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Poptropica

Kids’ virtual worlds thriving

August 18, 2011 By Anne Leave a Comment

The overall numbers are surprisingly high (more on that in a second), but worth noting about UK-based virtual-world market-research firm KZero's latest data is the growth figure: "the largest quarterly increase since we started tracking in 2008" – an increase of 214 million accounts between Q1 and Q2 2011, KZero says. This is kid virtual-world users we're talking about. The fastest-growing worlds … [Read more...] about Kids’ virtual worlds thriving

Filed Under: Research Tagged With: Habbo, IMVU, KZero, MineCraft, MoshiMonsters, Poptropica, social media research, virtual worlds

Tools & sites aimed at better kid time online

October 22, 2009 By Anne 1 Comment

There seems to be this firewall between kids' products that kids like and kids' products that parents like. It's rare and amazing when that wall collapses, but I think what helps is when the product, while passing parental muster, is just plain useful to kids. Kid-friendly online utilitiesChildren's Web browser Kidzui meets those criteria – after all, kids need to browse the Web, and a lot of … [Read more...] about Tools & sites aimed at better kid time online

Filed Under: Law & Policy, Parenting, Social Media Tagged With: FaceChipz, KidThing, Kidzui, Marian Merritt, Poptropica, WonderRotunda, YouTube, Zuitube

Undercover Mom in Poptropica, Part 2: The Apple Jacks of kids’ virtual worlds

June 6, 2009 By Anne Leave a Comment

By Sharon Duke EstroffLast week I detailed the good things I discovered in this popular kids' virtual world for 5-to-10-year-olds. This week...What I wasn't crazy about Video Game Overtones. Gallant educational effort aside, my suspicions were correct. Kids aren’t flocking to Poptropica.com by the tens of millions out of a quest for learning, they’re flocking there for the highly addictive video … [Read more...] about Undercover Mom in Poptropica, Part 2: The Apple Jacks of kids’ virtual worlds

Filed Under: kids, Social Media, virtual worlds, Youth Tagged With: Poptropica, Undercover Mom

Undercover Mom in Poptropica, Part 1: Virtual World with educational elements

May 29, 2009 By Anne Leave a Comment

By Sharon Duke EstroffI chose Poptropica.com as the site of my latest undercover mom investigation because of its first-place ranking in the 5-to-10-year-old bracket. With 20 million unique accounts and counting, it is indeed a heavy hitter in the burgeoning children’s virtual world market.But I was also intrigued by the Poptropica's educational spin. The site's parent company is Family Education … [Read more...] about Undercover Mom in Poptropica, Part 1: Virtual World with educational elements

Filed Under: kids, Social Media, Youth Tagged With: Poptropica, Undercover Mom

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Anne Collier


Bio and my...
2016 TEDx Talk on
the heart of digital citizenship

Connect with me on LinkedIn
Follow me on MASTODON
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See me on YouTube

IMPORTANT RESOURCES

Our (DIGITAL) PARENTING BASICS: Safety + Social
NAMLE, the National Association for Media Literacy Education
CASEL.org & the 5 core social-emotional competencies of SEL
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Innovative Public Health Research
Childnet International
Committee for Children
Congressional Internet Caucus Academy
ConnectSafely.org
Control Shift: a pivotal book for Internet safety
Crimes Against Children Research Center
Crisis Textline
Cyber Civil Rights Initiative's Revenge Porn Crisis Line
Cyberwise.org
danah boyd's blog and book about networked youth
Disconnected, Carrie James's book on digital ethics
FOSI.org's Good Digital Parenting
The research of Global Kids Online
The Good Project at Harvard's School of Education
If you watch nothing else: "Parenting in a Digital Age" TED Talk by Prof. Sonia Livingstone
The International Bullying Prevention Association
Let Grow Foundation
Making Caring Common
Raising Digital Natives, author Devorah Heitner's site
Renee Hobbs at the Media Education Lab
MediaSmarts.ca
The New Media Literacies
Report of the Aspen Task Force on Learning & the Internet and our guide to Creating Trusted Learning Environments
The Ruler Approach to social-emotional learning (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence)
Sources of Strength
"Young & Online: Perspectives on life in a digital age" from young people in 26 countries (via UNICEF)
"Youth Safety on a Living Internet": 2010 report of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group (and my post about it)

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