Virtual World Capacity Building Program
In August, Global Kids graduated its first cohort of nonprofit staffers who participated in the Virtual World Capacity Building Program, a four-week introduction to virtual worlds and their applications for civic and cultural institutions. These four organizations -- the Vera Institute of Justice, the Adler Planetarium, Architreasures, and the National Writing Project -- had almost no experience with virtual worlds prior to the program, but by the end of the four-week course were able to speak cogently and insightfully about how these digital tools fit into their larger institutional missions. Over the course of the four-weeks, these staffers explored a number of different virtual worlds, created avatars for themselves, learned how to build 3d objects and bring in multimedia resources, and engaged in in-depth conversations about the strengths and challenges of working with these new media tools. (You can see a report about this first Virtual Roundtable.)
Over this next year, Global Kids will work with 15-20 more civic and cultural institutions to expose them to the possibilities of virtual worlds for their work. This initiative grew out of Global Kids ad hoc work with other public institutions over the years -- including UNICEF, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Youth Leadership Council -- helping them to think strategically about synthetic worlds and create educational projects in these spaces. Through the support of the MacArthur Foundation, we are able to formalize this orientation to virtual worlds, and scale up our reach to more nonprofit organizations curious about how to use these digital tools.
Three more cohorts of organizations will participate in the Virtual World Capacity Building Program in the Fall, Winter and Spring. We will be tracking and documenting their progress on the Edge Project social network so that other institutions can benefit from this initiative. In addition, we will hold three additional public roundtables at the conclusion of each session at MacArthur Island in Second Life, so that more organizations can learn from the experiences of these participants.
The VWCBP is a fairly rapid flyover of virtual worlds and their utilities for education, collaboration, civic engagement and online event spaces. Our hope is that at the end of each session, our graduates leave much better prepared to evaluate these digital tools and perhaps take the decision to go deeper into these worlds with projects that add real value for their institutions.
For those interested in participating in the program, starting with the Winter 09 Session, we will be opening up the application process to any civic and cultural institution interested in virtual worlds. To stay informed about the open application process and public events of the VWCPB, email amira AT globalkids.org with your name and organization.
