile or mammal like would be something to ask the Tanzanian scientists.

Posted by Alicia N. at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During this activity we used many different types of tools, from chisels to water bottles. Each tool has a specified job and helps us complete each task without harming the fossil. Working with the many different tools was a good way to help us understand the real process of finding fossils. I now know you have to use many different tools with varied sizes each helping you accomplish a different task.

During this activity we used many different types of tools, from chisels to water bottles. Each tool has a specified job and helps us complete each task without harming the fossil. Working with the many different tools was a good way to help us understand the real process of finding fossils. I now know you have to use many different tools with varied sizes each helping you accomplish a different task. Finding fossils is an ongoing process of chiseling away access rock and softening the soil around it, to reveal more of the fossil, then again removing more access rock. Out of this experience my only question would be how do they keep track of what tools they need to use when and in what specific circumstances they need to use those tools? I would ask this question because even on a virtual dig where it gives you hints on what to do next (use small chisel, put water etc.) I still found it hard to stay organized and know what tool I was supposed to use next. I was also wondering if variations in the species can cause you to need to use different tools for each species.

My hypothesis on my find is that most of the fossils I found were fossils of aquatic species. I say this because most of the fossils I found had long body parts resembling tentacles from modern aquatic species. For example one fossil looked like it could be related to modern day squids. I am still wondering if there are certain characteristics for different species and time periods that can help me identify the fossils.

Posted by Olivia B. at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One highlight of the first day of the "I Dig Tanzania" summer camp was a group activity where our teens in New York and the teens in Chicago got to sing a well-known Swahili song together called the "Jambo Song." GK trainer Dominique did a great job leading the two "choirs" virtually from both locations, and kids on both ends seemed to really enjoy the singing!

I'm looking forward to the teens coming together in Chicago next month to sing together in person!

Posted by Rik at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Definitely I have to say my favorite part of the day - not that losing internet connection wasn't really, terribly exciting - was singing in Swahili! Check us out, we're ready for the international stage!

Posted by Johanna T. at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is the audio file of a conversation between Rik from Global Kids and Roger, Ken and Christian -- part of the multinational team of researchers in Tanzania looking for ancient fossils. The questions were submitted by teens in Chicago and New York participating in the "I Dig Tanzania" summer camp.

Posted by Rik at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I really enjoyed working with my teammates. I think the best part about working with them was being able to meet new people. Also I thought it was really cool how we were working right next to each other in this virtual world, but in the real world we were in two different states! I liked meeting all these new people, and I think this was a great experience. One specific topic I enjoyed today was mass extinction. I learned about the mass extinctions, how they occurred and why.

I really enjoyed working with my teammates. I think the best part about working with them was being able to meet new people. Also I thought it was really cool how we were working right next to each other in this virtual world, but in the real world we were in two different states! I liked meeting all these new people, and I think this was a great experience. One specific topic I enjoyed today was mass extinction. I learned about the mass extinctions, how they occurred and why. I though it was very interesting to learn how our earth evolved, and all the different stages it has gone through. One thing about this topic that thought was very interesting was that our world in is mass extinction #6. I learned that the five previous mass extinctions have all been naturally caused, either by the earth flooding, the earth drying up or other natural disasters. But mass extinction #6 is the only extinction that has been caused by humans. We have caused so much pollution that global warming and climate change is starting to be very evident in our habitat. Humans have brought such a change to the ecosystem and it makes me wonder about the future of our earth.

Monday seems like it is going to be very fun and interesting. The thing I am looking forward to the most is the dig. I wan to do the dig because I think it will be interesting to do a dig based off of what archeologists are doing on the other side of the world in Tanzania. I find this whole second life experience so interesting and think the dig will be lots of fun!

Posted by Olivia B. at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was real cool being able to chat with other teens in New York because it’s not like we get to do it everyday. The cool thing about being able to meet my team mates was that I got to work with them in a group and it was real cool. A cool thing that I learn while working with my group was the time in New York. Also I learn two true things about them and one false thing because as a group we all play a game. Today I learn a real cool that was how you can become a fossil. It was real interesting how it show us what happens to a fossil. It was crazy how a fossil is hard to find because since it is cover deep under ground so deep. I found that real interesting. I can’t wait for Monday cause it workshop 2 and also I can’t wait to learn something new.

Catherine

Posted by Catherine B. at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The best part of meeting my teammates was …..Meeting them. It’s fun to meet new people and getting to work with them on projects, and just get to know them. And in the activities we it was great to have a little help from them. Today I learned some more Swahili. I have already learned some a while ago, and learning more or any new language is always fun for me. Being a paleontologist sounds like a great and exciting. I have always wanted to be one, or be in a profession very similar to that of one. Traveling around the world, using equipment, the outdoors, actually finding history….EVERYTHING is what I wish I could do someday. I’m just excited to come back and do the virtual dig.

-Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was really great to know the people from Chicago. This is my first time talking to people from Chicago, so it was a great experience for me. We had fun getting to know about each other. I thought all the teens from Chicago would be in high school, but after taking to Sam I found out he is still in junior high. One of the topic I liked was Tanzania Evolution. It talks about survival of the fittest, adaptation, natural selection, and others. I am really excited about Monday. I can’t wait to learn more about fossils from scientists in Tanzania and stuff.

Posted by Sabina R. at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The best thing about meeting my teammates is getting to know them. It was interesting to see the conditions and how a fossil is made over such a long time period. I also learned some new things about fossils while watching that video. I found the Mass Extinctions in Earth’s history to be the most interesting thing I learned about today. I think it is amazing to see how even though the majority of Earth’s life was wiped out life found a way, and began thriving again. The most exciting thing I am looking forward to on Monday is the fact that the dig will finally begin and I will no longer be in anticipation.

Posted by Alex L. at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The best part about meeting my teammates is that I learned new things about them and made new friends. Also we helped each other in various activities.

The activity that struck me most is the one with the puzzle, because it was the most difficult and the only one I could not complete. At first I thought it was a map but it turned out to be some sort of pattern.

I’m excited about the new things that we will be doing on Monday and finally digging some fossils and unearthing the dead.

Posted by VVP Thein at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Its always very exciting to meet new people especially if you know that someday you'll be given the opportunity to meet that person. I've never used Second life as a form of communication. The experience was wonderful. I learned many things. I learned how to navigate on second life and a bit of Swahili and the culture of Tanzania. I'm excited because I'm aware that Monday i will learn more stuff about Second Life, hopefully my knowledge will increase about this software.

Posted by Beatriz N. at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought the best part of meeting my teammates were meeting new people, and experiencing collaboration from two different locations. I got new costumes from my teammate, and learned “interesting” things I haven’t known before. I wasn’t surely clear that fossils are formed from minerals from the sea. I also learned a new language, a native song from it, Swahili. I am excited about further working with my teammates, digging up fossils in second life, and learning more about Tanzania.

Posted by VVP Jin at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I enjoy meeting new people so being able to meet and interact with new teammates was a great experience. It was good to meet the people we will be working with on the dig beforehand to get to know them a little better.

I got to learn a little bit more about mass extinctions today, which helped me to learn about the time period that the Paleontologists in Tanzania are dealing with. Learning about the world before Pangaea was very interesting, and I hope to learn more about it. I have several more questions regarding Earth’s geologic timeline, including time periods and land formations. Since I want to become a Paleontologist I hope I learn as much about fossils and Earth’s history as I can. Can’t wait to dig up some fossils on Monday!

Posted by Jessica K. at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I’m exhausted and they want me to blog! My body can’t take this too well as I was getting a bit sick today, so I look forward to Monday, because it’s Monday not Sunday. Fossils seem like something completely annoying, they have to be in a good place to get in the ground before it’s eaten. Then spend a long time in the ground, then if were lucky we will find it. I’m lucky a lot of times, but I don’t think this is a good percentage here.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The best part of meeting my teammates was driving in the car. All of my team mates where very smart, always cooperative, and followed all the directions. I learn that when I die ;-( I would become a fossil. It was also fun researching for the mass extinctions and finding new information about that online. I learned where different cities in Tanzania are located, that we as humans are a cause of the sixth mass extinction, and all of the other mass extinctions were caused by natural disasters. I had lots of fun singing a song in the language which is spoken in Tanzania.

Posted by Tarana L. at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Meeting Mohammad and Olivia was interesting. Working with them the next couple of days seems very exciting. They sound like good folks and I am glad I have a good team to work with. I enjoyed today because we were able to sing and learn some of the words from the language Swahili. I also learned about some of the animals the scientists had seen while in Tanzania. Asking them questions about their experience was exciting. I can expect great things to come from this program. Its an experience I know I will not forget.

Posted by Justin A. at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Meeting the kids in Chicago Was fun. They seemed like a great group of kids to be working with. Something I enjoyed that we did today was the learning some words in Swahili. I enjoyed the song that Dom taught us. That was pretty unique to be learning a song at the same time as the kids in Chicago and then singing it to each other. Something I looked forwards to on Monday is the actually digging in second life. Also making more contact with the scientists in Tanzania.

Posted by Vanessa F. at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I really enjoyed today's activities. Working with the group from New York made the experience truly worthwhile both as an interactive activity and as an educational one. The best part about meeting my teammates were probably the witty, intelligent, fun conversations they contributed to our day. We learned about other cultures while having fun with one another. I learned about my teammates through the group meetings but I wish we had more open ended blogs

I really enjoyed today's activities. Working with the group from New York made the experience truly worthwhile both as an interactive activity and as an educational one. The best part about meeting my teammates were probably the witty, intelligent, fun conversations they contributed to our day. We learned about other cultures while having fun with one another. I learned about my teammates through the group meetings but I wish we had more open ended blogs and discussions so that we could truly present our opinions to one another and gain new perspectives on certain issues. This does not necessarily have to deviate from our topics and could be as simple as what we did in asking about how to improve the effects of tourism on African habitats. I enjoyed this unique opportunity as a chance to brainstorm and compliment our own ideas with the thoughts of others. Additionally the chance to talk to Ken was unique in that we don't always get a chance to meet with paleontologists currently working in the field. Nevertheless I digress from that issue and I would like to say that I found the part about evolution to be quiet interesting. This section mainly consisted of the video which was really professionally made and truly engaging. For Monday, there are a lot of things I looked forward to including getting to talk with new York again and finally start Digging!

Posted by Alex L. at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shawna, the group leader in NYC, assigned all teens into four groups earlier this morning. I was put into a group of four consisting of Jessica, Anil, and Tarana (NYC teammate). I thought that given the trouble we had today as we went through the assignments we did well in terms of communicating with one another. At the start I discovered that Tarana loves the color hot pink, but that Anil disdains it. I thought it was cool that throughout the day all of us were willing to compromise on such things as choosing our name and color (green hippo).

Shawna, the group leader in NYC, assigned all teens into four groups earlier this morning. I was put into a group of four consisting of Jessica, Anil, and Tarana (NYC teammate). I thought that given the trouble we had today as we went through the assignments in terms of communicating with one another. At the start I discovered that Tarana loves the color hot pink, but that Anil distains it. I thought it was cool that throughout the day all of us were willing to compromise on such things as choosing our name and color (green hippo). I thought the most interesting activity we did together today was discovering the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in some of Africa’s most popular attractions. When asked to come up with some solutions to the problem we came up with some creative ones including: To decrease the inequality of wealth in the tourist zones, try buying gifts/supplies or sleep in local families’ residents and businesses, as oppose to the corporate stores or hotel franchises. As well, instead of eating at the hotel or a franchised fast food place, find a local market to embrace the culture and customs of the people. It’s cheaper and tastier.
I’m excited for Monday. Hopefully we’ll have more opportunity to see actual footage of what they’re doing in Tanzania right now.

Posted by Alicia N. at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey New York! The dig is coming up and I'd bet your excited. I'm glad to be working together and I hope that we can help one other delve further into the inner workings of second life. This is a unique opportunity for making friends and I hope that we can learn a lot about each others interests and hobbies. See you tomorrow at the dig site!

Posted by Anil V. at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello everyone from New York. After three days of exploring teen second life I am so excited to start working with you all and am interested to see what you guys already know. Maybe we will be able to teach each other about the things we have learned about in this virtual world. See you there.

Posted by Sam L. at 8:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the group! Look for us on the GK Island!

Posted by Johanna T. at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello to everyone from New York. I've been playing on TSL for about three days. I have gotten to meet other teens from around the world, and go to fun virtual places. It is a lot of fun, and I have learned so much, in such a short time. I have really enjoyed playing on TSL, and I’m sure you have too. I can’t wait to meet all of you so maybe you can teach all of us in Chicago all the stuff you have learned!
This is my avatar:

Posted by Olivia B. at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So after crusing around TSL for the past three days, I have to say I'm pretty exicted to start working with you guys in NYC! I'm curious to see where you guys are at in the program, how much you know, and what you can show us that we don't know. Today we walked through exibhits in the museum featuring the fossils that the scientist we're going to talk to in Tanzania are digging up. Its pretty interesting so we'll have to see if it will be diffuicult to work on the program together. Either way, it should be cool, although I wonder how the hour difference will effect the work on the program. See you!
This is my Avatar:

Posted by Alicia N. at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Second Life sure is stressful, constantly being trapped in cages and cleaning up garbage, and I was relieved to have a Free Day! For me today was a day to put all of skills we acquired to use. If your skill was building sweet houses or even dancing you could do that. Instead, I continued to talk to other teens on the island. I'll be honest though, not much work got done, but nevertheless I enjoyed the break.

Posted by Anil V. at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today: my free day on teen second life I have been building a house for my self because it will help me with my building skills and allow me to get more comfortable with teen second life. Also I don’t know how to get money and there for I cant buy my own house. I also explored the teen second life world.

Posted by Sam L. at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Had a great lunch just chilling out side, also went to the “Evolving Planet” exhibit. Not too many things of interest, but lunch was great! Even though I didn’t eat, it was fun just running around and talking.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s been a real long day on my free time. I got to do a lot of things with my free time. However during my free time I was messing around in Teen Second Life and I find out how to mess with it better. I also find out how to make copy of things, so I can use them for my self in Teen Second Life. Through out my free time I got to go through the museum and look at things. It was pretty cool because just today I just learn that the first fossil of fish were jaw less, which means that they had no teeth. What was real cool about my free day was that just today I learn that 3.5 billion years ago there was life on the earth because of fossil of leaves and small animals. Today it’s been a real fun day because I use my free time useful and learn new things.

Catherine

Posted by Catherine B. at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, since we have had a sort of FREE day, I have been freely exploring the Second Life world. I have been going from island to island looking for new objects and such and seeing what I can do with them. I have also taken out some old objects I have created and tried to modify them to make them better, (all to improve my Second Life skills, of course).

Posted by Jessica K. at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had some free time in today’s morning session. For a couple of hours I had the chance to explore the Teen Second Life program some more. Although we had some time from the previous two days, this was a chance to look around some more with greater acquired knowledge of the software, as well as more independence in our movement. During the first two hours I started talking with other kids in different ‘regions’ of TSL. I would introduce myself and ask some common questions like, “Where are you from?” and “Why did you start playing the program?”

We had some free time in today’s morning session. For a couple of hours I had the chance to explore the Teen Second Life program some more. Although we had some time from the previous two days, this was a chance to look around some more with greater acquired knowledge of the software, as well as more independence in our movement. During the first two hours I started talking with other kids in different ‘regions’ of TSL. I would introduce myself and ask some common questions like, “Where are you from?” and “Why did you start playing the program?” Surprisingly, among kids from New Zealand and in several states in the U.S., there was one girl who actually was using the program for school research. I thought it was an example of how other people are using TSL more than just to have fun and meet other kids. Lastly, I cleaned up all the objects I was trying to build from the last two days.

Posted by Alicia N. at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today; since we were able to have a free day; I worked really hard on learning to attach actions to objects I make, mainly a huge green gerbil ball I was working on that would be able to hold up to 3 people inside( though I never figured out how to make that work exactly the way I wanted it to) it was still fun to at least try, I have yet to make it fly while I’m still inside it, but I was successful with many other things. And after I had a lot of help I Absolutely had a better grasp of the actions. I also decided to visit and learn about people from multiple countries and states, and basically just asked about them, and were they live.

- Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was more of a free day where we had free time to do whatever and play around in the virtual world of Teen Second Life. I was able to explore the virtual world; in doing this I could venture to new places and meet teens from around the world. I had lots of fun finding these new and exciting places. I was also able to spend time working on building objects on the island. I had time to do more experimenting on the objects’ shapes and appearances. I liked this because I was able to take lots of time and use it to just play around with different objects.

Posted by Olivia B. at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What I’ve been doing today in my free day on TSL is building different objects, exploring the surrounding islands, and talking to the people I meet on those islands. I built a house, some stairs, and a table. While exploring I meet a scripter who built a “teleporter” which allowa a small space to be extended into a huge area, a builder who built an entire mall complete with an elevator, and two average people who I traded with. I trade a dragon avatar, a piano, and a dance move for a Sonic avatar and two futuristic soldier avatars, one with a jetpack!

Posted by Alex L. at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RezEd Podcast, Episode 7- Jeremy Kemp on Immersive Environments and their Opportunities (7/1/08)

(WORLD) The seventh RezEd podcast, produced by MediaSnackers with Global Kids.

Jeremy W. Kemp is an instructional designer at San Jose State University and started teaching online in 1999. Talking here about his varied experiences and projects.

Show Notes:

0.00—0.24 intro
0.25—4.49 RezEd news from Amira and Barry from Global Kids (any news or events can be submitted here)
Special Youth Podcast can be heard in its entirety here. 4.50—6.43 podcast interview with Jeremy W. Kemp
6.44—8.45 connecting Moodle and Second Life
8.46—10.19 Sloodle and its benefit
10.20—11.43 scale and experience of involvement
11.44—12.22 work in progress
12.23—14.11 what does it offer over other platforms
14.12—15.19 text messaging interfaces crossover
15.20—16.36 SimTeach
16.37—18.20 immersive environments and their opportunities
18.21—19.42 augmented reality progression
19.43—18.56 future use and developments
21.42—21.55 thanks
21.56—24.40 Amira and Barry detailing the upcoming events for the RezEd community (any news or events can be submitted here.
24.41—24.48 outro

Download the episode here.

Subscribe Now!

Subscribe to RezEd.org Podcast Series

To subscribe directly through iTunes:

Add to iTunes

Posted by joyce at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Life would certainly be easier for people if they could build what they want when the want. But of coarse the whole tax and money issue would still be there, just in a different form, mainly because sadly the world can’t work as a utopia.

-Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 1:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So far today I have learned how to make objects lift into the air, blog, and teleport myself somewhere. My favorite would be blogging since now I can talk to people while I'm online. It’s so much more fun that way, plus then it is easy to ask for help.

-Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made a box for my first object, nothing special, just a plain wooden box. I wasn’t very comfortable or knowledgeable about the program, actually before the first day; I don’t think I had even ever heard of second life before. Eventually though I changed the color and twisted it. I don’t know what you would call it, but it was fun experimenting with it, and at the same time frustrating, I would make anything, a car (maybe one that runs on water) – no gas!!!!!!!… No, but really, a house, DEFENENTLY, a zoo, a carnival, a ranch, a tree house or something like that. – For fun, or make others happy.

- Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first impression of the program is that it is a very thoroughly planned out. Though the actions were hard to figure out and the instructions didn’t clearly tell you how to do certain things, once you understood what to do, everything came easy, the projects were very individualized, and it was fun to talk to other people whenever you wanted to, or needed too easily, and could continue on with what your doing at the same time, or very close to that.

My first impression of the program is that it is a very thoroughly planned out. Though the actions were hard to figure out and the instructions didn’t clearly tell you how to do certain things, once you understood what to do, everything came easy, the projects were very individualized, and it was fun to talk to other people whenever you wanted to, or needed too easily, and could continue on with what your doing at the same time, or very close to that.

I tried to keep my avatars appearance pretty faithful to how I actually look, or to the best I could make it, dark brown hair, medium skin color, lots of freckles, brown eyes, thin, and very short (or vertically challenged, however you choose look at it) eventually I added wings. If people could simply change their appearance in the real world like in second life all people could look the way they want to look and would most likely be more confident in all they do which could very well be seen as a good thing, also in return someone could alter their appearance to what others want to see- but both roughly have the same point. In my opinion though there are also some bad things that could come of this. But those are a bit more complicated. I have to admit changing your appearance like that would be cool – short term though

Posted by Jessica P. at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The past two days have been really awesome--meeting new people, exploring Teen Second Life, and learning about all of the different things that can be done in the virtual world. So far, we've seen UPS trucks flying in the sky, danced all over GK Machinima Island, found free objects like clothes, a helicopter, and a Range Rover, and have also mastered the art of creating a campground. We've definitely been busy here in Chicago and look forward to meeting the teens in New York and working with them on I Dig Tanzania!

Pictured from left to right: Anil, Sam, Alex, Alicia, Catherine, Johanna, Jessica, Olivia, Mohammed, Jess, and Katie.

Posted by Johanna T. at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The camp site made by group c was my favorite. I liked it the best because of there creative building techniques. I thought the twisted trees were cool because it appeared as if they were blowing in the wind. I also really liked the shack and tents.

When working in a group we faced problems with communication. Sometimes you could not find a person or they didn’t know how to do something and therefore it was hard to get your point across. Eventually we overcame that problem by explaining things or just taking it at a slower pace.

In the end working as a team pays off (even though it can sometimes be annoying) because you are able to make larger and more rewarding things.

Posted by Sam L. at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday saw the publication in the Wall Street Journal of the second ad to be published as part of AMD's launch campaign of their "Changing the Game" initiative. Check it out below!

Posted by joyce at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought the campsite that I build with my teammates Jess and Alex capture what I think a campsite looks like in the real world, but then again, that might be because I helped built it. I like the rustic look and feel of it. Alex incorporated an ‘aged’ wood texture to the camp store, while Jess used old, looking texture to use for the impromptu tents. As well, I found a real look oak texture for the campsite trees.

I thought the campsite that I build with my teammates Jess and Alex capture what I think a campsite looks like in the real world, but then again, that might be because I helped built it. I like the rustic look and feel of it. Alex incorporated an ‘aged’ wood texture to the camp store, while Jess used old, looking texture to use for the impromptu tents. As well, I found a real look oak texture for the campsite trees. I thought working with two other people actually mitigated the challenges I had initially in the morning session today. When I had a question, I could quickly ask them for help, and if I really didn’t get something, they had access to the object I was working on to modify it themselves. And I think more importantly, working in a group was a motivation to keep on trying to improve my skills and also to get feedback from them.

Posted by Alicia N. at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don’t think that would be a good thing. They could all fall apart and hurt people, also there is not good control as there is when you use your own hands. We have adapted tools to work they way we work, and we adapt to use the tools, so we are primed for that setting.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I thought that all of the campsites were good because they all had a different view of what a campsite should look like and there was a different approach to each. Some challenges people might face when working in a group is evenly distributing the work. I think are team did a good job at this because we all worked on different parts and it came together pretty well. Working as a team definitely made it better because you have three people's ideas working together.

Posted by Jessica K. at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I definitely know that my Campsite was the best one! I don't mean to be arrogant or anything like that, but someone's gotta be the one who tells it like it is . I'm just kidding, and I love all three constructions! I really enjoyed building as a team because it allowed tasks to be completed quickly and it allowed me to get to know my teammates. One thing that I enjoyed seeing was the different types of fireplaces, and from this I learned how many times their are different conceptualizations of similar things.

Posted by Anil V. at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I think the best campground made out of the three campgrounds had to be the third campground. The buildings looked better then the other campgrounds and the overall layout was better then any of the other campground. Building in TSL I felt no challenges in working with my team, only benefits. By working as a team each member was able to contribute to each others main projects helping one another and resulting in more things being built quickly and an overall better object.

Posted by Alex L. at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From my own point of view I think that all the campsites look real good and it's to hard to pick one because each campsite had it's own theme.It's actually look like that real thing in the game for each campsite. In my team which was me, Anil and Sam there was really no challenges because we all got along but that from my point of view. Working as a team made it better to creation because when we will put our idea together we will come up with creations also we will get things done faster cause it we work as a group. I really did enjoy doing this activity.

Catherine Beltran

Posted by Catherine B. at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you could build in the same manner it would be a lot easier than in real life, it would also be a lot cheaper, which would mean that things would be way different in real life.

Posted by Jessica K. at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The campsite I liked the most was the last one, it had everything and it really great detail, especially the cabins with the beds, it was really good and they had a campfire, tents, trees, and extra stuff too. I think ours would have been a lot better if we had more time to finish it. Especially the campfire, but that’s about it. Oh and put stuff in the shop. Overall the campfire thing was fun, I leaned how to make buildings better and I honestly our group worked really well together.

Working in a team is (in my opinion) easier than working by yourself because I know I wouldn’t have been able to do have the stuff as I can now on the program and if I had to work alone… well that would have been unpleasant.:) Even though I usually like working on my own. I also think that in groups you can get more done faster. Overall, Second Life still confuses me, and I’m kind of sad to say that, since I’m usually great at anything involving computers, and computer games, I was even a computer teacher for 3 years(lol) (think I need some refreshing on modern equipment), but at least I‘m learning a new skill, and it’s really fun.:)

Posted by Jessica P. at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

All of the campsites were very good, and I could tell everyone put a lot of effort into making them, but the campsite that I thought was the best was the first campsite we saw. I thought this campsite was the best because it was very cool and looked like an actual campground. I really liked their trees, they had cool shapes. I also liked their tents; I thought the camouflage pattern was a nice touch. I also really liked their fire pits and their camp store. I think their camp was really well designed.

All of the campsites were very good, and I could tell everyone put a lot of effort into making them, but the campsite that I thought was the best was the first campsite we saw. I thought this campsite was the best because it was very cool and looked like an actual campground. I really liked their trees, they had cool shapes. I also liked their tents; I thought the camouflage pattern was a nice touch. I also really liked their fire pits and their camp store. I think their camp was really well designed.

I didn’t really face any challenges from working with a team. I felt everyone in my group listened to each others ideas, and really worked together. We helped each other a lot, and all worked together to build our campground. We did have challenges such as coordinating everything to go together, and building certain objects but none of them were caused because of more than one person building the camp.

Working as a team is better than working alone because first of all the job gets done faster. You have two or more people working on the camp which means a couple things are getting done at once, versus when you’re by yourself and only one thing gets done at a time. Second of all you are able to come up with more ideas because there is not just one person planning the whole thing. When you have lots of people coming up with ideas you are more likely to have a better end result. Lastly, with a group there are people who can help you when you are stuck on something. When you are working by yourself and you get stuck on something you have to figure it out by yourself but when you work with a group you have many people that can share their knowledge and help you with your problem.

Posted by Olivia B. at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning I learned different twirls and effects and some neat scripting stuff, also how to trade with other people. I’ve had fun building things and also with movable objects too. I’m working on how to make a car now. It seems like they just use scripts versus the stuff I’m used to
.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pretty much all video games are fun, but if I had to choose my select favorites I would have to say either metal gear solid 4, or any of the lord of the rings games. Basically I don’t spend a lot of my time playing video games so I wouldn’t really know if there are any better games out there. But when I’m bored, or need some cheering up I play them because there very complex games that are never the same twice, and they have great graphics it actually fees like your there sometimes, and it takes actual built skill to play them well, and memorization. And if I was actually capable of doing the moves, I have them perfectly memorized (the movements) - pretty cool:)
- Jessica

Posted by Jessica P. at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If we were able to build objects in real life in the same manner as we can in Teen Second Life manufacturing objects would be a lot simpler. I say this because in Teen Second Life they break everything down into a few simple shapes. This makes it very simple to construct complex items. The positive result of being able to build as we can in Teen Second Life is that it would be much easier. Manufacturing companies’ jobs would be a lot easier, and it would take less power and time to build objects. The negative result of being able to build as we can in Teen Second Life is that objects might not work as well and we might not have as advanced technology as we do now. Objects might not work as well because they wouldn’t be able to have lots of complex parts, causing it to be harder to have advanced technology.

Posted by Olivia B. at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Real life would be a little bit easier if you could build in the same manner as you do in teen second life. One of the positive side affects would be less homelessness in the world because you would be able to build your own house. Some people would also save money because instead of buying supplies you would be able to make it, free of charge. But with the positive side affects there would be negative ones to, such as people losing there jobs, because if you were able to make everything you owned there would be no need for stores to sell them.

Posted by Sam L. at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It would be a boon if you could design in the same manner as you do in TSL. TSL offers a unique system for organizing plots of property and adjusting items to specification. For designing, the system aids in developing real life models of future plans and does so in an accessible 3D format. In this respect, this model has many positive effects. Nevertheless, as with everything, their are certain downsides. Certain negative aspects include certain applicability constraints to the real world. For example, landscapes in the real world may not be modeled and the program leading to compatibility errors. This problem can be easily avoided by the friendly landscape tool, making TSL a great outlet for those looking to design and have fun at the same time.

Posted by Anil V. at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If I could build in real life the way I do in TSL, not much would be different in the world except perhaps a few odd shapes, however, if everyone could build the way they do in TSL in real life, large problems might occur. For example, the amount of junk buildings that would spring up would be enormous, along with this, these buildings would be everywhere. Possible upsides could be perhaps restoration of land and restoring of nature in areas where for example fire had destroyed the land. It could also be used to quickly build large buildings and such if carefully monitored.

Posted by Alex L. at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I was younger I would play computer games. I mostly played strategy games such as solitaire, memory games and problem solving games. I found these games interesting because I liked having to develop a strategy in order to play the game. These games taught me how to create different ways of solving the problems within the games. What these games have taught me about the real world is that every problem has a solution, and the easiest way to find that solution is to create a plan to work around or fix the problem. I now know that when you are faced with a problem you should try different strategies that might help you work around or solve the problem.

Posted by Olivia B. at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Life will be very cool if we could build in the same manner like we did in Teen Second Life. We can make our own home, car,etc. People will not have to pay other people to built there things, they can do it on their own. Also can design the objects or things the way they want. However the positive results about it is that we could make a lot of things without running out of supplies. The negative results is that people may built more thing then they need and may cause problems in the world. Like example their may not be a lot of room in the world because maybe some people went crazy building things. However I think it will be pretty cool if we can built like in the the program Teen Second Life.

Posted by Catherine B. at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of the many features in Teen Second Life, Building is one of the coolest! I mean after speeding through the streets on a motorcycle, the only thing that can seem as exciting is building a house that stands unimaginably tall. So, Ive learned how to build a house which was cool I guess. However unenthusiastic I may seem, this game does in fact get to you. Once you Begin you aim to reach a new level of perfection and constantly find yourself working to make things bigger and better. When I said that I was looking forward to experimenting with the design engine, I'm glad to say that I am not disappointed!

Posted by Anil V. at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On my first day of teen second life my building skills were horrible. But now I am starting to get the hang of it. I have learned how to twist, tern and pretty much manipulate the different shapes to my liking. The most useful skill that I have obtained during my time on second life is linking because it allows you to come up with structures that you could otherwise not make by just twisting or tapering.

Posted by Sam L. at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In second life I constructed a paper bag and chose this object because I thought it would be interesting to put together. The (some times annoying) process of linking the prisms together in the right place and deciding on the size could be frustrating but the out come was rewording and all in all I enjoyed the experience. If I could make an object in real life the way I did in second life I would make a house for my self, because the commands in second life would allow me to make a home suited best for me.

Posted by Sam L. at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've learned so much more about building objects in TSL compared to yesterday. I also think that I’m enjoying the program a lot more now because I’ve grown accustomed to the command keys. One thing I know now is how to hollow out things. The first time I applied this tool was with a coffee cup. Later on in the day, I finally picked up how to link two or more objects together thanks to Olivia, another GKteen here at The Field Museum. One of the good things about getting familiar with this program is that all of us teens are learning together how to do things.

I've learned so much more about building objects in TSL compared to yesterday. I also think that I’m enjoying the program a lot more now because I’ve grown accustomed to the command keys. One thing I know now is how to hollow out things. The first time I applied this tool was with a coffee cup. Later on in the day, I finally picked up how to link two or more objects together thanks to Olivia, another GKteen here at The Field Museum. One of the good things about getting familiar with this program is that all of us teens are learning together how to do things.
My favorite skill with building objects is applying different textures. One of my earlier complaints with the SL program was with the lack of detailed graphics, however I think that applying texture really makes the object reflected more closely how they look in the real world. For example, instead of designing a banana and just simply making it yellow, you can add a texture found in the inventory that gives it a discolored appearance, more realistic to an actual banana.

Posted by Alicia N. at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In TSL I have learned many various new ways to shape and construct objects. For example I learned how to dimple spheres creating a hole which I used to briefly trap Anil, among a few others. I also learned how to twist and distort objects, with this I created a few random shapes and applied interesting textures to create unique and odd shapes. I also learned how to hollow out objects to create interesting shapes and buildings, among other things.

Posted by Alex L. at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I learned how to build objects, and today I improved my object-building skills by learning how to cut, hollow, taper, and sheer the shapes. Today I attempted to create a 'robot' out of various shapes with a shiny, metal looking texture. My favorite skill to have is to twist and cut an existing shape into a new one.

Posted by Jessica K. at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, in building skills, I learned how to twist objects, create cool textures and make other distortions to the object. I learned you can twist the objects so that they become spiral shapes; I learned you can give the objects textures like everyday objects; I learned how to create dimples in spheres; I learned how to widen the openings in shapes; and I learned how to hollow out shapes. My favorite building skill I learned was how to twist objects.

Today, in building skills, I learned how to twist objects, create cool textures and make other distortions to the object. I learned you can twist the objects so that they become spiral shapes; I learned you can give the objects textures like everyday objects; I learned how to create dimples in spheres; I learned how to widen the openings in shapes; and I learned how to hollow out shapes. My favorite building skill I learned was how to twist objects. This was my favorite skill to learn because it was really fun trying to twist all different types of shapes. I liked experimenting with the shapes and comparing how they looked if I twisted them different ways. I found that just by twisting different shapes I could create all types of weird structures. I also liked learning to twist shapes because the structures I made were very interesting to look at. I liked looking at the shapes from different angles. I liked how the shape looked so complex but all I did was twist it. I also thought this was the skill that created the best looking shapes.

Posted by Olivia B. at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I learned four new build skills. The four following skill that I learned are call Taper, Top Shear, Twist and path cut. Out of the four skills that I learned, one of my favorite one was the skill called ( Twist Begin and End). Which is twisting the object you did into the form of a tornado. I mainly like this skill cause it makes your object look like it does not have a end,since it twisted your object. I really did like this skill. It was by far one of my favorite skills.

Posted by Catherine B. at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of Teen Second Life's most helpful and active teens - and one of our cherished D.I.D.I. Ambassadors recently posted this blog article summarizing education in Teen Second Life.

Daniel says:

As, you might or not know there are educational projects happening today in “Teen Second Life”, where Teens can help with projects and learn new stuff. If you’re a teen resident like me you would know hopefully that you will be able to see the whole Teen Grid map and be able to teleport to almost everywhere. “TSL Approved Adults” are really limited to what they can or cannot do in TSL today e.g. teleport to other places around the teen grid, give stuff to teens, have to keep to the rules, lets hope in the future that will improve.

Educational sims in “Teen Second Life” are located below the “mainland” of TSL, where its clear to spot them and teleport if their open otherwise you will get a message saying “cannot teleport to this location”. About “70%” of educational sims are “NOT” open to teens yet, there are educational projects that are popular and open for teens like taking part at “Global Kids”, “Eye4you Alliance”, “British Council Island”, “Penn State”, “Kids Connect”, ”Metaversa” with many more. So, explore and teleport to a few educational project islands and see if you can help make a difference :)

Daniel then lists and describes many of the wonderful programs working in TSL - with links! Read the rest of Daniel's article here! Daniel Voyager's Blog

Daniel is also a prolific flickr documenter of all things TSL.
Here's one of his photos from a Global Kids D.I.D.I. Workshop

Check out his Teen Second Life Collection here!

Posted by Meghan at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Listenup.com launched on their site this week Youth Media in Practice (YMiP).

YMiP is a comprehensive guide to youth media education, serving as an interactive canon of media, language, pedagogy and dynamic research. YMiP encompasses "Projects of Change," an online gallery of the most promising practices in our field, a Practitioners Curricula Gallery, Glossary and access to archived resources at listenup.org/ymip.

Further information from the site:

YMiP is generously supported by Adobe Youth Voices, the Adobe Foundation's global philanthropic initiative, which provides breakthrough learning experiences using multimedia tools that enable youth to explore and comment on their world. Listen Up! is truly grateful to the contributing partner organizations for their visionary leadership, dedication to groundbreaking work with young people, and sharing their methodology with the field. Thanks to a truly collaborative effort, educators can grow capacity within the 21st century classroom through the interactive resources curated at YMiP with "Projects of Change."

Posted by joyce at 1:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Science in Second Life year has ended and Ms. Rebe's fantastic students are enjoying a much deserved summer break! However, before school ended, everyone participated in one last science adventure - learning about more sustainable building and energy alternatives. They even did independent research and presented their findings both in Second Life and Real Life. The students were absolutely super. Everyone involved was really pleased they had the opportunity to work with such a great group!
Here's just a peek at their final work!

Posted by Cathy at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I leave before dawn for Anaheim, CA (yay! to be on Second Life time if only for a few days) to attend the annual American Library Association Conference. On Sunday morning, I will be part of a panel presentation to talk about the Dream It Do It Initiative about the Cool Kids. My PPT presentation is here. I don't like PPT and mine aren't ever very stellar but they help me to keep my bearings and I know my enthusiasm for the project will come out when presenting . I look forward to talking to other librarians who will hopefully be interested to jump on board with youth they think might be interested in launching their own ventures through the D.I.D.I. Initiative.

Posted by Kelly Eye4You at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I worked together with Alex to build a house because it is very basic and a simple choice for learning the features of the Second Life building system. I enjoyed putting it all together because it was a pleasure working with Alex and it was cool to watch it being put together. I found that system for editing size proportions is somewhat difficult to use. If I could build like this in the real world I would go crazy simply because so much accuracy and preciseness is required. But seriously, such a tool could be implemented In designing structures and plans for future constructions.

Posted by Anil V. at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made a UPS box that has a sticker decal taken from a real box, as well as the texture from it. Also you can assign it to your right hand and it will look like you’re a deliveryman. I decided to do this since we have been playing in a UPS truck, I also plan on stacking the boxes into the back of the truck as well.

Oh and “Sonic the Hedge Hog” is now known as “Sonic the Deliveryman”

Posted by Mohammad E. at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first impression of Teen Second life was that it was a little confusing, but once I started to use it I got a better idea on how it works. Two things I like about Teen Seconlife is that it is like real life. You can communicate, travel and earn money. I also like the flying option because it is a faster and easier way to get around.One thing I don’t like about second life are the views. A nother thing i don’t like is were the type shows up on the screen. Instead of appearing on the left bottom corner I would prefer more than above your avatar.
If you could choose your appearance in real life the way you did in second life I think it would help with problems such as discrimination because there would be no birth affects or physical disabilities.

Posted by Sam L. at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The first object I decided to make was a golf ball. I choose that object because it was an easy starting object and seemed like an interesting object to build. The only difficulty I had in making the golf ball was trying to create the little bumps found on golf balls. In the end I decided on using a texture that gave the appearance of bumps without actually putting in any bumps. If I could build the way you can in TSL in real life, I would end up making a large mess of objects, mostly cubes and spheres. This is because I'm not the best at building in TSL.

Posted by Alex L. at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I decided to make a roll of paper towels and a partially eaten apple to substitute for paper towels and food that I threw away yesterday. I did enjoy building this object but I also found it frustrating at times when I couldn't find the right tool to make the shape I needed. I think I need to spend more time experimenting and learning with object building. If I could build like this in the real world I would make all sorts of things such as houses and cars, since it would be an easy and cheap way to make useful things.

Posted by Jessica K. at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After making a list of things I threw away in the trash yesterday I decided to pick the objects that could actually be possible to recreate in the Second Life program. Paper was too easy, so I decided to create things that would present some difficulty. I decided on a can of coke, a cherry, and plastic bowl. I enjoyed figuring out for myself how to use and adjust the shape that would become what I wanted. But some frustrating things I found were that because the things I chose to create were small, they were hard to really work with and also the fact that the graphics are not as detailed as I am use to seeing in other computer programs.
If I had the chance to build something in the real world this quick and free, I would make a car. It would have to be environmentally friendly and fuel efficient because although I would be able to make the automobile initially, I would not be able to continue 'building' the fuel it would run off.

Posted by Alicia N. at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The object that I decide to make is a plastic cup. I chose to do the plastic cup because that an object that gets throw a lot in my house. I enjoy doing the plastic cup because it easy and simple. I find it very frustrating how we can make the object in the program look like the real thing.
If I could build like this in the real world, I would build different types of house because I love to design. It will be very cool if could do that in the real world.

Posted by Catherine B. at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Teen Second life is an interesting concept for social networking that has been available but is now gaining certain popularity in the community. It’s a great interface for interacting with other people, but I fail to see the benefits of it as opposed to a traditional meeting through a chat server.

Teen Second life is an interesting concept for social networking that has been available but is now gaining certain popularity in the community. It’s a great interface for interacting with other people, but I fail to see the benefits of it as opposed to a traditional meeting through a chat server. One thing I did enjoy is the fact that you can fly. Nevertheless, it does become boring after some time. Although I haven’t explored to far into the system, I feel that many positive aspects about a video-game interface could exist, making the Teen Second Life experience a real joy to work with. My Avatar is still in the default stage and I do hope to see what I can customize. Decisions so Far? I’m still experimenting, but I’m sure that Teen Second Life has a lot to offer. I don’t think any problems would be solved if people could change their appearance in the real world as they could in Teen Second Life. Surely problems such as racism sprout from appearances, but changing one's appearance only attempts to fix the problem with more ignorance than already exists, ignorance about the reason for problems whether it be stereotypes based on any aspect of a person's social or financial position. Problems like these should be solved with understanding so that we may learn more about one another instead of excluding these aspects about our very nature. Other prominent issues such as poverty, global warming, etc have no relation to this aspect, and so I feel that this would be a reckless solution.

Posted by Anil V. at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My thoughts on second life thus far are interesting. The clothing elements of the game are nice. But the lack of how to use it is annoying (ex: how do I make my own outfit to look like this or that) I don’t like the fact that there is no “public” building place. But the building functions look good. Appearance varies still as I’m changing some of the stuff. But I like having a lab coat and weird hair. The lab coat because when I volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry that’s what I wear. The goofy hair just makes it look better.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first impression of Teen Second Life is that it is a game that I could easily become addicted to. By this, I mean that it appears to be a very fun and interesting virtual world in which I can explore, create, talk, and even fly! What I dislike about TSL is that it is a bit hard to just begin playing. This is because the lack of a tutorial. This is barely a consideration, however, seeing as how easy the game is to operate and play. My avatar in TSL has brown hair, green eyes, a beard, pointed ears, and is tall. He is also wearing a black t-shirt and tan cargo shorts. I decided to add pointed ears to my avatar because I enjoy watching Star Trek and it makes him seem more like a Vulcan. I choose the beard because I think it makes him look better and older. I can only imagine if people were able to change as easily as I changed my avatar in TSL, that many people would change themselves, and that it would also be abused, resulting in people changing themselves so drastically they would become virtually unrecognizable.

Posted by Alex L. at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After spending 30 minutes on Teen Second Life, I find it to be kind of cool. My impressions of Teen Second Life are that I love how we are able to make the avatar look like us. Also another thing that I like about it is that we can make new friends by talking to people there. I honestly can not find anything that I do not dislike about it.

After spending 30 minutes on Teen Second Life, I find it to be kind of cool. My impressions of Teen Second Life are that I love how we are able to make the avatar look like us. Also another thing that I like about it is that we can make new friends by talking to people there. I honestly can not find anything that I do not dislike about it.

My avatar has black short hair. My skin color is tan and also my avatar is kind of chunky.
Two decisions that I made regarding how it appears is the weigh and basically how I look in person. I change the weigh because I really am not a skinny person, I am chunky. However that was my first decision but my second one was to change how I look the people in Teen Second Life can see how I look and not go by how the program put you when you start.

If people can change their appearance like they do in the game Teen Second Life they can feel better about their self and be a better person like they are in the program.

Posted by Catherine B. at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first impression of Teen Second Life was that it is similar to other computer programs that allow the user to create people and settings, but what makes TSL different is the fact that you can interact with other users who have a chance to create a a very unique avatar as well. I like the fact that this program gives you option of communicating with other users and also that the SL world never seems to have an ending. New buildings continue to emerge as I explored the game. On the other hand...

My first impression of Teen Second Life was that it is similar to other computer programs that allow the user to create people and settings, but what makes TSL different is the fact that you can interact with other users who have a chance to create a a very unique avatar as well. I like the fact that this program gives you option of communicating with other users and also that the SL world never seems to have an ending. New buildings continue to emerge as I explored the game.On the other hand, compared to other games that I have played or seen, Second Life does not have detailed and complex graphics. This was evident as I walked into some of the buildings and noticed the lack of imitation with the furniture. Like wise, I felt that the creation of the avatar itself did not provide enough options when selecting clothes and detailed personal items such as glasses.

When I created my avatar I soon decided that I could not and did not wanted to spend so much time getting the details of myself to match that of the computer version. I felt no reason to alter the small changes made available by the program. Additionally, I made the decision to not make myself look entirely odd looking by putting purple hair or giving myself excessive makeup.
I can see how many people would enjoy spending a good deal of effort into perfecting their avatar, but I also see how this could create some fixes to social problems in the real world. Everyone has insecurities about themselves that we try to improve but are unable to. From weight issues to trying to stop going bald, easily correcting these imperfections could save individuals a lot of self loathing and cash.

Posted by Alicia N. at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At a first glance at teen Second Life I thought it was going to be difficult to figure things out, but as i am playing around with it it doesn't seem as hard and I think I'm catching on. I'm still sort of wondering what exactly were going to do with our avatars on Second Life (virtual fossils?) So far I like it and I hope everyone gets to interact more on it, and we get to do more than fly around.
I tried my best to make my avatar look like me, but of course it doesn't look exactly like me, but I guess thats the point of being able to design your own looks. I changed the skin color to make it lighter like mine (even though I don't like being as pale as I am) because I thought it would be better to be honest. I guess people would be more accepting to others if everyone was able to fix their flaws and instantly 'beautify' themselves, but then everyone would just be hiding the things that made them an individual.

Posted by Jessica K. at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a little over 72 hours, I Dig Tanzania will be officially underway! With much excitement and anticipation, the teens at Global Kids in New York and at the Field Museum in Chicago will come together in Second Life to “dig Tanzania” along with the international research team currently in the field in Tanzania. Over four full days in the virtual Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania, this team of 19 teens will travel, research, dig and construct fossils becoming virtual paleontologists. During this time, the teens will also explore the sites, sounds, and politics of daily life in Tanzania. This will be the adventure of a (Second) lifetime!

Last weekend, the New York teens participating in I Dig Tanzania met at the American Museum of Natural History to get to know one another and begin our exploration of our ancient fossil friends. After hours of exploring dinosaurs, synapsids, and modern mammals of Africa, we all left with some new facts as well as lots of questions we hope to answer during IDT. I really enjoyed getting to know each of the participants and am now even more eager to spend the next week getting to know everyone better before we embark on our journey to Chicago to meet the rest of the IDT team in non-avatar form!

As the curriculum nears its final stages of development and the last safari hat is designed, my excitement is met with many questions I am anxiously awaiting to see the answers. The I Dig Tanzania teens will be working in five research teams made up of teens working together across cities. I wonder how the teens in New York will work alongside their partners in Chicago to share ideas, debate, and create their own fossil from their ‘finds’. This challenge and opportunity makes me all the more excited for the program participants, researchers and staff to meet in person in Chicago in less than a month now. As with any technology, we are relying on many separate parts to run smoothly as one, from satellite phones and modems in rural Tanzania to twenty computers logged in to Second Life for hours on end, Skype calls, instant messages, and projectors. No matter what the challenge may be, the potential to unite three time zones across the world to explore together the past and present in real time will be a reality in just a few days! I look forward to working with this amazing group of teens, staff, and researchers along the journey as well as sharing our findings with you!

Posted by Shawna at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I do play computer games. My favorite is Runescape: a virtual world were you meet people, fight monsters, and complete quests. Although I enjoy playing rune scape when I have nothing elts to do, you really don’t learn anything useful from it and therefore I would rather be occupied with the real world. By playing an online game were you slay evil animals by using swords and magic you are not really getting anything accomplished, besides learning how to be a belligerent brute who uses violence to solve there problems (and that is not going to help you that much in the real world). In conclusion I do play video games but mostly when I don’t have anything elts to do, because the real world can be so much more rewarding.

Posted by Sam L. at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, I don’t really like play computer games. I find them to be kind of boring .However when I was in 3 grade to 6 grade I use to play a lot of math and reading game on the computer to get better at my skills in reading and math. One of my favorite game to play on the computer was typer shack because it help you with your typing skills, so you can type faster. Now days I don't really play a lot of computer games because I am going to start High School and concentrate on my studies.

Posted by Catherine B. at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Computer games, I tend not to play. Not too sure why, just happened. Instead I play Nintendo DS, has a lot of neat features like: dual screens (hence the name “DS”), the bottom screen is a touch screen while the top has a 3D card, wi-fi, microphone, A,B,X,Y, Select, Start, Left, Right buttons...

...And I also have homebrew applications which I’m currently working on my own “homebrew” applications.

Although when the weather is good I like to bike from 4:00pm to 8:00pm and bike quite a ways. Tennis, inline-skating, running, programming, of course, a ton of things I forgot about, are my hobbies.

Posted by Mohammad E. at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I play an online game called Runescape. I have played it for 6+ years on and off, and I still find it enjoyable. It has helped me develop my typing, bartering, market analysis, and knowledge of simple computer functions. Although I may not have to barter all that often in the present day, the other skills I have learned from Runescape may end up proving quite useful in the future. Runescape has also provided me with some insight into mythology, as well as what type of ores make what type of bars, how bowstring is made, and other information related to the skills in Runescape.

Posted by Alex L. at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a result of demanding classes in high school and hours of after school and weekend extracurricular activities, I’ve become less able to play games as I once did when I was young. Even a Wi that my mom and dad bought earlier this year for the family wasn’t enough to free me from the obligations that I was involved in. But even if I had free time to play computer games, I can’t see myself routinely doing so.

As a result of demanding classes in high school and hours of after school and weekend extracurricular activities, I’ve become less able to play games as I once did when I was young. Even a Wi that my mom and dad bought earlier this year for the family wasn’t enough to free me from the obligations that I was involved in. But even if I had free time to play computer games, I can’t see myself routinely doing so. This might be because I’m only familiar with ones that are designed for a young age group. Video games have to be worth the time they take away from the busy schedule of high school students and young people in general. Social networking websites and games such as Guitar Hero have been successful because they cater to the demand by young people to interact with each other and stay connected. I look back at the silly computer games I use to play as a kid with nostalgia, but I know time doesn't afford me the chance to play them again. I guess I'm still looking for a video or computer game that fits my interests as a teenager and perhaps more importantly my schedule.

Posted by Alicia N. at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monopoly is by far one of the most effecting games out on the market. With the advent of Digital Monopoly, people can now understand concepts of trading, free markets vs. Monopolies, and have an exhilarating experience, even when no one else is around to play. Although chance governs the start of the game, effective trading and smart choices decide the latter half of play. So you can, in fact, become a better monopoly player.

Monopoly is by far one of the most effecting games out on the market. With the advent of Digital Monopoly, people can now understand concepts of trading, free markets vs. Monopolies, and have an exhilarating experience, even when no one else is around to play. Although chance governs the start of the game, effective trading and smart choices decide the latter half of play. So you can, in fact, become a better monopoly player. The concept of bargaining with a stubborn player takes a very unusual approach and teaches you how certain issues can be undertaken. For example, sometimes losing two monopolies for one can benefit you in the long run. In fact, probabilities can even be utilized to make even smarter choices. The nature of Monopoly as a game of both mistakes and successes warrants it as, in my opinion, a game everyone can learn to love.

Posted by Anil V. at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don’t often play computer or video games. They used to interest me but not so much anymore, although I will still play some generic games like solitaire or pinball, but that could be because I had no interest in figuring out how a new complex game worked. Of course since I am not on my computer as often, I am not as computer or tech savvy than some people, so it could be a disadvantage.

Posted by Jessica K. at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The object I decided to create was a plastic coke bottle. I chose this object because I like to drink coke, and thought the bottle has an interesting shape. I thought it would be fun to try and design this shape because of its unique design. Making my shape was not as easy as I thought it would be. The part I found most difficult was making all the shapes stack on top of each other. This was hard because they all had to have the same diameter and radius which was hard to do when working with different types of shapes. If I could build like this in the real world I would want to build a vehicle. I would want to build a type of vehicle because they are very complex and hard to build. I would want to build this in Teen Second Life because in this program all the shapes are simplified and it is much easier to build things.

Posted by Olivia B. at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Elena Haliczer, of Games For Change, sent us this amazingly fascinating report about her experience playing and discussing Global Kids' Ayiti with youth in Guatemala at a summit of Central American youth leaders and senior leaders in Central America, many of whom were working in government but who had had backgrounds in, for example, guerrilla military groups:

I realized I never got back to you about my experience playing Ayiti with a group in Guatemala. G4C was asked by the Project on Justice in Times of Transition to talk about games (and unexpectedly social media since nobody else was talking about it, which made me happy since that is my particular expertise) on a panel on using creative strategies to engage youth in social causes.

The event itself "Leaders of the Present/Lideres del Presente" was a summit of Central American youth leaders hand-picked by PJTT and senior leaders in Central America, many of whom were working in government but who had had backgrounds in for example, guerrilla military groups.

The two major themes were youth violence and natural disasters, as those were the two issues all Central American countries face.

The group of young leaders came from fairly diverse backgrounds. Some were lower class, former gang members or guerrilla group members, who'd decided, either upon being sent to and getting out of prison, or through other experiences, to fight for youth like them, to keep young people out of the same situations.

Others were middle to upper class, with parents who were academics or working in government. Many of them had studied or were currently going to college in the U.S..

After our panel, which was pretty good--Wendy Luers, who is one of the founders of the Project on Justice in Times of Transition, asked me to do a follow-up workshop, which is when we played Ayiti.

We had about twenty attendees to this little impromptu affair. I explained G4C's mission, the festival, upcoming network, and then we did some game play. I thought they'd really connect with Ayiti because most of my participants were from impoverished backgrounds, or were working directly with those who were.

Their reactions were fascinating. I took them through two years, coaching them initially on possible outcomes I'd seen by making certain decisions, and letting them make their own without coaching in the second year.

Most of them felt initially that either education, or money were the best strategies for playing the game. They wanted to educate the kids, but soon decided they should educate the parents instead.

When it came to buying things at the store, they went for the home remedies and shoes immediately since those were the things many of them had depended upon year to year to stay healthy, saying that books would only work in an imaginary household where the parents would have energy to invest time in getting the kids to read, or where any of them could read at all.

School they either felt was a luxury or completely useless, and actually a short argument ensued about who had gone to school and who hadn't to greater or lesser real-life impact. Then there was a discussion of the availability of education in their countries, and frustration expressed at the fact that most of it is Catholic education and therefore aligned against traditional indian practices and culture and the root of the erosion of ethnic cultures in their countries.

Game play, in short provoked some really thoughtful discussions and expressions of real-world problems---which is the point of course.

We finished two years and discussion turned to the format of the game. Many of them were concerned about the fact that the game is a digital, web-based one. That it would require a computer. Many of them work with people who have no access to computers or internet. Internet penetration is fairly low in rural parts of Central America. Most people can't afford computers, and even in the cities, the majority of people head to internet cafes which are often prohibitively expensive. However, most people have cell phones.

The two formats that ended up being the most popular among the workshop attendees and also the following one-on-one's I did with people, were either cell phone games or board games, and the ideas that began to take shape rested within those formats. Other formats that appealed were card-based and a few event/festival games.

In terms of Ayiti, people were interested in the characters and got emotionally involved with the family. They liked the music and the design. They wanted to see more grit, but quickly noted as they played that the situation was communicated well enough and enough to make people care about the issue.

Elena

Posted by joyce at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome to The Field Museum and the Global Kids' virtual world Dig in Tanzania!
We are so happy that Olivia, Anil, Mohammed, Alex, Sam, Maria, Catherine, Jessica, Jess and Alicia are here!

Today will be a great day of getting to know each other in the real time, then getting to know our new avatars and friends in Teen Second Life TSL. We are going to have a blast and learn loads of TSL skills for our virtual dig on Saturday!

Glad you are here!

Johanna, Katie, Krystal, Andy and Elizabeth

Posted by Johanna T. at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've reached the end of the year here at GK's Power of Citizenry in Second Life program, and an incredible year it's been. I've actually had a number of opportunities to reflect about the program recently in both qualitative and quantitative ways. On the qualitative side, I wrote up a best practice about the project for GK's RezEd virtual worlds and learning hub, and on the quantitative side, for our own internal numbers section of GK's year end board report.

For those that don't know, the POC in Second Life program was designed to translate Global Kids' flagship offline afterschool leadership program, titled the Power of Citizenry, into an online virtual world setting. In the offline program, we work with youth in high schools across New York City to educate them about international affairs and global issues via interactive workshops and develop their leadership skills through a variety of opportunities and projects throughout the school year.

In the best practice, I largely explored the question of what that translation has looked like structurally within Teen Second Life, and in the board report, I provided a summary of all the events that the teen interns that took part in the program were involved in in a leadership capacity over the course of the year.

Stepping back, I was amazed on both counts. Structurally, the program has come a long way, with a robust set of questions being addressed in terms of how to develop leadership skills in a virtual world. The questions, and a rudimentary stab at possible answers, were these:

When I looked more at the numbers and summary of events they'd participated in over the year, I was also quite satisfied. Overall, the POC program reached over 750 teens within Teen Second Life over the course of the year, with over 500 of those reached by teen leaders themselves. (The other 250 or so were attendants of fireside workshops facilitated by Global Kids staff.) Here's a quick snapshot of some of the different projects and events that the teen leaders were involved in:

I'm personally really proud of the incredible work that these teens did, and especially cognizant of the opportunities to develop leadership skills that digital media is providing to teens of this generation. A huge congratulations to all the teens in the teen grid that participated in the program this past year. You've accomplished so much!

Posted by Rafi Santo at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak on the USC Public Good in SL Community Challenge on the Metanomics Talk Show in Second Life. Today, the virtual broadcast video service SLCN.tv has released a quicktime video of the entire show.  It's kind of a long download, so I recommend cueing it up and fast-forwarding to around the half-way point to cut to the chase.

The Metanomics host Beyers Sellers introduced me by saying that I was "the primary author of 'Best Practices for Non-profits in Second Life,' a document which many people consider required reading for anyone who wants to bring non-profits into virtual worlds." Nice! I got to speak about games as tools for promoting civic engagement, plugging our "Playing 4 Keeps" program among other GK initiatives.

The rest of the show is really interesting as well, touching in intellectual property issues in virtual worlds, hacker and gamer culture, and a review of the new Age of Conan MMORPG.  Check out the entire show here. Thanks to Beyer Sellers and his excellent team for the opportunity to speak about our work!

Posted by Rik at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For Immediate Release:

NYC High School Students Produce Important New Film, Race to Equality, Exposing Educational Racism in the U.S., China and Brazil

New York, NY, June 19, 2008 – A diverse group of New York City public high school students, involved in an intensive after school program conducted by Global Kids, have produced an important new animated movie that exposes how racism relates to equal access to education. The film was created in Teen Second Life, a three-dimensional “virtual world” that Global Kids uses to educate youth from around the world about global issues.

Global Kids is the foremost nonprofit organization in New York City specifically dedicated to educating students in underserved communities about international and public policy issues.

The film, Race to Equality, will premiere on Thursday, June 26th, at 6:00 pm at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in Manhattan. The public is welcome to attend the free screening, but seating is limited. The event will begin at 6pm with opening remarks by Global Kids’ Executive Director Carole Artigiani and OLP Director Barry Joseph. At 6:15pm, students will introduce their film and share briefly about their experiences in the program. The 6-minute screening of Race to Equality will follow at 6:30pm before the 30 minute Q & A session. At 7pm, refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to photograph the students. The event will close at 7:30pm with brief remarks from the Global Kids’ Directors.

The press is also invited to cover the screening and talk to the young filmmakers who will be available to discuss their work. RSVP: vvp@globalkids.org The Sony Wonder Technology Lab is located at 550 Madison Avenue (56th St.). It can be accessed by subway (4, 5, 6 to 59th St.; N, R, E, V, to 5th Ave.).

Race To Equality is the culmination of the year-long Virtual Video Project, an after-school program conducted by Global Kids, Inc. The students gathered regularly during the past year to learn about film production, global access to education, and virtual worlds. Their knowledge and efforts resulted in the production of Race To Equality, a year-end project on the struggle of individuals from Brazil, Tibet, and the United States to overcome racism in higher education.

The students represent a range of high schools from Brooklyn and Queens, including, Aviation High School, James Baldwin School, the Academy of American Studies, Banneker Academy, and Hostos Academy.

Throughout the 2007-2008 Virtual Video Project, the students used machinima (digital movies made in online virtual worlds) to create short films and public service announcements that relate to important global issues.

Race To Equality is a short video that displays the students’ impressive understanding of both digital media and important international issues. Through Race To Equality, the 15 young creators illustrate a poignant story about the struggle of three individuals in Tibet, Brazil and the U.S. to overcome institutional racism in their respective countries. While the stories are fictional, they are based on research with the U.N. about unequal access to education and financial aid in China, Brazil and the U.S. In the film, the characters document their experiences at the U.N. Headquarters, underlying the film’s central message about the necessity to take social action to overcome such obstacles.

Race To Equality was created in the virtual world of Second Life, one of several “virtual worlds” that offers a three-dimensional environment where online participants from around the world are represented by avatars in social and workplace interactions that mimic and reinvent the physical world. Second Life has millions of users and a growing non-profit community.

By streaming the video in Second Life, disseminating it online, and presenting it at screenings such as the one on June 26th, the students hope to raise awareness about the critical global issue of unequal access to education.

The Virtual Video Project is part of Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program (OLP) and made possible with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. The project was also supported by the Campaign for Educational Equity at Columbia University.

About the OLP:
The OLP helps underserved youth learn about important international affairs issues and exercise their leadership skills through innovative media forms. Students in the OLP’s Virtual Video Project meet twice a week throughout the school year. The after-school program educates them about film production, digital media literacy, youth media, civic engagement, and global education. Throughout the Virtual Video Project, students learn about Second Life, construct a storyboard based on a global issue of their choosing, create a series of public service announcements, and create one short film such as Race To Equality. Last year VVP produced A Child’s War about child soldiers in Uganda.

About Global Kids, Inc.
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 civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids’ leadership program graduate from high school.

Posted by tabitha at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week saw Global Kids Global Science class come to a close, led by Tracy Rebe at our High School for Global Citizenship. It was the first OLP program to be developed and run within a classroom setting, mandatory and not optional. The program was designed to use Second Life during most sessions, as well as blogs, flickr, digital comics, and more.

Frankly, we had no idea which parts, if any would work. Now that the program has come to a close, Tracy reports that yes, the students developed an awareness and empathy to global science, environmental and sustainability issues, and did so in a way that was only possible through use of a virtual world.

Equally exciting are the quotes below taken the from the youth's final blog entries regarding their final words on the class. I am sure you will enjoy them as much as we did:

"One thing I learned about science in Second Life is that science is really not that hard. I always thought, "I can't do this," but now I have learned so much, like about sustainability and how I can help to make our earth better. I never knew I was this smart." -- Egypt

"I did not like science before I did this course. I wish I could have Second Life in each class. This is the most amazing thing that I've experienced in high school so far." -- Andrysse

"This class has changed my life, physically and mentally, as it has helped me learn about computers and other places around the world." -- Shaquile B.

"I never thought global science could be so fun to learn." -- Naomi

"Learning global science in Second Life helped a lot because we got to make things that we need to learn. Also we got to have our first field trip in second life where we got to experience different things in a virtual world Learning science in Second Life keeps you interested in your work, which is normally very hard for me to do, except for in this class." -- Shaquille

"Learning in Second Life was fun and taught me a lot of things because its learning and having fun instead of just learning and being bored." -- Latisha

"I got to learn science in a fun way and still get education." -- Rakeem

"My experience in this class is one to remember. Using Science in Second Life made it a lot easier for me to do projects and homework. In class instead of just writing every day we would use the computer to type our notes, look up information, and sometimes get pictures to do class work and homework." -- KoraAnne

"One thing I can say about second life is it is very exciting and very entertaining, and to be able to do my project on it is great. I would recommend this style of learning to anyone who loves science and online games. It would appeal to what they like." -- Eaon

"I recommend this [class] to people all over the world because they would be able learn things about science and have fun at the same time." -- Asha

"I would recommend this program to other teachers and student because it shows science in a whole different way." -- Shabede

"I think learning science in second life was very fun and educational. I think that it was fun because we got to do something different instead of reading a regular text book. It was also educational because we learned science while we were having fun. If I was to recommend it to anybody I would because it was a fun and exciting experience. I will miss it very much." -- Zana

"It was fun and a great learning experience I enjoyed going on second life to do science." -- Lucius

"IT WAS REALLY FUN!!!! I enjoyed building a solar/ hybrid car for my project and I enjoyed making a billboard. I would recommend this style of learning for any subject because it keeps us (students) pushing because we are using a game for learning." -- Ernesto

Posted by joyce at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past week saw the launch of AMD's ad campaign for their Changing the Game initiative. The first in a series of print ads ran in the New York Times. There are successive ads to follow in other publications.

Posted by joyce at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The June 18th article of Education Week online entitled Educators Get a ‘Second Life’, spotlights Second Life and the educational opportunities it has as a virtual learning environment. Andrew Trotter, the author, also spotlights TSL focused educational spaces like Ramapo and Global Kids.

Another major provider on the Teen Grid is Global Kids Inc., a nonprofit group based in New York City that runs after-school programs and hosts activities on Teen Second Life for teenagers at the city’s schools as well as other places.

Activities include service projects, such as raising money for humanitarian aid to the Darfur region of Sudan, and making short movies, called “machinima,” that are filmed on locations and movie sets on the Teen Grid.

Read the full article here.

Posted by joyce at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The machinima produced within our VVP program were spotlighted in the recent podcast from Linden Lab, which featured Claudia and Pathfinder speaking on education.

Claudia: I’m thinking of some of the Machinima work that Global Kids is doing. Machinima is creating videos with the inworld camera. It’s hard to set-up a video studio for high school and middle school students. That’s not very accessible to lots of schools and kids all over the world. But I’m seeing just some amazing videos that are being created by kids totally in Second Life.

They’re able to create their characters; they’re creating their sets in Second Life. So, there’s one example of just in Second Life you’ve got resources available to you that are sometimes hard to have in first life. When I think some of the science exhibits that are in Second Life, that people are able to not only bring in to the classroom, but the kids can go into those exhibits.

Thanks Claudia for the mention!

Posted by joyce at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think the biggest thing I take away from the Virtual Video Project, is working and collaborating with others and taking on more of a leadership role this year. I think coming together to make a movie, takes a lot of compromise and collaboration. I think when it came to making the Tibetan character’s reflection; I did take more of a leadership role. However, one difficulty with one person filming and editing is that everyone else has to be very patient, and they may have to sit in front of a still screen because they can't move their avatars since someone is filming.

All of that may contribute to other members growing impatient and wanting to also do something. And at that moment, it's hard to understand that they are contributing something too. Anyway, I noticed that people may have been bored, but there wasn't much I could do except try to urge them to hang on and be patient.

I definitely think that this year went by smoother than last year. I think that if everyone else was given more to do while editing or filming was going on, it may be nice. But I know it doesn't always turn out that way. The time constraint doesn't help much either. We really have one hour every meeting since it takes that first 30mins for people to come in and eat. However, I think this year people were more dedicated and on time, even though the office location is probably farther from their schools.

If I had to describe VVP, I'd probably say it’s a fun environment where people work together to make a movie on global issues within a 3D virtual world called Second Life. This program is definitely different from other programs for several reasons. We get to choose what issue we want to learn about, the structure of the program is more focused on interaction, rather than a lesson or instructional top-down lecture. It's really fun because you get to work directly with others and you get to learn on your own. It was definitely fun to do activities that enhance our communication skills, like when we had to get together and make a shape with our bodies. Or when we got a partner and we had to both find each other, with our eyes closed, through a common sound we made like a honk.

I really loved going to see Ban-Ki Moon and Kofi Annan, when he received the International Justice award from the MacArthur Foundation, and also the Online Leadership Program symposium this year was awesome! I really will miss it all!

VVP is a great program, and I'd encourage anyone to join it next year. I really look forward to seeing the program grow and evolve. I am also going to miss all the VVP members from this year and the year before! They really are wonderful people, and I hope I can see them sometime in the future.

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday, June 12, the Virtual Video Project (VVP) concluded its second year using virtual worlds to make animated movies, or machinima, around global issues.

The fifteen participants officially said goodbye to each other; for some, it was "See you in school," and, for others, "See you next year."

In the past few months, the participants in the VVP afterschool program have been working diligently to meet a deadline. Together, the youth collected footage from Teen Second Life, created original teen scripts, and developed creative ideas. They named it Race to Equality (pun intended).

Race to Equality is a short film on racism and how it relates to access to education from different parts of the world. For many of the teens, the film speaks from their hearts, highlighting a small piece of their everyday struggle balancing the color of their skin with the act of accessing better, if not equal, education amongst their school peers.

The teens decided that talking about racism and raising awareness about unfair treatment or discrimination against someone’s race was too broad of a theme. As a result, as some are heading off to college, the issue of equal access to education, and what it means globally, has been a heated and debated topic amongst the filmmakers.

“Am I against all odds?" “Racism is inevitable.” "We are all racists in some ways against others, don’t deny it.”

As a result, the youth decided to keep the stories simple, and focus on characters from the U.S., Brazil and Tibet with accessible tales that will speak to anyone, regardless of their background.

But why take my word for it? Below is a video from the last day in which the teens talk about what they liked about the program:

To see their pictures and read their final words, please click on the links below.

Christopher's reflection
Jamila's reflection

Juan's reflection

Doldech's reflection

Justin's reflection

Jin's reflection
Mathew's reflection

Sabina's reflection
Vanessa's reflection

Yessenia's reflection
Thein's reflection
Brian's reflection

Tarana's reflection
Nafiza's reflection

Posted by tabitha at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have recently returned from my first NMC (New Media Consortium) conference, held this year at Princeton University. Besides such highlights such as hearing Henry Jenkins speak and learning a little more about the Wonderland project, I was able to speak to a packed room about Global Kids’ Best Practices for getting started in Second Life.

My goals, or takeaways, for the audience were:
1. to have a better picture of how an educational experience could look in Second Life
2. resources needed for becoming part of the community of educators in SL and information on processes and procedures
3. to be aware and armed for some of the pitfalls of using SL in education

I thought this group would be a perfect audience to introduce to RezEd.org - so I organized a list of resources on my blog page there, a Second Life Toolbox, hoping the community would add more!

I was surprised to have a packed room of about 25 folks - with seating for only 20! When polling the audience I found that most of the audience (all but about 3-4) described themselves as higher ed. There was a good mix of educators, administrators and media specialist types. Surprisingly, at least 75% were new to Second Life (did not yet have an avatar of their own). My assumption had been that many at the NMC conference would already have a good feel for Second Life.

The audience had some expected questions - such as SL systems requirements, and where to find land for their project. One question I found interesting was around the topic of gender - and if we found the interaction of males and females different in the virtual world than we do in a ‘real’ classroom. This led to an interesting tangent on gender selection in avatars (including non-human choices).

My slides can be viewed on Slideshare here but of course they are a lot less interesting without me :)

| View | Upload your own

Posted by Meghan at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was the official launch of the first piece in the Spore game series. "Spore Creature Creator" went live for download on EA's site at: http://www.spore.com/getSpore. Being launched next there will also be a "Spore Creature" game released to Nintendo DS, the full computer game "Spore" featuring not only the ability to create lifeforms, even from the cellular level, but also the game world to play in and finally, a lighter mobile world app to come later.

The Spore Creature Creator allows you to make fantastical beast like creatures. The tool set is cutely stylized and easy to use, reminiscent of creating personal Mii avatars on the Nintendo Wii console. The creation system itself though user friendly is amazingly thorough. You can not only put together the most unbelievable pairings of body parts and adornments, but also refine and tweak each small element quickly on the fly. Next you pick between color palettes and patterns to 'paint' your creature. Once done you can view the finished creature and run it through available gestures and actions which of course includes dancing!

Once released, the larger multi-platform computer game of Spore will allow you to not only use these neat creatures but also have them wander around in a vast world populated by other people's creatures since each player's creations are available throughout the Spore universe to other game players. This makes it so that even though it is a single player game, the Spore universe you play in is effected by all players.

To boldly go where no creature has gone before...

Spore is essentially an Artificial Life simulator where all creatures made live in the Spore universe and evolve over time, with adapted characteristics and traits being passed along through each user generated creature species. Those creature species then go out and interact with other user generated species in the game. Think of gameplay within Spore as a combination of elements of some of the early lifeform games like Game of Life, Darwin Pond and Creatures, meets The Sims series of games, meets the larger strategic world and society forging games like Civilization. All of that, with some space travel/colonization elements thrown in for good measure!

Spore 2.0

Aside from lush, adorable graphics, what sets the Spore series apart from these other games is the emphasis on user content creation in not only the creatures themselves, but the built in ability for users to create further by making YouTube videos, photos and animated gif graphics. Players can choose to share these and the actual creatures themselves with friends right from within the software. This incorporates a lot of the current strong web 2.0 interest in user generated content and social media online. Taken further, think of the ability to use this to visualize derivative narrative story based comics and film machinima.

The Facebook of game worlds?

EA is also hosting a larger social media site where users can interact with each other outside of the game, search and share assets, species bios and other info. Called SporePedia, akin to the wikipedia concept but complete with tagging, rating and comments. To logged in users, it also offers profile pages and embeddable widgets with such things as RSS news feeds of the updated status of you and your friend's creatures.

Games based learning

The release of the full Spore game has the potential to generate lots of excitement about the idea of game based learning. It is amazing to think of the myriads of possible educational and creative uses Spore and it's resulting online community could spur. I know I am looking forward to this, nevermind the fun once all of these creatures have a game space to roam around in.

Posted by joyce at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The following video spotlights the launch of AMD's Changing the Game initiative and sponsorship of Global Kids Playing 4 Keeps program.

Posted by joyce at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you look at students' responses below, you may say "you don't need to say much why you congratulate/cheer the students in Ms.Rebe's class", but I do want to talk little bit about what I have seen in Science through Second Life.

Students in Ms.Rebe's class had a quite unusual science class in Spring semester. Unusual because they had laptop computers instead of text books, because they were a click away from tons of information on any topic they want. They did not have hands on lab sessions which they liked in the fall semester, but they had many activities to do via their avatars in Second Life. They dug into garbage in virtual Naples without getting dirty, they were able to communicate with their classmates without walking into the class and were able to work without teasing them in the class. Most of the students pointed out that the group work they have done in Second Life was more productive than the group work in traditional class.

They looooved building even thought they thought it was the MOST challenging thing they did in SL. The fact is that they were able think beyond what they did in Second Life and come up with other possible ways to use SL is one of the great ways to understand that students did learn new ways of thinking in SL.

Motivation is such a crucial part of learning. It affects the amount of time that people are willing to devote to learning. Although extrinsic rewards and punishments (like grades) can effect people's behavior, the major motivation of students were intrinsic. By looking at the extra time students spent working on computers after school and attendance of the class, I feel very comfortable saying that learning with Second Life was motivational for student.

Another big issue for learning with games or in game-like environments is transfer. If students will be able to transfer the knowledge to use in their real life is asked all the time. Student in Ms.Rebe's class used real life information most of the time;went to virtual learning sites and did research and collected the data extracted from real life situations. It is much easier to transfer the knowledge into practice when it is already learned as a practice - in this case simulations in Second Life.

I,again, want to congratulate Ms.Rebe and her students, to Barry (the program director), and curriculum developers Cathy and Beth, and Kate...And want to thank all of you....

Posted by Selen at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids' Deconstructing Darfur project culminated with the Torch Relay for Darfur that was conceptualized, created, and run by the members of Deconstructing Darfur. After eight workshops addressing the situation in Darfur and looking at activism in virtual and real world communities, the teens put their knowledge into action to raise awareness about Sudan's connection to China in light of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

Using the symbolism of the Olympic torch passing that takes place during the months leading up to the Olympic Games, the members of Deconstructing Darfur rallied their peers to orchestrate their own torch relay, with torches available for a nominal amount of money. All money collected from torch sales and donations is donated to the Save Darfur Campaign. At the conclusion of the relay, the Deconstructing Darfur team gave a brief presentation about the current violence in Darfur and the arms trade between China and Sudan.

Over 80 teens participated in the event including a visit from Linden Lab member, George Linden. The evening concluded with a fireworks show by our beloved Deconstructing Darfur intern. The generosity of the members of the Teen Second Life community was overwhelming. Over L$13,000 was raised to donate to the work of the Save Darfur Campaign. You can read more about Save Darfur's work at www.savedarfur.org.

It is hard to believe that just six weeks ago, Deconstructing Darfur was just an idea. In such a short period of time, I have had the privilege of working with ten teens from around the globe to examine how they can help their communities to become aware of some of the world's most severe realities and take action towards positive change. It is my hope that Deconstructing Darfur and the Torch Relay for Darfur serve as just one example of how today's youth can contribute to change on the most pressing of global issues, whether it is genocide, poverty, or disease. A special thank you to our intern, TheCoolLeader, who never ceased to amaze me with his Second Life skills. To our builder, Calade, whose building talents helped us to visualize life in Darfur and what positive change might look like. To my fellow staff members at GK, who are always ready and willing to support in any way needed at any time. And most importantly, thank you to the participants of Deconstructing Darfur for sharing your wisdom and viewpoints so openly while grappling with the toughest of topics each week.

Posted by Shawna at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RezEd Podcast, Episode 6- Tracy Rebe on Teaching High School Science through Second Life

WORLD) The sixth RezEd podcast, produced by MediaSnackers with Global Kids.

Tracy Rebe, Assistant Principal at High School for Global Citizenship, Brooklyn NY, discussing the Science through Second Life Program that has met every day this semester.

Show Notes:

0.00—0.24 intro
0.25—4.21 RezEd news from Amira and Barry from Global Kids (any news or events can be submitted here)
5.04—6.47 Tracy Rebe explaining the Science through Second Life Program
6.48—8.43 what the program incoorporates
8.44—9.08 length of program
9.09—10.04 students responses
10.05—10.48 faculty/principal responses
10.49—12.23 tracking and measuring goals and standards
12.24—14.46 biggest challenges
14.47—16.36 what has been the outcomes
16.37—17.39 advice
17.40—18.49 future adoption of Second Life
18.50—18.56 thanks
18.57—21.16 Amira and Barry detailing the upcoming events for the RezEd community (any news or events can be submitted here)
21.17—21.24 outro

To read the abridged version of the transcription, click here.

Download the episode here.

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Posted by joyce at 3:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello Summer, we really wished you came earlier but glade you have arrive. This month we only have a few staff reflection blog entries but it's still as satisfying as reading blogs from the entire OLP clan. Enjoy reading.

Amira reflects on her recent work with young people who have began accessing Global Kids Online Leadership programs from a juvenile detention center.
Beyond Judgement and Barriers in our work with Incarcerated Youth

Rik imagines how virtual worlds might fit into the work life of an advocacy-focused non-profit.
What would virtual world non-profit collaboration look like?

Joyce pays tribute to the virtual community leader and mentor within Second Life, The Sojourner, on her passing.
On the passing of an online community mentor and a friend's dream

Kathy writes her "Goodbye, farewell, I hate to say Goodnight" last blog entry for Gk's OLP.
Thanks Global Kids!!!

Posted by Leslie Ann at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global Kids own Barry Joseph will be speaking at the upcoming Games Learning & Society Conference 4.0, July 10-11. This admittedly engaging and fun conference is about real-life people playing real-life video games, and what they learn from doing that. The attendees are always a great mix of academics, educators & designers all interested in games and how they can enhance learning, culture, and education.

Info on Barry's panel:

The Future Is Invading! or Games as Youth Media: A 6 Year Review

In 2002, Global Kids (GK) in New York City first began its efforts treating games as a form of youth media. Rather than treat games strictly as a tool for developing technical or workplace skills, GK sought to determine if both gameplay and game design could be used to develop the skills necessary for youth to become empowered and impassioned global citizens and community leaders.

This interactive session will look back at the past 6 years of the program, sharing best practices and revealing embarrassing gaffes, while situating this reflective overview within the larger social and cultural context of both society's response to games and the emergence of this latest games-based learning pedagogy. Play games. Watch late night TV. Hear from youth. (p4k.globalkids.org)

SPECIAL BONUS: Join the official launch of the latest game to emerge from Global Kids — Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City.

GLS 4.0 will be a great conference and not to be missed! (Where else can you play Rock Band while listening to amazing panelists speak.) There is still time to register to attend and there is also a waiting list for PK-16 educators to receive scholarships to attend for free.

Posted by joyce at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The things I learned from the Virtual Video Project were how to work and use Mac computers. Also I learned about editing projects although I was introduced to it last year. My biggest challenge throughout the program was handling lags in Second Life. I will always remember building all the things I’ve made. I would like to see more variety of drinks at the start of the sessions. If I were to describe the program it would be a program that involves using avatars in Second Life to produce a movie. My school computers are blocked mostly so this is not something I can do at my school.

Posted by VVP Christopher at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throughout this program, I learned so much that I didn't expect when I started. When I first started I didn't know a lot of things that I’ve learned now. One thing that I would take away from this program is making a movie by myself, now that’s a big deal.

One of the biggest challenges that I faced was trying to make a clean shot from a particular scene. At first I was scared but now I know everything, engrained in my brain. One of my best moment was when we went bowling. It was the best time of my life in Global Kids. Unfortunately Kathy had missed all the fun because she had somewhere else she had to go to. I missed Kathy a lot and she was always nice to us. Hope she will come back next year.

One thing that I want everyone to know is that when you first sign up at Global Kids, you might think that it’s boring, but later it would become more fun and you learn a lot of things that you will not learned anywhere else! VVP is very different from my school programs because at school the teachers don't use Second Life.
One thing that I enjoyed doing is going into Second Life and creating scenes. All the thanks go to Tabitha, Dan, and Kathy for running this program for teens like me.

Posted by VVP Jamila at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I will use my new people skills and remember all the hardship we suffered together. I will continue to use my imagination; I really enjoyed working with my group, when all the dancing and singing we did together. My group members are awesome and I hope they never change. Good luck and have fun (glhf for people who play games).

Posted by VVP Juan at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is our last day of VVP. Being in VVP has taught me many things such as how to edit a movie and how to create a virtual avatar that looks a lot like me.

Throughout the year I never faced any big challenges because everything went by ok. A fun moment for me was attending the GK retreat. We did so many things there, such as play games, learning new things and just the ability to have a lot of fun. We even had a talent show called the “No talent, talent show”. That was the greatest ever.

However the trip to DC was wonderful also, I learned so many different things there. It was amazing! I learned that there are over 300 million children out of school or do not have access to education. That’s why we went to DC to pass a bill to congress and to make sure that most of these children get an education.

Suggestion for next year’s program is that I think things should go a lot faster, so the teens don’t have to wait until the end to start their movie. They should not have to come extra days to start their movie. Also I think the program should start at 4:00 not 4:30. Time is a terrible thing to waste and they are going to need it.

I really miss one of the trainers, Kathy. I was really sad when she left, but I hope she at least comes to our screening next week. I would describe VVP as a wonderful program that can help you to find new media skills you never thought you had.

Most of the activities that we do in VVP, I think we can also try at my school, but my school does not run any programs as fun as VVP. I am definitely going to miss all my VVP members, I LOVE YOU GUYS and all the staff as well.

Posted by VVP Tarana at 5:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The two things that I would take away from the program are the skills of cooperation, working with others, and using Mac computers. The biggest challenge was facing new people from different places. I’ll always remember the time when we were goofing around one day, and Juan was editing his avatar to look like the King from Burger King, it was hilarious!

Some feedback for new people next year that I would share is to really pay careful attention to what the trainer is telling you. Next year I would like to see some nice little space for the computers where we can sit like in an office.

I would describe this program as a very entertaining experience with computers. You will meet the nicest of people here. There is nothing here that I can do in my school. I enjoy the use of computers and the sessions where we get to go online in a game and at the same time work in the game environment. In school I'm restricted to only one website, unfortunately.

Posted by VVP Doldech at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two things that I can take away from the program is my new skill in editing and cooperating with others. My biggest challenge throughout the year was working with new people but it turned out fun. A fun moment I will always remember is the bowling trip and the pizza days we have at VVP. I would describe VVP as a very fun experience, a chance to learn something new and exciting and a chance to gain experience with virtual media.

Posted by VVP Justin at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 2 things I can take away from the program to use in the future, is learning about global issues and cooperative talking. The biggest challenge for me throughout this year was getting to the program on time! I’ll always remember the fun and overall enjoyment I’ve experienced in this program. Even though there were serious times, a space for enjoyment and laughter was always there.

I really appreciate the trainers for spending there time to teach us about making virtual video projects, and expanding our knowledge of the issues around the world. Also, the responsibility we learned, to respect others.

I would describe this program to a new person as a new experience and fun way to learn Second Life, teamwork and editing movies.

In a responsible way and the way we focus, it is similar to our school. In both school and here, we have to learn and trouble shoot if we can't figure out a problem. Some things we can't do in class but can do in VVP is going into Second Life, creating virtual video projects and editing.

Posted by VVP Jin at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is the day that I don't want to face. Today is the day that I will be very depressed. I will miss using Mac Laptop and engaging in technology here. I will miss the education on how to use and adapt to the Mac laptop, and mostly I will miss all the friends and staff members, mostly our instructors, Tabitha and Kathy, but she left early.

I can't describe the feeling I feel today. Sometimes I felt tears desperately wanting to be released from my eyes, but it's not just me missing the program, I am also facing other struggles combined to what I am feeling and it’s trying to make me unstable.
It’s a great pleasure that I was selected to participate in this program. I appreciate that I was selected to participate. I am not here for the money; I'm here for the courage to speak up, and gaining a real sense of accomplishment that I need to show others that I did it!

The two things that I can take away from the program to use in my future is the skill of editing and sold experience of group participation. The biggest challenge I’ve faced throughout the year is the responsibility of attendance. I tried my best to show up to most of the VVP sessions. A fun and memorable moment for me was making the film itself, I enjoyed editing the film a lot until I was satisfied with the outcome.

Posted by VVP Mathew at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is our last session at GK. I had a lot of fun throughout the year here. When I first joined this program, I had no idea what Second Life was or anything about editing footage. But now I know a lot about Second Life! This program inspired me to learn more about digital media.

Also, I will be participating in the "I Dig Tanzania" camp this summer, so I can spend more time in Second Life and hopefully become an expert on it. One of the most fun memories we’ve shared was when we went bowling! I had a great time there and it was my first time going bowling. Tabitha is awesome and I love all the preparation and snacks/food she orders for us. Kathy was nice too.

Next year I wish to come back to VVP and this time I am going tell my friends to join the program with me! This program helped me to improve my public speaking skills, and I want to tell my friends that by joining this program they will have their voice heard. They will also learn about Second Life and working with digital media with me.

In our school there is no program like running Second Life, whereas Global Kids have a lot of fun digital media related programs. I love Global Kids!

Posted by VVP Sabina at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Upon walking into the GK office today, there was sign. VVP - GO INTO THE KITCHEN TO PARTY! Excitement I thought, LOL. So I walked into the kitchen and Tabitha ordered Popeyes Chicken! Woooo! I thought we were going to have pizza like we usually do, but no pizza this time, chicken was much better! LOL.

After feasting and talking with everyone, we started to share our experience and our most memorable moments throughout the program. For me, it had to be the GK retreat back in February. Global Kids really opened my eyes and introduced me to a great way to meet new and diverse group of people. Not only were they open, but also they were sincerely friendly. We got along well, there were just so many kids at the retreat, many different personalities and new opportunities to meet new people.

Besides the retreat the program was great! Tabitha and Kathy were awesome. Some workshops I loved were the ones on learning the different camera shots/angles. Learning all the different angles that we were able to do such as wide shots, close ups, was extremely helpful. Also we had a workshop where we watched some of High School Musical 2 that was fun too.

If I had to describe my experience in VVP in one word it would be outstanding!!! Or AWESOME. I wish Kathy would stay until the very end with Tabitha but the time we had with her was wonderful. Our new helper Dan was great too. He gave us great tips and brought new skills to us that we didn’t know before. Tabitha was like a mom, even though she wants to be known as a *cough cough* older sister, she gave us some discipline when we needed it, she kept us on track when we went totally off topic. She was definitely the key to our success in this program. All in all this was a wonderful experience. The trainers were great, the food was awesome and what’s even better is all the extra activities that GK provided to us.
Suggestion: More Pizzas! LOL.

Posted by VVP Vanessa at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing that I learned from participating in this program that I will use in the future, is that editing is very time consuming, so I need to allow more time to create a strong master piece. The biggest challenge throughout the year was really filming and editing our final project, but in the end, I am confident to say that I was able to fully grasp the concept. We’ve had many fun moments, like when we laugh together, almost every day! Also when we had to work hard and we got really tense, we always had somebody to break the tension that made everybody comfortable and felt less pressure.

There is something that I would like to say to the trainers of VVP. Even with Kathy gone, I like how she was always very understanding and showed patience. Tabitha, haha, on the other hand, I think she has mastered the gift of patience with us after all this!!! LOL. And she was always there for everybody, even if it’s just her now, and was always concerned with us whenever one of us didn't show up, or if we looked unhappy for whatever reason.

There is one suggestion that I think could help next year with new people. Perhaps if the recording started a little bit sooner, it might have helped avoid a weekend workshop or working late on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

If I could explain VVP to a friend I would say that it is definitely a program to have your way and your voice heard! Not to mention also fun. You learn many things like editing and filming in Second Life. You also make a new 'family' where everybody gets along.
GK is very different from my school at Aviation Hs. We really can’t do something like this in our school because we are mostly working on aircraft maintenance, which is why I like coming to GK because it’s so different from school. It's just great. I really will miss everybody at GK.

Posted by VVP Yessenia at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The digital media literacy skills I have developed from this program are editing skills on the computer, and about global issues that I was not aware of before. I also met many new people from different parts of the city. My biggest challenge was making it on time to the program, because I had little time to get there.
A fun moment that I will always remember was when I was flying in Second Life, and I kept falling down to the ground, which eventually led to my avatar freezing.

The trainers did a great job! The only thing I would like to see a change for the future, is that I believe we shouldn't have taken so much time for research.

I’ll always remember having fun with friends while creating something that can be shared with the world.

VVP is very different from my school because Global Kids offers a much more open and a lively place to learn. The staffs here are friendly and have great sense of humor.

Posted by VVP Thein at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What I learned most from this program, that I can use in the future is that now I can make my own movies on my iMac by myself, and also I learned that making things happen is not as easy as it appears to be. I will always remember digital media skills such as learning how to work on an Apple laptop and also working as a team player.

I had good times whenever Juan would make a joke about our work as well as ourselves =)

The trainers were excellent for VVP, so please keep doing what you are doing =). I would describe Second Life to a friend by giving an example, like pretend you are playing World of Warcraft in 2D. VVP is nothing like my other classes in school.

Posted by VVP Brian at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, this was it, the final week of P4K. It was bittersweet, of course. On one hand it meant we’d accomplished what we set out to do and I couldn’t be happier with how things went. On the other hand, there were some goodbyes that might be forever.

I didn’t plan too much for the workshop, just letting those who weren’t at G4C play the new beta and having everyone fill out the end of the year survey. For a moment I dared to be sentimental in front of everybody, but that mood was soundly squashed by constant giggling and video game sound effects. Silly me; our group can do many things, but reminisce isn’t one of them.

Still, it was a great afternoon and I was sorry to see everyone walk out of the computer lab one last time. This was my first time facilitating Playing 4 Keeps and my first time working with high school students since being one of them. The experience was humbling (as well as exhausting, frustrating, and confusing).

These students face more hardship than I ever have, but they remain positive and resilient. They’re growing up in a world more dangerous and precarious than the one I grew up in, but they remain confident in the potential for change in the future. They think and analyze¬–not always with the most coherent logic, but often with more wisdom than adults far older. I don’t want to idealize anyone here; they’re also goofy kids that would rather play games than analyze them and joke around than seriously debate, but that’s exactly how teenagers are supposed to be. They’re good kids, I respect them, and I just hope I get the opportunity to work with them next year.

Posted by Jay at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this month, I had the honor of speaking on the work of Global Kids at the NetSquared Conference in San Jose, California. The occasion was a mixed-reality panel discussion to a packed audience both physically there and within Second Life at the Aloft Nonprofit Commons. It was a really fun event where I got to meet several friends from the Second Life nonprofit community in the flesh, as well as connect with several amazing projects seeking support from NetSquared. My powerpoint presentation is also viewable on Slideshare.com.

Thanks to Techsoup and particularly Susan Tenby (aka "Glitteractica Cookie" in SL) for inviting me out to speak.

Posted by Rik at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I do recommend this second life to people all over the world because the would have the oppertunertity to be able to learn things that are dangerous like for example going inside an volcano. they would be able learn things that are about science and have fun at the same time.

Posted by Asha at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

it's kind of cool you know being in this class has changed my life physically and mentally so yea and it has helped me learn about computers and other places(meaning all around the world) and different states.

Posted by Shaquile B at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My experiences in second life was koolim not sure if i would recommend because it depends on if you like using technology for your studies and projects.second life is a good experience for people that us.

Posted by Brandon at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

one thing i want to say about learning global science through second life is that it was a fun experience, and i never thought global science can be so fun to learn now it's easier for me to know what are some global issues.using global science for my project is very fun,and it helped me alot doing the project.i would recommend this style of learning to others because if they are not understanding something they could understand it now.

Posted by Naomi at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Learning in second life was fun and it taught me a lot of things because its learning and having fun instead of just learning and being bored. Using second life for my project was kind of complicated. I was complicated because you have to go around getting information and sometimes it didn't work. Yes i would recommend it because its easier to find information.

Posted by Latisha at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using second life to learn science was a fun experience, i would most definitely recommend it to other people. I got to learn science is a fun way. and still get education.

Posted by Rakeem at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My experience in this class is one to remember. Using Science in Second Life made it a lot easier for me to do projects and homework. In class instead of just writing every day we would use the computer to type our notes, look up information, and sometimes get pictures to do class work and homework. If someone asked me how i felt about this class and if they should join this class i would tell them yes because it's a great experience and to get to learn more then you know

Posted by KoraAnne at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ITS BEEN AWESOME
I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS STYLE BECAUSE ITS FUN

Posted by Daquan at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing i can say about second life is it is very exciting and very entertaining, and to be able to do my project on it is great. I would recommend this style of learning to anyone who loves science and online games. It would appeal to what they like.

Posted by Eaon at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i have learned many things in second life. but in my final project, i wus required to do reasearch about hybrid cars and put it onto a bill board. i would recommend this style of learning to others because it is an interesting way to learn science.

Posted by Demetra at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing i learned about science in second life is that science is real not that hard i all ways thought i can't do this but know i learn so much like sustainability and how i can help to make our earth better recycle and renewable in non- renewable.If i can do this again i will. i learn so much i never knew i was this smart but i would not tell anyone about this because if there are no student i can attend this program again.

Posted by Egypt at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Learning global science through Second Life was a great experience. I would recommend this program to other teachers and student because it shows science in a whole different way. You also get to learn certain computer skills like typing. It helped me with my final project, because of all the information that I learned while I was in Second Life about sustainability.

Posted by Shabede at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i think learning science in second life was very fun and educational. i think that it was fun because we got to do something different instead of reading a regular text book. it was also educational because we learned science while we were having fun and me personaly i learned how to type better by using the computer
if i was to recommend it to anybody i would because it was a fun and exciting experience and i will miss it very much./Users/student/Desktop/2573167974_de1b863e60_m.jpg

Posted by Zana at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well by doing this project I learned new things that didn't know before and things that I wasn't sure about it. My project was about wind electricity, I learned how wind can be turned into electricity and how that helps sustainability. I will recommend people to use less electricity because if we want to to help our sustainability we should use less electricity and us e less gasoline so that will help you too because you wont spent a lot of money than you used to pay.

Posted by Katerine at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One thing about learning global science through second life is that it was fun and both a great learning experience. I learned multiple topics from it such as the Naples project, sustainability, photovoltaic solar cells, etc. Using it for my final project was both interesting and challenging. Yes, I would recommend this learning style to others especially if they enjoy working on computers. I would recommend this style to others because I enjoyed going on second life to do science.

Posted by Lucius at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)