Archives for November 2007

Virtual Worlds As Learning Environs For Global Kids

Marie Curie once said, "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. " If machinima and avatars are not in your parental lexicon, deep breath, relax...Shaping Youth is out to unfog the lens and peek into virtual teaching and learning on the teen grid of Second Life. Virtual worlds, emerging social media networks, and just about any kids' digital dialogue … [Read more...]

A Smart Television Alliance: Receive A Free TiVo Before Dec. 31st!

“Just because you watch “CSI” doesn’t mean your six-year-old (no matter how brilliant and mature) should, too. As a parent, you instinctively know stuff like that. Unfortunately, broadcasters don’t get it…So what can you do about it? Here’s where the Smart Television Alliance comes in. We're a new coalition of leading nonprofit … [Read more...]

Dare to Share? What’s Your Beacon Story? (part 2)

My prankster friends love to pull my chain. I wish Facebook's beacon was one of their many gotchas. But it's not. After writing the behavioral profiling article on kids, reading the update on beacon from Facebook's reply, seeing the backlash surge from 0-45,000 members in 8 days, and hearing Ideashower's post was viewed 80,000 times, I should’ve seen this corker … [Read more...]

Facebook, Can You Hear Me Now? Peepin’ Is Creepin’ Me Out!

When our Age of Conversation* co-authors rallied on Facebook to form a group for book sales to benefit Variety, the children’s charity, I joined in the fun, despite my initial hesitance of adding yet another social media profile into my daily media mix, especially one mining digital data for ads. Since Facebook is a huge draw for teens, I decided I'd better fully … [Read more...]

Game That Nourishes Kids’ Minds, Souls & Tummies!

Last fall I wrote about Food Force, an internet game you’d WANT your kids to play. Now, the same ingenious folks are at it again, this time with Free Rice, a new, quiz-style vocabulary builder that rewards correct answers with ten grains per bowl to feed hungry children, distributed by the U.N.’s World Food Programme. Beth Kanter’s blog listed it as one of … [Read more...]