We are excited to announce that on Monday May 18, the MacArthur Foundation will be officially launching MacArthur Island in Second Life with a public forum featuring Foundation President Jonathan Fanton and co-creator of Second Life, Cory Ondrejka. Ondrejka and Fanton will be discussing the future of virtual worlds and philanthropy, and then taking questions from the virtual audience. An informal reception will follow.
Tomorrow, March 20, Global Kids will be streaming from (and participating in) the National Service-Learning Conference in Nashville, TN for the third straight year. The conference is an inspiring gathering of over 2,700 students, teachers, youth-workers and volunteers focused on service learning. For more info on the conference, please see the conference website.
For those who can't make it to Nashville, Global Kids will be streaming several sessions from the NSLC live to the Plush Nonprofit Commons Amphitheater (click here to teleport ). The complete schedule is as follows:
7 - 8:30am PST: Plenary Session Exciting entertainment and inspiring keynote speeches from Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, the Executive Director of Community Service Volunteers, the UK’s largest volunteering and training charity and Dr. James Hildreth, Director of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities, Meharry Medical College
11:45am - 1:15pm PST: Global Kids Workshop: Virtual Worlds for Real World Service Learning - Intro for Educators Learn about service-learning projects in virtual worlds such as Second Life and Habbo Hotel. You will gain a deeper understanding how virtual worlds can create more meaningful learning and service in your community.
1:30 - 3pm PST: Global Kids Workshop: Global Kids Workshop: Online Tools for Offline Action - How Generation MySpace Can Change The World Join Global Kids to check out a variety of cool tools for your service-learning projects both online and offline. Discover how you can use Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, and others to make a positive difference locally and globally.
Both of the workshops will have interactive activities for the avatars to participate in. See you all there!
On Wednesday December 17, Scenarios USA and Global Kids will be hosting the virtual premiere of the three youth-written short films produced by Scenarios on the subject "What's the Real Deal about Masculinity?". Taking place on both the Teen Grid and Main Grid of Second Life, both youth and adult residents will be able to watch excerpts from the three films, listen to a live interview with two of the youth writers and Rob York of Scenarios, and ask questions about the films.
THE DETAILS:
WHEN: December 17, 2008, 12:30pm PST / 3:30pm EST
On Monday, November 17, from 3-5PM PST, come to the first virtual conference sponsored by RezEd.org, the social network for virtual world educators, taking place in the Justice Center (click here to teleport). The event will feature a panel discussion of leading educators and researchers working in virtual world education, a "birds of a feather" breakout session, and social mixer for letting our virtual hair down!
Can virtual art stimulate real-world political action? Find out on Friday, October 24, as digital media artists Peggy Weil (Ping Rau in SL) and Nonny de la Peña (Nonny Writer) discuss how they are using 3D artwork as a form of political expression and civic engagement. At the Justice Center (click here to teleport ) from 10-11am PST on October 24.
Peggy and Nonny have been involved in a number of ground-breaking digital media projects that explore the intersections of art and politics, from "The Redistricting Game" that Peggy designed to "Unconstitutional" a documentary of civil liberties in America post 9/11 produced by Nonny. They will talk about their latest explorations of political artwork in SL, from the "Gone Gitmo" project to the "Mauerkrankheit/Wallsickness" installation that was an Annenberg Public Good Merit Award winner. Then we will teleport over to their exhibits to get a guided tour from them!
I'm excited to announce that Global Kids is starting up again its youth machinima initiative called the "Virtual Video Project." If you know of a teenager in the New York area who is interested in global issues, politics, digital media and having fun, then send them our way! Applications are due by October 17.
Students get training in how to use Second Life as a filmmaking platform, decide among themselves a particular social issue they would like to make a machinima about, and then do all of the work to create the film. Our past machinima have won a number of awards and been featured at various film festivals and conferences around the world.
The program runs from October 30 until late June, so it's a big commitment. The sessions are facilitated by my fabulous colleagues Tabitha and Shawna.
For more information or to receive the application contact shawna@globalkids.org or call 212-226-0130 ext. 143.
Here's another great machinima news report from my buddy Draxtor Dupres. This time he covers the USC Network Culture Project's Public Good Challenge in Second Life. It's a nice frame for looking at the potential of virtual worlds for more than just commerce and entertainment.
I was honored to serve as one of the selection panel members for the Public Good Challenge. You can even see a bit of my avatar sitting besides my hero Howard Rheingold.
Beginning this Fall, Global Kids is excited to announce opportunities for a group of young people to receive $1000 USD in seed funding and social entrepreneurial training through the "Dream It. Do It." Initiative in Second Life.
The D.I.D.I. Initiative is an exciting partnership between Global Kids and Ashoka's Youth Venture. Through January of 2009, the D.I.D.I. Initiative is supporting up to 40 teams of young people with up to $1000 USD and tools and training to launch ventures that benefit their communities, either within or outside the virtual world of Second Life.
For those that weren't able to be there, here's a quick rundown of what I spoke about at the Non-profit Commons mini-track at the Second Life Community Convention this past weekend in Tampa, Florida. While this year's non-profit track had less folks participating than last year, we had some great exchanges with non-profit innovators like Master Quatro, Sheva Nerad, folks from the American Library Association, USC's Network Culture Project, Native Lands, and several other groups in attendance physically or via SL.
Thanks to Coughran Mayo for inviting me to speak and doing an admirable job moderating the entire mini-track. And shout-outs to Rhiannon Chatnoir, In Kenzo and Amulius Lioncourt for bootlegging an audio stream in the Plush Nonprofit Commons in record time. And I can't forget my colleague Meghan Deana (Coreina Grace in SL) for stepping in at the 11th hour to help me present and facilitate the session.
[Note this is cross-posted from my blog rikomatic.com]
On August 13, at 5PM PST, come to the International Justice Center to catch real world / virtual DJ Doubledown Tandino spinning an eclectic mix of global grooves for your dancing pleasure. During the dance, we'll also be asking for donations to aid victims of human rights abuses in Darfur, the Congo, Uganda, and Central African Republic. Afterwards, Mr. John Washburn, convenor of the American NGO Coalition on the International Criminal Court, will talk about why the next US President should support the International Criminal Court. Come dance, support human rights, and learn about the ICC.
Donations received will be forward to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the ICC Victims Trust Fund.
