Imagine a game in which a child not only discovers, collects, creates, and/or customizes 2- and 3-dimensional art objects that s/he then shares with fellow player-creators, but also creates his/her own levels of play. Imagine the literacies players could be developing in the process of playing such a game, including social literacy, through sharing, "liking," and reviewing each other's … [Read more...] about What we know & don’t know about kids’ online socializing: Key study
Club Penguin
A teen on kid virtual worlds: Insights
"It doesn’t matter how safe developers try to make these games, kids will still experiment with what they can say and do," says Julia Tanenbaum, who just finished her freshman year in high school and serves on the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board. Now extremely interested in anime and Japanese pop culture (she's studying Japanese), Tanenbaum looks back on her days in kids' virtual worlds. Her piece … [Read more...] about A teen on kid virtual worlds: Insights
More on virtual world growth
Heard of Spineworld? I hadn't. But a 10-year-old I know told me he's seeing it everywhere in his circles. Now we know from UK-based market researcher K Zero that its population (registered users) has more than doubled since first quarter '09, from 1 million then to 2.8 million now, according to VirtualWorldsNews. Overall, "the total number of registered accounts in the virtual worlds sector … [Read more...] about More on virtual world growth
Mom undercover in kids’ virtual worlds
How would you like to go in-world and experience ClubPenguin's igloos, icey games, and penguin pizzeria first-hand (well, almost first-hand)? You can, if you haven't already, with ChilyLily437, aka writer, former elementary teacher, child development expert, and mom of four (ages 6 to 16) Sharon Duke Estroff in this month's issue of Good Housekeeping. Her article, "I Was an Undercover Penguin: … [Read more...] about Mom undercover in kids’ virtual worlds