Many of you wil have heard of Second Life, the 3D-rich virtual world growing in popularity. But most are not aware that there is a SECOND Second Life, for teens only. It is not a PART of the "mature" Second Life, but actually a separate version, sort of like a teen-only Internet.
This space is growing every month, by about 5,000 residents, and in March, 2007 has about 80,000 teens from around the world. It is probably the largest teen-run community in history. The teens run their own business, manage their own property, create their own clothing, and more. As everything in Second Life is user-generated, teens literally create the world around them. As such, the educational and leadership potential is tremendous.
Since the grid first opened, Global Kids has been running programs for teen residents as well as using SL in our after school programs. We have partnered with the MacArthur Foundation, UNICEF, the International Criminal Court, the U.S. Holocaust Museum and more. We have become experts in leveraging the unique affordances of a teen-run virtual world for educating about global issues.
It is my hope that some version of Teen Second Life will come bundled with the $100 laptop. It is also my hope that a custom viewer be created to bring laptop owners into Second Life and directly to a space run by Global Kids. In this space, we will support youth to learn how to use the virtual world, create Second Life-based activities that education these youth about various aspects of the Millennium Goals, inspire them to take action on and offline, support activities that encourage local cultural sharing, and develop them into global leaders.
If none of this makes any sense to you, please watch some of our videos on Youtube.
Comments
Second Life
Given the limitation that many children will not have internet access we will need to design a game concept that will work independently of any network.
What we are looking for at this point is a overarching concept around a MDG game.
Amil
Mesh network
Oh, I had thought the machines will be designed with some form of mesh network so they can get online somehow. Bummer. It will be great for the youth to have computer access but a shame if they can't get onto a network, access information, collaborate with others, and join the participatory new media world.
Gracefully Degrade
The exact circumstances will very from location to location. Some will have direct wifi connections if available where they live. Others will connect to a central server at the local school. All the computers can connect to each other and form a mesh when close enough. I think the key is looking at how a game can degrade gracefully depending on those circumstances. Maybe a game could have more components when online, a little less when connected to the server. Maybe kids can do somethings together -- play together when nearby. But ultimately, the game should be able to be played in some way if the child is in a solitary environment.
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