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Second Life is a 3D virtual world in which the residents are provided with the tools required to lliterally shape the world around them. Teen Second Life is a space restricted to 13-17 year olds. Beginning in February, 2006, Global Kids has been exploring how to bring a youth development model around global issues into an island within this teen grid.
Visit Global Kid in the main grid or the teen grid of Second Life.
Hello, on Thursday several teens from Second Life wrote a Spooky Story as part of the Halloween Events at Global Kids. I'm sure they all enjoyed doing them and here are two of the stories which can you download.
The Night The Computers Took Over.
Thanks Storm
Hey guys!
I know you haven’t heard from me in AWHILE.
Let me give you an update of whats going on :)
I have been very busy with Global Kids work, recently! Barry and I are currently working on a project with Cory Linden. Yeah, Cory Linden :D
We are in the middle of making a type of multiple choice survey for the teens in TSL. We hope to get a script somewhat like we had in the maze [If you can make one for us... PLEASE send me an IM in-game]. So keep an eye out for this :)
I have also been assigned to hand out some open-ended surveys. Anyone that completes them with decent (more then one word) answers will receive 250L from Rafi. If you would like to fill out a survey; again, leave me an IM in-game.
But here is the BIGBIG news.
Barry gave me a great idea, to start a new group in TSL. I took his advice and ‘Disability in TSL’ was started... just the other day :) It is open enrollment; so please feel free to join!
I’ve been physically disabled since I was four years old, and I thought making a group in SL might connect some residents. We are hopefully going to get a plot on GK Island –nudges Barry- and I hope to do some great stuff with it :D
Join today!
Over and out,
Lucky Figgy
The following is the raw log from Global Kids Island in the teen grid, captured while the teens watched the live feed from NYC of the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Learning Press Conference. The log begins as I arrived, as the Foundation President Jonathan Fanton talked about the skills young people need.
The schedule for the event was the following:
9:30 - 10:00 Arrival for launch. Light snacks and drinks served
American Museum of Natural History, Powerhouse
Central Park West and 79th Street
10:15 - Launch event begins
10:20 -- Jonathon Fanton speech
10:35 - Panel Discussion: Mimi Ito, Henry Jenkins, Nichole Pinkard
11:20 -- Q&A - audience and Second Life
Click on the photos to read the captions and read the unedited log below. I apologize in advance for the lack of editing - what you will find, as in most SL logs, a high noise-to-signal ratio. But the signal is worth the search.
| www.flickr.com |
[7:22] Maerquis Sismondi: I'll tell you what skills us young people need.
[7:22] Maerquis Sismondi: Laser vision.
[7:22] Listeel Harlan: XD
[7:22] Alex Hicks: ssssshhhh!
Continue reading "[HMDS] MAcArthur Foundation $50m Announced Watched on Global Kids Island" »
The following best practices were developed by Global Kids, Inc. through the summer 2006 Camp GK in the teen grid of Second Life. Over four weeks, 15 teens spent three hours a day, five days a week, participating in interactive, experiential workshops about pressing global issues. Over the course of the program the teens picked a topic of concern -- child sex trafficking -- and built a maze to educate their online community and inspire them to take action. In its first eight weeks, the content-rich maze was visited by 2,500 teens, amongst whom over 450 donated money to an international organization committed to eradicating this global crime against children.
Below is a review of general concepts. For more details download the pdf.
Best practices for working in TSL
1. What happens in the teen grid stays in the teen grid.
2. Create multiple places of meaning.
3. If you build it, they will come.
4. Go beyond TSL.
Best practices for bringing a youth development model into TSL
1. Build, build, build!
2. Don’t just build; design and manipulate avatars.
3. Think globally, act locally.
4. Know when teens know best.
Best practices in workshop design and facilitation in TSL
1. Use real world content when addressing real world issues.
2. Don’t wait until someone has the floor to start typing.
3. Don’t fear multiple communication channels.
4. Incorporate processing into the activity, not just as a final step.
Best practices in program design for TSL
1. Employ effective, rigorous, targeted recruitment.
2. Replace the dominant TSL culture with the GK Island culture.
3. Carefully design and build the tools required.
4. Ensure the program is designed for the recruited participants
Monster.com, the big online job center, has a blog that comments on developments in various fields. They learned of our recent full-time position working on our Teen Second Life projects and marvelled at its very existence.
"Here's a job you've probably never imagined: Developing and running workshops for teens -- in Second Life. But thanks to a New York City organization known as Global Kids, someone has the opportunity to do just that... You can also train and mentor others in Second Life and -- as the job offer from Global Kids demonstrates -- get paid in real US dollars for it. In the online industry, new kinds of jobs are cropping up all the time that simply didn't exist just a few years ago -- corporate blogger, podcasting consultant, Second Life event planner. Yes, I made that last one up, but it will exist before too long."
Actually, the first people we met in Second Life, two years ago, were indeed Second Life event planners. But hey - everyone can't be ahead of the curve.
Click here to read more..
In a recent post, teen grid resident Tecno TIger writes about his thoughts on completing this summer's Camp GK.
He writes:
Camp GK, for me, has finally come to an end officialy as i received my check and certificate through the post yesterday. I say it's the end, because that was the last camp GK related thing that needed to be done. I plan to use the money to go to a concert and get a new iPod. I'm not one for saving up :) The whole GK team know i'm happy to help out if they need it. I'm sure i'll do projects with them in the future :)
Electric Sheep, one of the top in-world developing companies, had this to say recently on their blog:
"The folks over at Global Kids are doing some amazing work on the Teen Grid with their Global Kid's Digital Media Initiative. Barry Joseph brings word of an in-world summer camp where kids tackled a serious issue by creating a digital game for social change within Second Life. Check out the Global Kid's Blog for a post about the project, which uses the teen grid to raise awareness about the issue of sex trafficking and child pornography."
To read more, click here.
Today's issue of the Toronto Star features one of the first articles on the teen grid of Second Life. To our delight, not only did they write about the camp, but they interviewed a local teen who just happened to be one of our campers!
James Young-Dahr spent his summer in Second Life at a camp, of sorts. Global Kids, a non-profit organization based out of New York, held a summer camp in the site that raised awareness of issues like the genocide in Darfur and teen sex slave trafficking."It was pretty amazing," the 14-year-old Young-Dahr says, adding that he's been on Second Life for about a year. "I just like the creativity (on the site). You can create what you want and do what you want."
Young-Dahr says he has more friends on Second Life than he does in real life, finding that those in the virtual world are easier to meet. "It's because people are friendlier. They don't judge people as much as they do in real life because it's the avatar they're looking at, not the real person. You can tell their personality better by the way they type and what they say."
To read the article, click here.
On September 1st, 2.5 weeks after launch, more than 1,700 teens have visited the maze.
In addition, 367 teens had donated $36,516 lindens ($130) and over 50 have sent in photos wearing their "Slavery Still Exists" shirt (to be posted here shortly).
Global Kids Camp GK was touted in a recent blog post entitled, "A Gallery of Virtual 'Firsts' from Second Life." It was posted by Rohit Bhargava, a Vice President of Interactive Marketing for Ogilvy Public Relations, on his blog Influential Interactive Marketing.
He writes, " Second Life is becoming the new poster child for the rising popularity of avatars and virtual personalities that real people are taking on, and every day it seems there is a new development that causes those in marketing and media circles to issue another latest news bulletin, write a blog post, or move on the rise as del.icio.us tag candy... From my time observing over the last several months, here is a list of notable firsts from Second Life that may serve useful for others trying to keep up (or catch up) with the rapid evolution of Second Life."
Along with a list that includes:
We are neither the first non-profit nor the first campaign in SL. But we always love the attention. We DO say, however, that we are the first outside organization to run a public island in the teen grid - can we take the first for that?
Eliane Alhadeff, on her excellent blog Future-Making Serious Games was so inspired by our work she made not just one but a number of posts about out work.
This entry focuses on Camp Global Kids and its implication for learning.
She writes, "Also evident throughout second life are members educating themselves or each other... Could we be seeing maths or English taught in small classes in a similar way?"
Eliane Alhadeff, on her excellent blog Future-Making Serious Games was so inspired by our work she made not just one but a number of posts about out work.
This entry focuses on Global Kids Digital Media Initiative and our work in Second Life.
Eliane Alhadeff, on her excellent blog Future-Making Serious Games
This entry focuses on Global Kids using games to bring a global youth development approach to teens.
She writes, "Acknowledging GK's work is a most rewarding experience. I've spent more time enjoying it than gathering content for further posting."
The gaming focused blog, Wonderland, has a recent post that mentions Global Kids, the work being done in the teen grid and our game Ayiti.
To read the full post, click here.
Tom Watson, posting in his July 26th article on the site On Philanthropy, writes about the rise of non-profit and philanthropic work going on within Second Life.
"Philanthropy, it turns out, is sweeping the world's largest virtual 3D community and big-name organizations like the American Cancer Society, TechSoup, Global Kids, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are getting involved, creating virtual "chapters" and holding online fundraising events...As several people noted, fundraising is almost secondary at this point. In the ACS event, attention was the key, as well as participation... That spirit of participation is evident in... the experiments of high school students in creating an alternative world for themselves working in a program of Global Kids, which aims to 'transform urban youth into successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich
learning experiences.'"
To read the full article, click here.
Our very own Lori Feldman/aka Lori Gkid presented today at the Second Life Conference in San Francisco. She did a great job sharing best practices from the summer camp. The day was organized by the amazing education program committee.
You can read her abstract here.
Below are some photos I took during her talk from the location in the main grid where the event was being simulcast.
Fellow Second Lifer and real world global issues advocate, Ric Panganiban, in his blog "The Click Heard Round the World", writes about the recent exhibit on child sex trafficking that took place on Global Kids island.
To read the article, click here.
From a teen member of Second Life, comes a first person report after experiencing the Camp GK maze on sexual trafficking of children. The writer. Lee Stone, first tells about his experience in the maze and then analyzes it from the perspective of Second Life as an educational environment.
Continue reading "[Press] Second Life Educates About Trafficking" »
- Discussion on obligation
- Using the audio stream to listen to "the best guest speaker ever!!!" Gitta :)
- Darfur fact sheets
...even if they're virtual.
Since the inception of Camp Global Kids, our island has shifted. It has been added onto, tweaked, deleted, re-colored and re-visioned as the Camp has demanded different things of the space.
At the start, new structures were small, and not noticable. That was even the point of some of them. Below is a meeting space high in the sky that Mercury, our remote intern, built for the purposes of private meetings and peace and quiet.
At the start of camp, we thought it would be nice to establish a couple of meeting areas. We usually start each camp day in this stylish hut/yurt/gazebo. It was designed by one of our wonderful campers, Brooke, who would go on to make many more things for the island...
For our end of the day closings, Ryan D made us this campfire, marshmallows and all!
But as we went on, it became evident that certain activities would call for different structures. There was the Dance Party of the Oppressed, which Brooke made a sky club for.
For our 'Race to the Bottom' activity Ryan D and Brooke made this fantastic factory. Broken glass, conveyor belt and dilapidated exterior were all included!
Spunky provided the 'corporate' style suits for that activity as well.
And these are just a couple of examples of things that the teens built or brought to the table. There were bunches of others, and will no doubt be more as camp goes on.
But what's the point? Why all these structures? Why the clothes? The glasses? The conveyor belt? Is any of it really necessary?
The short answer is of course. Certain things were simply pragmatic. We needed a place to sit. We needed a place to talk. Certain 'functions' were necessary. That's the short answer.
The long answer is that these structures and accessories are far more than 'pragmatic', but equally important. In Global Kids' work outside of SL, we always need a place to sit, to talk, etc... And we make do with classrooms and desks. But in Second Life, why settle? If I need a place hold a workshop, why can't it be in a factory? Especially if the workshop involves capitalists building factories in developing countries. And why shouldn't the 'capitalists' wear suits, and kick their feet up on corporate tables?
All of this helps to set the stage, add a bit more flavor, engage a youth who might otherwise tune out. More important, it creates an immersive environment, changes thought processes and alters the way a learner relates to a space, a situation or a person.
Aside from this though, is an even more important aspect to these structures and props. The above would certainly hold true if it was me, or another GK staff, or a team we contracted out that created these things. But it's not. It's our campers.
At the start of camp we expressed that we needed a place to meet, and left it at that. After that, Brooke asked himself: 'What kind of place do I want to meet in?' And then he built. I asked Spunky if she might have a corporate style suit, and then she went off on her own, used the resources she had, and contributed something to an activity she would ultimately participate in herself.
I say that these structures have power, mostly, because they are symbols of youth who are engaged in the world. They've become involved, and not only partcipate in something we hand to them, but create integral parts of the activities they later experience.
These structures may be virtual, but have no doubt in your mind: they're really powerful.
Today we had the campers share their views and debate a couple hypothetical statements. Here are the statements, along with the campers' responses.
Statement 1: Protection of human rights justifies the use of military force.
Brooke Barmy: "If it comes to that where we have to hurt another country to protect our human rights, I think it is fair that we do use miltary force. Just so our people do not get hurt and we are not abused."
Tecno Tiger: "I agree with Brooke, human rights are for everyone, if there not given then people will have to use force to get human rights/ protect them, if everything else fails."
Itokuzu Shimada: "If something like genocide is occuring, if necessary, we should use military force."
Malarthi Behemoth: "Nothing justifies military force, right to peace is a human right, therefore you cannot violate a right to protect it. If you have to use force because there's no other option, use enough force to make sure the situation never occurs again."
Keleus Ferguson: "Not all human rights movements have to be with war force sometimes they can be solved by discussions and protest."
This was the next statement debated:
Statement 2: Military intervention is necessary to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Itokuzu Shimada: "To a point. We don't need to run in and kill everything in sight to stop WMD. But using the military can possibly scare them into not using the weapons and turning them over. (kinda confused)"
Spunky Pinkdot: "I think the military has to step in because no matter what the laws are, people always seem to do what they want and think they can get away with it. Like making and distributing weapons of mass destruction."
Ryan Dayton: "Assuming that war is the last resort, as it always is... I think that if you come to that point, war IS needed to stop the recreation/spread of WMDs. Of course we will investigate the case before we start sending in troops. In the time we take using the method of waiting, waiting, for proof, alot could have happened. So as you wait for proof of something, that proof could have already been moved to another country."
Brooke Barmy: "In the time we are waiting to find out the truth, the country with the WMD could be on the way to bomb another country. You can't just sit back and wait, you have to do something. I think it is necessary for us to have a war to stop a country from creating WMD's. We can't just ask a country to stop and then trust them, we must KNOW that they have gotten rid of them and that we are serious. Like Ryan said, you have to know, and assuming that they aren't just playing around, then if they said they have them, then they have them and we should do something about it before they get out of hand and bomb someone."
Malarthi Behemoth: "Ok so... What happens if we let people start using WMDs. It's a self defeating process. Plus... It gets pretty boring when only people who think the same as you are around."
Josan Akebono: "Yes, we have to stop WMD but it just can't be the Untied States, it has to be all the other countries that step in to. United States is looked as "bad guy", when it comes to stopping countires. To just tell them to bomb each other is not the solution."
I bet you know that old phrase: If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear, did it make a sound.
I was thinking about that earlier today in relation not just to sound, but the nature of reality versus virtual reality. Whether or not you think that fallen tree made a sound, most (but not all) can agree that at least the tree was still there. But what if the tree was on Global Kids Island? And, to make it a little more SLesque, what if we are talking about our volcano.
In other words, if there is no one on Global Kids Island, does it still exist?
What does it even mean to exist in Second Life? Does our volcano only exist if someone else experiences it? When they leave does it disappear? It seems to me the argument can be made that unless a resident experiences GK Island (which means, in essense, they use a computer program to generate a visual and auditory representation of it on their computer) then it doesn't exist. It's not like our volcano is just waiting around to be viewied - it literally does not become processed into a visual image of a volcano until someone actually looks at it. So from this perspective, non-human controlled objects in SL only exist in a purely subjective manner, when someone else experiences it. This is the opposite of the real world.
Now, a strong counter argument to this is that, actually, the thing which creates the Global Kids volcano is not its representation on a visitor's computer but, rather, the underlying code which determines how it will appear. Whether or not a visitor accesses and processes that code, the code always exists. In this case, the volcano does NOT need to be viewed to exist. In fact, no one need ever view it and yet it would always exist, in the form of the underlying code (or rules) that determine how it would appear SHOULD a resident view it.
So is our real world tree and our SL volcano the same? Well, the volcano is determined by some code, which is really to say that a specific pattern of appearance and properties which we call the Global Kids volcano is defined in some code. The volcano when viewed by a resident is full of color, and animation, and sound. But at the level of code, it is just a set of patterns, which can be reproduced in a variety of ways (the SL viewer is just one way; another might be a machine which makes us a hard copy, etc.).
Is a tree a tree or a set of patterns? Well, the tree is actully composed of cells, which are composed of molecules, which are composed of atoms, and these atoms and cells are constantly dying and being replaced. Our body is the same - every few years nearly every cell and all atoms are replaced as old ones die. Yet both the tree and our bodies appear the same (outside aging and environmental factors). Why? Because the arrangement of our parts are determined by our own organic code. In the case of humans, DNA. (I'm not sure how a tree is created). These organic codes determine the shape and form of our own patterns. So yes, a tree is a tree, but it is also just a pattern OF that tree.
So if no one sees a volcano spit lava, did it happen? If there is no one on Global Kids Island, does it still exist? In both cases, yes - in the form of unprocessed patterns.
So what is the difference between reality and Second Life, the difference between a real tree and Global Kids Volcano? While both always exist in the realm of patterns, outside any subjective observation, the tree doesn't need a viewer to exist in a fully realized state. The tree is always there, observed or not.The volcano, however, needs a viewer to make it fully real.
In other words, each time a TSL resident experiences Global Kids Island, their very experience transforms it from a potential (code as pattern) to something full actualized (the pattern processed). No one just visits Global Kids Island - they create it moment by moment.
My name is Mercury Metropolitan. For those of who haven't heard, I have been chosen to fill the position of Remote Intern for Camp Global Kids. I am honored to be the very first Remote Intern hired by Global Kids, and as such I have a lot weighing on my shoulders. My performance may determine if there will ever be another Remote Intern, so I've been working hard to fulfill high expectations.
So far, I think it's going pretty well! During the first week of my internship, I assisted in setting up for a video podcast premiere launch party on the island. This meant rearranging the entire island and creating a stage for the viewing. Lori and I spent hours on the island revamp, and after a few frustrating SL bugs that we had no control over; we managed to accomplish our goal. All in all, it was a success, and many people showed up at the event.
Every week up until now, I've been working hard to spread the word about the Camp Global Kids summer program and persuading teens to sign up. I created a poster for our advertising campaign, which has been used on signs around the island and various locations around the grid. I've also held a few Word Spill events to promote the program. Reaching out to people in my close social network has been proven effective. Getting people to sign up, however, has been no easy feat.
Many teens have some common misconceptions about Global Kids in SL, and I've been trying my best to clear some of these up. Some teens seem to think that Global Kids in SL is like school, or some kind of brainwashing scheme to forcefully make them think differently about certain things. Those teens that have come to this conclusion are terribly misinformed. I always have to explain to them that Global Kids is nothing like school; if it were, we wouldn't be doing it.
Those who feel it is like some brainwashing scheme don't realize that the mission of Global Kids in SL is the total opposite. We do not force our opinions/views about certain issues on anyone. What we want to do is provide an atmosphere where teens can safely express their opinions about global issues important to them, and effectively strive for positive change within a virtual space.
I think that some teens may view adults on their grid as predatory and threatening to them, as I once did before getting involved with Global Kids. It is understandable to think this way, but once you begin to understand the relevance of why they're here and what they're doing here, you retract your defensive barrier.
So, even though I’ve been faced with the difficult task of advertising the program and addressing some misconceptions people have, we’ve received some awesome applications. I really look forward to meeting the participants of the program once they’re chosen. Since the teen grid is such a tightly knit community, I’m sure I will know most of them. I’m also looking forward to help plan and coordinate the different activities for Camp GK! I continue to learn from these positive experiences day by day, and will continue to blog about these experiences. Until next time... :)
Looks like a standard Second Life scene right? People dancing, having a good time, living it up. But, there's a twist...
As I was dancing with these teens in this virtual space, we were actually having a full on political conversation. Ryan brought up an article on a car bombing that just took place in Baghdad, Itokuzu mentioned that her brother was a Marine about to ship out to Bahrain. The conversation eventually turned to social policy in Canada, and the expected changes to come with the new government that gained power a couple of months ago. All the while we were shaking our virtual hips!
What's so powerful to me about this anecdote is that it indicates a shift in how the teens are relating to the space of Second Life, what social meaning it holds for them. There already exist a number of meaningful behaviors within the teen grid, from building and scripting to dancing and playing. At Global Kids, we see the possibility of a space that includes all these things but that also has room for engaging in issues that affect the wider world.
When I begin to see the things we're aiming for more broadly manifest organically in an instance like this one, I can't help but smile.
The one aspect of the island the Magicians are building outside the essay contest, and for free, is the Save Darfur wristband dispenser. The Save Darfur campaign is an offline campaign to pressure the Bush Administration to take a stronger role resolving the deteriorating situation in Sudan.
We received authorization from the campaign to make a virtual version in Second Life, offering replicas of their charity wristbands and note cards, when clicked, that offer information about the situation and the campaign. I am proud to be one of the first to wear one in SL. I hope the more I wear it the more it can serve as a reminder of what is going on.
