As many parents know, adopting a virtual pet and caring for it is a mainstay of kids' virtual worlds. Well, in the brand-new Web version of the animated TV series Tiny Planets, kids adopt and care for a planet (as well as pilot spaceships and play mini-games). That's at MyTinyPlanets.com, just one of the seven Web sites that make up the Tiny Planets presence on the Web. Others are … [Read more...] about From TV to Web: Tiny Planets
Archives for June 2010
Teaching kids to be green: Arbopals launches
At this brand-new Toronto-based kids' virtual world, all activities are tree-based. With young users' help, Arbopals plans on "being able to plant millions of trees internationally in the coming months and years." As kids aged 5-10 play, "tree-plantings are funded in 21 countries, the site's launch release says. "And in recognition of the recent earthquake in Haiti, users can go on a special … [Read more...] about Teaching kids to be green: Arbopals launches
Social media in school more – yes!
"Just a few years ago, social networking meant little more to educators than the headache of determining whether to penalize students for inappropriate activities captured on Facebook or MySpace. Now," Education Week reports, "teachers and students have a vast array of social-networking sites and tools – from Ning to VoiceThread and Second Life – to draw on for such serious uses as professional … [Read more...] about Social media in school more – yes!
Videogames getting a lot more physical
It started with the Wii, but now Wii has to move over for Sony's Move and Microsoft's Kinect for motion-controlled – and, in Kinect's case, voice-controlled – gaming. As BNET.com puts it, "Kinect is truly a revolution [because it requires no controller at all] and Move ... is an evolution of the Wii." [Both are being unveiled this week at E3, the US's largest gaming trade show/conference.] Move … [Read more...] about Videogames getting a lot more physical
Short-term or long-term kid & PC security
Here's a very practical way to mark Internet Safety Month (June): free computer-security support for families. But you need to act quickly: Trend Micro will supply $100 worth of security diagnostics and advice to the first 1,000 people who sign up tomorrow (June 15) at FreeDayofSupport.com. Of course, this isn't that great if you're a longtime Norton or Kaspersky user, but it's great if you're not … [Read more...] about Short-term or long-term kid & PC security