Global Kids' Digital Media Initiative

Last Friday was the conclusion of the "I Dig Zambia" virtual summer camp, co-organized by the Field Museum and Global Kids. I Dig Zambia was a two-week camp that brought together 19 teens from Chicago and New York to learn about paleontology, biology, and Zambian culture and politics in the virtual world of Teen Second Life.

Now that our teens have solidified their Second Life skills and learned how to work with their teams across cities during the first week, we ramped up our activities to be more intensive and collaborative.  It was by no means an easy week for our virtual campers, but I think it was engaging, surprising, and often fun.

This blog entry follows up on my previous post about Week One of IDZ. What follows is a recap of some of the main activities during Week Two of I Dig Zambia and an overall summary of IDZ. Read on...

Continue reading "[IDZ] I Dig Zambia Wrap-up: teaching about Africa and science using virtual worlds" »

Posted by Rik at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I came on as the Chicago facilitator for I Dig Zambia after hearing so much about the I Dig Tanzania program. When I first heard about I Dig Tanzania I was elated. Kids that get to virtually dig for fossils while interacting with paleontologists on an actual dig?!? Why wasn’t this happening when I was a kid! Looking at it through my educator glasses I could instantly see that the possibilities to engage kids with science were endless. I was more than excited to facilitate for this program.

The science activities for I Dig Zambia were similar to those used in I Dig Tanzania. In addition we were able to add more cultural activities. We planned to work with a school/students in Zambia as a way for our teens to learn more about Zambian life and culture. This was an excellent opportunity for our teens to learn about the country they were virtually working in and see that science is never done in a bubble. On a personal note, I am always very frustrated with Americans’ general lack of knowledge with the rest of the world, and any opportunity to learn about another country is an opportunity that should not be passed up. I felt that we had a very robust curriculum planned, and was excited for camp to start. I had little to no experience in 2nd Life and that did worry me a bit, but I felt confident that we could over come any difficulties.

Continue reading "Chicago Reflections on I Dig Zambia!" »

Posted by Beth Sanzenbacher at 1:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When starting I Dig Zambia (IDZ), I had no idea what to expect. I did not feel confident in my ability to facilitate on a virtual world to which I had only just been introduced. However, when students arrived, I was inspired by how excited our students were about IDZ however perplexed at how little they knew about it.

Continue reading "Reflection of the IDZ Program" »

Posted by Rebecca at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I never really knew much about fossils. I was able to get familiar with some of the animal names and the types of animals there are. Also, I learned about how the Field Museum prepares fossils. I never knew that it required so many man hours to just prepare a single fossil. The third thing I learned was that fossil diggers sometimes have a doctor with them. It never really occurred to me that paleontologists could get severely hurt on digs.

My favorite experience was the skits and plays we did. It was fun to act out on the spot with very little time to prepare. I think it really united us as a group because we had to work together to get our message across. In second life I enjoyed the fossil digging as I learned how tedious of a task it was to dig up fossils.

A new skill I learned over the past two weeks was to use Second Life as a tool to unite two "classrooms". I didn't think it was possible to successfully accomplish the task but it was done with rather ease, despite the internet connectivity issues. In the future I could see actual schools using Second Life in order to get a teacher's message across more easily and to unite different classrooms around the world.

Second Life allows for activities to be done that are not normally done in a classroom. For example the fossil digging. For a normal classroom it would probably be impossible for the students to go out and just dig fossils outside. With Second Life we were able to dig up fossils and not have to worry about the real life issues that come along with it. A bad thing about Second Life is that it can sometimes be rather difficult to learn. The program has a rather steep learning curve. Learning how to build takes time and patience, something most classrooms don't always have.

Posted by Nate - SL Intern at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since I have always been extremely interested the field of paleontology, I have obtained a great deal of knowledge of the subject prior to my participation here in “I Dig Zambia” this summer, but I did learn more exclusively about the early Permian and some of the specific therapsids in which our scientists are recovering from Zambia from that period. Looking back over these past two weeks in BioSync, I would still have to say my favorite experience here has to have been going behind the scenes and observing first hand what goes into making the museum and all its expeditions work.

Personally, I deeply believe that every ounce of knowledge is of value and I know that everything I have picked up while attending this camp will be of further use to me at some point in my life, possibly even in the near future, whether that be the computer skills from Second Life, or the scientific information that motivated me to come back for more in the first place. I would definitely say that learning on Second Life is- by far- one of the most interesting ways I've had the chance to study the fields of science and paleontology, even when compared to the many other learning experiences I have been involved with in the Field Museum.

The way I see it, the only con to having learned this way is that I will miss being here with everyone I have met, (both years), and having worked so closely with everyone. My entire time here has been an absolute pleasure and in general has been a unique and unforgettable learning experience. :)

~Jessica

Posted by Jessica Lynn P at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I learned that fossils are useless without their information, that it doesn't matter if a fossil breaks because you can just glue it back together, and that it takes a very long time to prepare fossils and remove the rock that they are sometimes incased in.

I really enjoyed the behind the scenes tour of the museum, because there were so many interesting things to observe and learn about that you normally wouldn't have the opportunity to see.

I learned how to use Second Life! I don't know yet if this will be useful to me in the future, but I had a good time using it.

It's good that people dressed up like The Joker can't barge into your classroom!

I think one of the pros is being able to interact with people all over the world in real time. One of the cons is that sometimes it almost feels like there's a language barrier, even though you're both speaking the same language.

Posted by Shelan O. at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I learned that scientists don't completely take out their fossils in the field. I learned that it takes hundreds, if not thousands of hours to prepare a fossil. The final thing I learned was about the culture of the Zambian people, and that it ha been influenced by the British from when they imperialized Zambia in the 1900s.

My favorite experience in IDZ in SL had to be the dressing up to suit a specific environment. I thought that everyone would enjoy the snow man that I originally wanted to be, and they did. I also liked the dancing in SL as well.

Other than building in Second Life, I learned more on how to think from someone else's perspective. For example, if I said something to someone, I would try to imagine myself in their shoes, with someone saying that to me. It gets complicated, but it'll get better.

Communication is one of the worst parts of SL, and it is really the only part. If all the students in the future could use Voice instead of typing, it would dramatically increase productivity. For example, when I was building and I wanted to IM someone or talk to them, I had to stop what I was doing and type it out. If I could say it over IM or just to my group, it would've been much easier. Also, when i wanted to talk to my whole entire group, I had to individually IM each and every one of them. The main positive thing is that we were able to connect with people in a different city, and conference with them, and work together to create and exhibit that would work and present to other people around the world. I'll be honest: I loved it

Posted by Varun S. at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about paleontology: the process it takes to uncover a fossil, where to look for a fossil, how to piece together a fossil.

My favorite experience in IDZ was the plays; I will never forget how funny and awkward they were.

Over these two weeks I learned how to use a Mac better, before I had never used one, or even been in the same room as one!

It was much more fun and effective learning with Second Life compared to listening to a lecture at a school. However, using Second Life has its disadvantages; it can take a while to get to know how to use the controls, ie looking at a virtual fossil while trying to piece it together, and can get a little frustrating.

Posted by Crystal R. at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about was the amount of work it took to go on a field dig. Which is a ridiculous amount of preparation with all the food and supplies. I learned where you should look to find fossils, and the best place to look is in places with large rock outcroppings with little or no vegetation so the fossil can be easily seen. Also I learned what you need to study (Biology and Geology) to become a paleontologist. Also that it takes at very least 5 years or school.

My favorite experience in IDZ was any of the hands on experiences that were offline. The stuff that was more interactive was very interesting to me. Also I enjoyed learning about the culture in Zambia

The new skill I learned over over the past week was working with others in group problem solving. I often decide to work by myself because I can get more done, but in IDZ I was forced to work with other people and learn to deal with them.

IDZ has been really hands on. When in a classroom you're listening to lectures, with IDZ you're working with other people and feel more involved and I prefer that to just sitting in school. Some cons would be the internet connection though, everything we did depended on the Internet connection and if it was gone It was gone for good.

Posted by Alexander W. at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These two weeks have been a blast for me. I learned how paleontologist dig up fossils, how long it takes, and the amount of dedication it takes to be a paleontologist. Depending on their area of study, they would attend college for 8 years. They would use a rockhammer, shovel, chisels of different sizes, water and a brush to dig up fossils. Depending on the depth of the buried fossil, it could take months to dig up a fossil. This and many more I learned.

My favorite IDZ experience was the dance party and the digging of the fossils.
At the dance party I was the first to start dancing. We were dancing to music from Zambia. The beats were amazing. I was really dancing along with my avatar.
Digging up the fossils was fun and quite a challenge. At first we didn't know how to dig up the fossils but after a while we got it. I kept getting my fossils stolen but it was alright.

I learned how to change my environment settings and how to give items to people in second life. I learned how to move and work more effectively in second life. Now that I have these skills I can teach others who come to second life how to operate.

Learning in second life was different than learning in person or in other Global Kids programs because it is not only us learning. In a way we are teaching our avatars too. We learn how to fly, move, learn, and interact. When it is in person we are teaching ourselves. Pros-> Second life is us, in a way unknown. Cons->It doesn't last forever.

Posted by Tashawna J at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first thing I learned was what paleontology means, the second thing I learned was what it means to be eco-friendly to your environment, and the struggles that the kids have to go through with AIDS/HIV in Africa.

My favorite experience was when we learned the games that the played in the Grassroots football team in Africa, like how they used games to teach kids about AIDS/HIV, how you can't just tell from how a person looks if they have AIDS/HIV or not.

Learning in second life has been really awesome for me because I can't physically go to Zambia and dig for fossils and doing it on second life sped up the process because I don't think I have the patience or the skills to get the fossils out safely. But some of the bad things about doing this on second life was the lagging it was a disaster having to wait and kept getting booted of the site, other than that it was a really great experience and I'm looking forward to joining more second life programs.

This program has been a good learning process for the past two weeks. I think its different from regular programs because we actually do stuff but when we are in second life we can do and become anything we want, it's like we are starting over brand new and fresh.

Posted by Jovann A. at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In IDZ I learned what a tetropod is (a four legged animal), the evolutionary step between aquatic and land animals, and many things on Zambian culture.

In IDZ I enjoyed learning about paleontology, Zambian culture, and working with the people from New York because I like science, learning about other places, and it was cool to converse with people who live in another state.

Over the last two weeks my knowledge of paleontology was refreshed and I learned a lot on Zambian culture. Knowledge is generally useful, no matter what the situation and I think that what I learned about Zambia could possible benefit we if I chose to travel to Africa.

The pros of learning via Second Life are that you can experience various situations that you normally would not be able to (for example excavating fossils). The cons of learning through a virtual reality is that sometimes the computers do not function properly, which can be a hassle.

Posted by Sam L. at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I learned that paleontology is the study of fossils and bones of dinos, second I learned that dino bones are very hard to recover when they are covered in rock, and that if volcanic ash covers the animal it will be well preserved in ash, that makes it easier to deal with in a way.

I like going to the museum and learning about fossils and going behind the scenes and learning so much...it was a fun experience. I also like the second life experience, I learned so much more about second life.
Second Life skills and how I can dig fossils. I bet I can go wih my tools and go dig up dinos and I can set up meetings and meet new people.

It was different... not new different. I feel I learned a lot though. Thank you guys a lot:]

Posted by Chris H. at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I learned how fossils are found, how fossils are cleaned, and how to keep the fossils safe.

Going to the museum and watching the videos were my favorite parts, because the museum trip helped me learned a lot of new things. The videos were very interesting because you really got to see that all around the world people have common things so it really sparked my interest ability to want to see more.

I think working on second life would help me in the future. I don't know how but I just know that I learned a lot and it helped me with technology so I pretty much know how to do more on computers and stuff.

I don't think working on second life is any different except the fact that we work inside the computer. At my school we work on computers so second life is really like a game inside the computer but at the same time it's a school relative.

Posted by Brenesha M. at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throughout I Dig Zambia I've been learning all about Paleontology and from learning about these scientists I've learned that, there always isn't a possible chance that a fossil will be dug out in one piece. However this ties in when the fossil is buried under sand because with sand these isn't a chance of being able to unravel a fossil in a whole because the sand is fragile. Well the third thing that I didn't know that Paleontologist had to go through was waiting for fossils for example when shipping a fossil from one country i didn't know that scientist had to wait months to be honest.

From being in I Dig Zambia, I had so many experiences and deciding on which was my favorite experience, I couldn't decide but from being as a group I really enjoyed team work. I enjoyed team work because I got to work with others and because of the challenge that we went through for example. The activity that we did after seeing the video on the Grassroots Soccer was very helpful because I personally learned and I taught others about the effects of having HIV/AIDS in one's life with all the other things in one's life. I liked that because of the soccer activity that we did we worked as a team and fell as a team literally "doing push-ups".

I learned so much about computers and not just that I had so many typing problems but thanks to IDZ I no longer have to worry about that and college reports won't be as hard. I acknowledged problems that there was in Zambia so I learned about the outside world. Learning about Africa could help me if anything came up in college and with this experience I'm not afraid of this upcoming August.

As of in second life one can learn more and be more comfortable around people which is important because by presenting one doesn't have to be so scared of talking to others and one has more privacy in some sort of way. However as of learning in GK, I've been more into an up close talk and I feel as if someone can listen unlike in second life when another person can be doing something else.

Posted by Abraham B. at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about paleontology that I didn't know about before are that:
that the same fossils can be found on several different continents because of the the continents split of millions of years ago leaving animals spread up from each other. I learned that dinosaurs are not the only type of fossils that are left on the earth today. There are a lot of others that can be found but can look similar. And that when digging up the fossils they can break very easily just because they have become very fragile due to the different weather conditions and because of how they were exposed above the earth so the animals that were alive could have easily have access to it and could have done things to make it break and spread all over the earth or they could have eaten it .

My favorite experience in IDZ would most likely be just how we worked in second life. I say this because I have never been involved in second life before and just the thought of working as a character of myself have been very interesting. Also just because we got to socialize with other people it felt more comfortable doing it in second life than if I had to do it in real life.

A new skill that I have learned over the past week would be how to work better with the people around me and I say that just because I have always had a problem socializing with people and feeling comfortable around them but working in second life made it easier to do that. Socializing can be helpful in the future just because I am going to meet new people everyday and I will have to talk to them so it was just made easier in IDZ.

Learning in second life has been different than what I have done before just because I was able to have my own character and I was able to make it do whatever I wanted it to do and that was easy because it was a world where we could have done what we wanted and not being judged for it. The pros of working in second life is that we could have done anything we wanted and not be judged for it, we met new people, we had a group that we worked with, and we were in a new environment. The cons of working in second life Is that the computer was a bit slow so it made it difficult to do the task fast, it was sometimes difficult to work with our group members on a task just because we sometimes would be doing the same thing at the same time. The job was harder to do than it would have been in real life just because the tools might not have worked the way we wanted it to, but over all it was a great experience.

Posted by Shonell R. at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paleontology is the study of fossils and the process of digging up fossils. in the past week i learned that paleontology requires a lot of hard work, during fossil digging there is a method used to get a fossil, and a lot of group work and communication is needed to complete a task.

My favorite experience with IDZ was taking our bits of fossil bones to create the animal. This was fun because our team work was perfect and this made us finish up first and be recognized as the leading team.

Over the past 2 weeks, I learned that group work helps complete a task in a shorter amount of time and participation and concentration results to a nearly perfect exhibition. Participation and focus will help me in the future because it will help me understand the work and raise accurate and educated points.

Learning in second life was a totally new and interesting experience. Although it was difficult at first, I got used to it and learned through the images, chats and blogs. Some pro's in learning with second life are: you get to see your task and show it according to your taste, we get to chat with our groups in pretty cool tents, we get to fly :), and we get to possess cool items which help us learn. Some con's are: our characters some times lag which makes it frustrating when we are in the middle of a task and the graphics need some improvement.

Posted by Gozi at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YAY!! Last blog!! Not that I don't like blogging, it's just that it becomes more of a chore than something fun to do after.

I learned a lot about Zambia and paleontology. I learned how fragile fossils are and how long it takes to find and carefully extract it from the earth. I also learned that this is not a future career for me. Way too much school and a life time of hard work.

MY favorite part of IDZ was our letter from Jeff and Alta. They let us know what was going on and how closely our lives can be related to the lives you youth in Zambia. Zambia looks like a very beautiful place and I would love to visit some day.

I don't think I learned new skills but i did find out some new computer and second life short cuts. Second life is great. I have a personal second life account but using second life to learn about first life things is really cool and way better than boring books. It can be a little tricky if it is your a first time second life user but once you figure out how to move about and move things it become enjoyable. Second life is cool because you can create the material need to fully understand what ever is being taught. But there are those annoying lag issues.

I had a ton of fun and hope I can do something like this again. Made some new friends too. This may be the last thing I do with GK :( I enjoyed every moment. :)

Posted by Amana K. at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things that I learned about paleontology are the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution. Paleontology is related to biology and geology, it focuses on the record of past life in fossils, and its main source of evidence, which are found in rocks.

My favorite experience in IDZ is the way they teach the kids about AIDS and HIV by soccer its my favorite because it help the kids pay attention about disease.

Over the past two weeks, I learned about how to dig fossils, how to present, how they exhibit it, how they get it ready to present to the people. Presenting fossils might be useful for me in the future because it can help me present my artwork to people in good acceptable way.

Learning in Second life has been different from learning I've done in person in the classroom by experiencing it in real life when I was playing in second life it feels like I was there, it feel like I was living that life, it make feel like I was in Zambia, dig fossils, dance have fun, met new people.

Posted by Monel - GKm2 at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have learned many new things about Paleontology. The most interesting thing that I learned was the process of preparing. Before, when I walked into a museum, I thought that the bones were extracted as complete artifacts. Now I know that people called Preparers actually make the bones look worthy of presentation and that the process of preparing bones is very difficult. I also learned more about how the shape of a fossil can determine different things about the way that they lived their lives. I learned many things that surprised me. For example, I finally learned how scientists determine where to dig when they are in search of fossils.

My favorite experience in I Dig Zambia was participating in the soccer and AIDS activity. I didn't like the soccer part so much, but I loved the effect that the program was having on local communities in Zambia. AIDS relief is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. This year I wrote a thesis paper on the U.S AIDS relief program PEPFAR and the paper didn't exactly portray the program in a great light. I thought that it was awesome that a small group of people could start such an effective program. I liked the fact that we discussed political and social issues in Zambia instead of only focusing in on the paleontology.

Over the past two weeks, I think that I have developed better communication skills. I'm a shy person and I'm not used to being thrown into problem solving situations with strangers, but IDZ forced me to communicate better with others. I'm not very into computer games or programs that use virtual reality, and so IDZ also helped me develop my technological skills. I'm now much more comfortable roaming around Second life than I was on the first day of the program. These new skills will definitely help me in the near future. I will be entering college in the fall and the development of these skills will help me both socially an academically.

Learning in Second Life has been a very interesting experience. In Second Life, one learns through the observation of one's peers, which is very different from learning from in a classroom. The only thing that I did not think worked out well was the correspondence with the scientists. I would have liked to understand what they were saying, but this was more of a technological issue that could not be helped. What I enjoyed most about Second Life was the way that it was left up to the student to put the pieces of the puzzle together. This kind of independent learning is very empowering and i think that it should be used more often.

Posted by Rowana A at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The three things I learned about paleontology were where to look and find fossils, how to describe a fossil based on the bone structure and what I already know from this course how to put fossils together.

My favorite experience from IDZ was meeting new people from across the world. I'm a "people person" so this experience was very suitable for me.

One skill I learned was how to communicate without using sound. I think this skill might be useful because it may possibly help me communicate with a person that is deaf.

Learning in Second Life has been different in the way that it is taught. We are taught by using technology. We also learned using the voice chat. This allowed us to actually talk to the scientist and learn even more useful information. In my opinion, this prepares us for life.

Posted by Alexa D. at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about paleontology that I didn't before is one that they look for other fossils other than dinosaurs. First I thought that dinosaurs were the only thing paleontologists looked for. It was an unintelligent thought by me. Now I know that paleontologists look for fossils such as rodents and other animals that have died. Another thing I learned is that there are different jobs in that field of work. I began to get interested in being the preparer before and after the dig. Its so cool that they are other jobs that work behind the scenes. Before I thought the paleontologists and the scientist were the only ones that really worked. Another thing is how much hard work it is to find a fossil. They are so much research they have to do such as finding out the habitat of the fossil and what it eats to find out where they might be found. Sometimes your not even sure if the fossil would be at that location.

My favorite in IDZ was to be able to use the computer to dig for fossils and understand Zambia and their culture. Also meeting new people in Chicago and becoming friends with them. All the activities may have been difficult at first but ended up being fun and easy. I enjoyed the most was researching the fossil that we found and put together. I found out so much about a little fossil through a virtual world. Now have friends who live in Chicago and I know so much about Zambia.

Patience. That's what I learned over the past two weeks. I learned patience with people and computers. Some people would argue with me over and over but I learned to let it go and have good argument back which it will turn into an educational argument. Also the computers kept on acting up so instead of going crazy and breaking the computer I learned o just sit still and keep on trying to fix it in a calm way. Communication. Another thing I learned because I always thought I had great communication skills but it beans not to be so good over the computer. This will help in the future with other people in person or on the computer. Also these skills would help me out in the real world. Now I know how to use second life almost like a pro. In the beginning I was so lost but now I'm great at moving things and participating even when my computer is down. Before I didn't know what second life was and now I'm a part of it.

Posted by Christina J. at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As apposed to the previous situations in second life, where had to use group problem solving, today we mainly used individual problem solving. This was easier in the aspect that we did not encounter communication errors. It was harder in the aspect that we could not share ideas as well.

In order to make the exhibit, we needed to research the Lystrosouras. I made sure the information that I used was credible by checking multiple sources, and making sure that they said similar things.

If groups of great and low economic power were to reverse roles I think that they would get to experience each others situation and as a result become more considerate to wards the other group. Often the higher ranking people treat the lower ranking people with less or no respect. This might change if they were to live the others pain.

Posted by Sam L. at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Problem solving as a grouped proved to be quick at times and slow. If we couldn't find out were a fossil was supposed to go, then having many minds thinking of the problem would help us figure it out faster, however, if people had disagreements about were a fossil went, then it would go slowly.

To complete my task, I ask the scientists, then looked up the rest of the information. To be sure the information was credible, I looked at many different sites.

If powerful countries switched places with oppressed countries, they would probably act the same; though it does depend on whether that nation has good leaders or not, unfortunately, power itself can corrupt people, and that is something no one is immune to.

Posted by Crystal R. at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Second Life, I think that individual problem solving was more effective. But for real life problem solving, such as when we were putting our plays together, I think working as a group is the best way to go.

I was in charge of the trophic level stuff; finding out what it ate, it's place in the food chain, etc, etc. I asked Ken about our animal in the morning, and then I gathered as much information as I could from the internet. I found some good illustrations of Luangwa teeth, and some info on size from a very technical site devoted to prehistoric animals.

I think that the people with power would naturally fall back into their old roles, no matter where they are. And the people without power probably wouldn't stay in power for very long, as it seems that whenever someone tries to do good, they either become corrupted, are taken advantage of or are prevented from making any real change by the people who are very comfy in the old ways.

Posted by Shelan O. at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Problem solving as a group is very different. When you work by yourself you don't really have to worry about anyone else you can just go do it. When working in a group you need to communicate. One type of problem solving we used was guess and check. We used this when working in our dig sites and looking for bones. You had to communicate with your group where you had already searched and whether or not you had found a bone. Another time we used problem solving and communication was when we were constructing our fossil. You needed to see if certain bones fit in certain places and then you needed to talk to your group and decide who was going to be putting it together. Individual problem solving would have been when we were looking for information for our display. It was easier because there was no one else in your way, you just could go do it.

My job for the fossil display was creating a list of the tools we used and how we used them. I had to take snap shots of all the tools we used. I was able to decide on the credible information because I had my own experiences to draw from because I had used all of the tools.

If you took any fast food establishment from the United States and put it in a different country it would probably not be as powerful. This is because in places outside of the United States people don't like to eat fast food as much and often prefer family meals.

Posted by Alexander W. at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The difference between working alone to solve a problem and working with a group is that you have to communicate with everyone in your group. If there was a group chat available on SL it would've been a whole lot easier because I wouldn't have to IM everyone in our entire group separately to make sure that everyone knew what they needed to know.

I used the individual problem solving when it came to finding information about my my certain task and I used group problem solving when it came to the entire project.

I used my best friend google most of the time to find information :). Because google did not have that much information on our fossil (no luck spelling it, i'll just look dumb), I had to use the limited amount of resources to find out what I could use as a credible source. As a way of keeping credibility in terms of what I found online, I tried to stray away from wikipedia, and other open encyclopedias and stuck to university pages/ not for profit organizations.

Most political systems around the world are like a pendulum, they swing heavily to one side, and quickly fall to the other side. In the same way that we were democratic in the 90s, republican in the early 2000s and democrat once again in the late 2000s, many other places often settle on very traditional thoughts for an era, and then the next generation, usually bored of this, becomes more radical.

Posted by Varun S. at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a group it was harder to put together the fossils. Since everyone was trying to move them at once the over all end product did not come out too well in some cases. Once some of the groups designated people to work on specific parts of the fossils the building went much more smoothly. As an individual you had to be mindful of your peers.

Sometimes the workers get together and form something more powerful than the original owners. In this case, the owners then have to satisfy the workers' wants in order to run a successful business. If they don't they jeopardize everything they have invested into the company. Other than that I'm not sure specifically if groups of workers reversed roles and became owners of a company. The most powerful groups in the US would probably become company owners in other countries. They would still have power but would have to make decisions more carefully in order to preserve the power.

Posted by Nate - SL Intern at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think the problem solving thing is just like something you have to deal with in school and at 1st it was kinda hard to solve things that you didn't know anything about. I think the difference between solving problems in a group and being alone is the fact that you don't have to solve the problem alone when you are in a group.

We each had to choose a task and my task was to find out the movement and it was pretty easy. I just had to find out the speed of which my animal moved and I had to give evidence and my evidence was that if the animal had long legs it moved fast and if it had short legs then it moved slow. My animal happened to have short legs so that was proof that it moved slow.

I dont really fully understand what this question is asking so I'm just gonna take a stab at it n say that
Chicago is more powerful then Mississippi or something :) (idk)

Posted by Brenesha M. at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Working with a group is different in the way that it allows more physical and mental help to be done. We used individual problem solving when we worked in Second Life, by typing up what we knew about our fossil. We used problem solving as a group when we worked Second Life, trying to put the fossils together.

We had to use Google and what we already knew as our research provider to complete our fossil exhibit. I simply used what I already knew to add to my note card.

In England, there were Kings and Queens, and they owned most of the world and had a lot of power.

Posted by Alexa D. at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)