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Global Kids with the Field Museum of Chicago have been conducting a series of innovative "virtual fossil digs" in a program we call I Dig Science.
High schoolers in New York City and Chicago have gone into the virtual world to learn about science, evolution, and biology, as well as the complex social and cultural issues of a particular country. To go to the I Dig Science Program page and learn more, click here. |
Virtual Worlds Programs
As one of the newest of the "new media," immersive 3D virtual worlds offer tremendous opportunities for Global Kids youth to experience learning in a new way. Virtual worlds are rich social spaces that bring together a range of social media and allow youth to make important connections with each other across borders and cultures. Global Kids is committed to using tools like these to empower our young people... both in the virtual and the real world.
I Dig Science
Machinima
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Digital filmmaking is a powerful educational tool for personal expression and civic engagement. Machinima is one form of video creation, where young people can be directly involved in every stage of the film's production.
Global Kids teens have used machinima to create entertaining and engaging short films on a wide range of social issues. To go to the Machinima Program page and learn more, click here . |
Rezed
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RezEd is a robust social network that covers a broad range of educational virtual worlds through news updates; multimedia resources; a podcast series with youth, theorists, practitioners and experts in the field; weekly best practices, and guest-moderated discussions.
This online hub provides practitioners using virtual worlds with access to the highest quality resources and research in the field to establish a strong network of those using virtual worlds for learning. To go to the RezEd page and learn more, click here . |
Second Life
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Second Life is a 3D virtual world in which the residents are provided with the tools required to literally construct the world around them, with Teen Second Life being a space restricted to 13-17 year olds.
Within the Teen Grid, Global Kids manages a number of "islands" that offer a wide variety of youth development programs that address global and social issues. To go to the Second Life page and learn more, click here . |
Science in Second Life
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Science in Second Life is a high school level class that teaches basic science skills from a global perspective, while meeting New York state standards.
Through the virtual world, the students visited simulations of places around the world like Naples, Italy, where they learned about the environmental impact of garbage, and Antarctica, where they flew into the atmosphere to measure the impact of global warming. To go to the Science in Second Life page and learn more, click here . |
March 8, 2010
Update on Salam Project: 8,000 Plays of Sudan Mission in SmallWorlds!
On Friday, February 12, Global Kids and the National Youth Leadership Council launched "The Salam Project," a month-long effort to support young people to learn about the conflict in Sudan and what they can do to promote peace there. The kick-off event took place in the virtual world of SmallWorlds, where a Sudanese peace activist and two Global Kids youth leaders, spoke about their work to educate others about the conflict and support peace in Darfur. Since then, we've had a great response from the SmallWorlds community to the project.
Most exciting is the "mission" we created to go along with the project, an online game that teaches you about the country of Sudan and the conflict there. Since the launch in February, the Sudan mission has been played more than 8,000 times!
We also launched another mission on service learning which we highly encourage people to play. To get started in SmallWorlds and play both missions, head to the Salam Project website. It's free and only takes a few minutes to register and go in-world!
Continue reading "Update on Salam Project: 8,000 Plays of Sudan Mission in SmallWorlds!" »
March 5, 2010
Teens in Virtual Worlds Learn Civic Lessons
A December Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning blog post, featured how using digital media and virtual worlds to engage you in education of civics issues.
Say the word “civics,” and most people will likely conjure images of well-meaning citizens trudging to the polls to do their democratic duty, soberly pulling levers behind dim curtains for city council members on local election days.Civics, that is to say, rarely inspires rapture.
But that may be changing as kids, thanks to digital media, are first encountering civic issues in engaging and, yes, dynamic ways, both through school curriculums and on their own.
The article goes on to highlight Global Kids civics based Witnessing History project.
High school kids from Washington, D.C., involved in the Witnessing History project, certainly appeared motivated by the immersive aspects of working in the virtual space of Teen Second Life. The project was produced in conjunction with Global Kids and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Continue reading "Teens in Virtual Worlds Learn Civic Lessons" »
February 16, 2010
Service Learning Project Launches in SmallWorlds!
This past Friday, Global Kids produced an online event for the National Youth Leadership Council on how young people can support the peace process in Sudan. Occurring in the youth-oriented virtual world of SmallWorlds, about 50 avatars participated in a live video talk by a Sudanese peace activist and two Global Kids youth leaders, the first live event of this kind in SmallWorlds.
The virtual participants learned from the speaker that there were a lot of ways that they can help the people of Sudan: first by educating themselves, then educating others, supporting Darfurians and Sudanese, and pushing for policy changes. The Global Kids leaders explained that there was a lot that you can do from wherever you are, whether its a fundraiser, a movie screening or supporting Sudanese in your community. A special curriculum was released at the same time at Sudanpeace.ning.com for educators who want to help their young people engage in service projects for Sudan.
NYLC and Global Kids is hoping that hundreds of young people all around the country will engage in service projects over the next four weeks in support of Sudan. Then on March 25, three of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" will speak live online in SmallWorlds to find out what actions took place.
For more information and to participate see Sudanpeace.ning.com. Or you can check out the virtual Sudan center yourself online by registering at SmallWorlds.com and then going to this link.
February 3, 2010
Join the Salam Project: Virtual Service to Support Peace in Sudan Starting February 12!
Many of us know about the deadly conflicts that have devastated the North African country of Sudan. What you may not know about is what you can do in your own community to support peace in this wartorn country. On February 12th, you can take a virtual stand for peace in Sudan at the "Salam Project" kick-off event.
February 2, 2010
Applications Open for Virtual World Professional Development Opportunity in March!
On behalf of Global Kids, a leading nonprofit in the field of virtual world education, we would like to invite your organization to apply to participate in a series of free professional development trainings in virtual worlds for nonprofits.
December 4, 2009
[SL] The Power of Virtual Civics Education
This week the MacArthur Spotlight blog featured an article written by mac Montandon titled Teens in Virtual Worlds Learn Civic Lessons That Are Anything But Dull which highlights some of our work in Teen Second Life as an example of an engaging way of learning civics.
High school kids from Washington, D.C., involved in the Witnessing History project, certainly appeared motivated by the immersive aspects of working in the virtual space of Teen Second Life. The project was produced in conjunction with Global Kids and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.It was there that a handful of students curated an exhibit where visitors assumed the role of reporters–replete with fedoras and notepads–to learn how bystanders reacted to the horrors of the 1938 Night of Broken Glass pogrom at the outset of the Holocaust.
Continue reading "[SL] The Power of Virtual Civics Education" »
November 10, 2009
[conf] Second Life Roundtable on Virtual Worlds and Nonprofits this Thursday, November 12
This Thursday, November 12, Global Kids is hosting a Fall 09 Roundtable on Virtual Worlds and Nonprofits, from 12-1:30pm PST on MacArthur Island in Second Life (teleport link). Representatives of five leading nonprofit organizations will give brief presentations on their initial explorations of Second Life and other virtual worlds, and how they are thinking of integrating these virtual tools into their organizations' respective missions. Afterward, there will be an open discussion about the applications of virtual worlds for various public good purposes. The event will close with a casual mixer / dance party!
Representatives of the following organizations will be presenting:
- Digital Democracy
- Eyebeam Art and Technology Center
- Facing History and Ourselves'
- International Center for Transitional Justice
- Jacob Burns Film Center
September 28, 2009
[RezEd] Visit the SmallWorlds RezEd Educator's Zone
Earlier this month, the social networking platform Ning announced it's Apps Platform program and among the initial batch of featured Ning Apps listed in it was the virtual world SmallWorlds.
Well, if you haven't checked this out yet, RezEd.org, set up it's own embedded SmallWorlds members lounge for members of RezEd to be able to interact and chat in 3D while logged in to the RezEd network. Look's like we were even the first to add it to our Ning network page as reported by Virtual Worlds News:
Ning Network Creators can now add the SmallWorlds app to their network. For SmallWorlds, this means instant increased visibility should any of the Ning groups choose to add the app to their landing page. According to SmallWorlds, educator network GlobalKids was the first to add SmallWorlds to its Ning page.
July 21, 2009
[IDZ] I Dig Zambia Wrap-up: teaching about Africa and science using virtual worlds
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...
Chicago Reflections on I Dig Zambia!
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.
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