Tag: rikomatic

For the past four weeks, representatives of five nonprofits supported by the MacArthur Foundation have been going through the “Virtual World Capacity Building Program” an intensive training on nonprofit applications of virtual worlds.  These organizations have explored several major virtual platforms, examined some of the leading examples of nonprofit actions in the metaverse, and thought about how they might best use these tools to further their respective missions.

This Thursday, August 27, these five groups will be presenting on MacArthur Island in Second Life their initial impressions of virtual worlds, outstanding questions, and possible next steps.  It’s a very diverse group of nonprofits, including:

• The Adler Planetarium of Chicago
• Archi-treasures
• The Justice Policy Institute
  
• The National Writing Project
• and the Vera Institute of Justice

Come hear what they have to say on Thursday, from 12-1:30pm PST on MacArthur Island in Second Life (teleport link). Afterwards, there will be an open discussion about the applications of virtual worlds for various public good purposes.  And we’ll close the event with a casual mixer / dance party!

Written by: rikomatic

I’m excited to announce that Global Kids will be producing in Second Life a simulcast of the upcoming FCC Workshop on education and broadband access next Thursday, August 20 at 1pm EST.  The simulcast event will take place on MacArthur Island amphitheater (click here to teleport ).

The topic is obviously very near and dear to us at GK, so we are excited to be involved. I hope that all of the communities of educators, students, nonprofits, and others who understand the value of broadband access for education turn out and participate.

More after the jump…

FCC Workshop on Education to be Simulcast into Second Life on Thursday, August 20

On Thursday, August 20, at 10:00am PST / 1pm EST, Global Kids will be hosting a Second Life simulcast of an FCC Workshop on the intersections of broadband access and education. The goal of this workshop is to identify potential impact of increased broadband access on education outcomes and how broadband policies can help improve those outcomes. The FCC hopes to learn about ways in which broadband can impact education at the early childhood, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels in a cost-effective manner. The workshop will look at current programs, such as e-rate and evaluate how such programs can be improved, for example, to take advantage of new technologies that have arisen since it was established. The workshop will also look at what applications and devices might be used to improve educational performance.

Hosted on MacArthur Island in Second Life (click here to teleport ), this video simulcast of the workshop is open to the general public to attend.  Virtual event hosting, moderation and technical support provided by Global Kids.

Background on the Workshop
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broadband Initiatives funded in the Act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create the National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.” From August to September, the FCC will be holding workshops on key issues relevant to broadband deployment in the United States. The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan.
 

For more information about the upcoming workshop see http://broadband.gov/ws_education.html . For information about the in-world event, contact rik@globalkids.org .

Written by: rikomatic

This Thursday, August 6, at 6:30am PST / 9:30am EST, there will be a Second Life simulcast of an FCC Workshop on the subject of “E-Gov/Civic Engagement.” The goal of this workshop is to evaluate how broadband can improve the performance of government specifically in terms of transparency and citizen participation and more generally in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The workshop will consider various ways all levels of government, as well as governments in other countries, have used broadband to improve its performance in these ways and how those lessons might apply for purposes of developing the national broadband plan. The workshop will also consider the potential benefits of universal broadband in enabling various government operations to move to a digital platform in terms of improved performance, cost savings, and strategic benefits to the communications infrastructure.

Hosted on MacArthur Island in Second Life ( click here to teleport ), this video simulcast of the workshop is open to the general public to attend. Key constituents of particular interest to the FCC include service providers, equipment providers, applications providers, community groups, and other groups that have a stake in the future of broadband. Virtual event hosting, moderation and technical support provided by Global Kids.

Background on the Workshop
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The Broadband Initiatives funded in the Act are intended to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to create the National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.” From August to September, the FCC will be holding workshops on key issues relevant to broadband deployment in the United States. The goal of the workshops will be to promote an open dialogue between the FCC and key constituents on matters important to the National Broadband Plan.

For more information about the upcoming workshop see http://broadband.gov/ws_egov.html . For information about the in-world event, contact rik@globalkids.org

Written by: rikomatic

It is with great excitement that I announce a project I have been wanting to launch for some time now: Betterverse.org. The site is dedicated to covering and aggregating the most exciting experiments in nonprofit and public good applications of virtual world technology from across the metaverse. For the past four years, I have been following and writing about the growing nonprofit sector in Second Life, and witnessing its expansion into worlds like Habbo, ActiveWorlds, Whyville, and Metaplace.

These are exciting times. I believe we are witnessing a very real broadening of our definitions of the public sphere, civic engagement, education, and community through this new medium. Everyday, people in virtual worlds are changing lives, opening minds, rallying for change, and building bridges across cultures and borders. I hope you will help me in bringing the most dramatic examples of this to light. Just a couple of recent initiatives:

• President Obama’s speech in Accra, Ghana was simulcast into Metaplace and Second Life, with an international audience conversing live across worlds
• Tens of thousands of young people in the virtual world of Whyville have learned about ecology, marine biology and coral reefs through the “Whyreef” experience
• The Relay for Life raised more than $270,000 for cancer research in Second Life

Betterverse itself is, of course, a non-profit venture. Your help getting the word out to your networks is much appreciated. The site has an RSS and Twitter feed for keeping up to date on what’s happening.

Please send any relevant news that you come across to rik@betterverse.org.

Written by: rikomatic

Please join a Second Life simulcast, from the Markle Foundation, of Beth Simone Noveck, now the deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House responsible for Open Government, presenting her new book, WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, in which participants from both Second Life and in person can ask questions of the author.

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions – on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level. Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government’s first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck’s Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

The event will begin at 12:00pm EST/9:00am PST on Monday, July 20, 2009 and will take place in Second Life on MacArthur Island (click here to teleport http://slurl.com/secondlife/Foundations/109/231/34).

Further information

WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful

In the digital age our lives are constantly being transformed by the way in which we connect and collaborate with one another, affecting the way we make decisions – on a personal level, an institutional level, and a national level.

Beth Simone Noveck’s book provides a coherent and compelling “new vision of governance in the digital age – collaborative democracy – government with the people.”

Drawing on her expertise, and more directly her experience in creating Peer-to-Patent, the federal government’s first social networking initiative, Ms. Noveck’s Wiki Government insightfully demonstrates how technology, along with citizen participation, can help the government become more open and effective at solving the complex social and economic problems we face today.

About the Author:
Beth Simone Noveck is the United States deputy chief technology officer for open government and leads President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. Based at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, she is an expert on technology and institutional innovation. Previously, Noveck directed the Institute for Information Law & Policy and the Democracy Design Workshop at New York Law School. She is founder of the “Do Tank,” and the State of Play Conferences, and launched the first of its kind Peer-to-Patent Community Patent Review project in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trade Office. As a professor of Law at New York Law School, she has taught in the areas of intellectual property, innovation, and constitutional law, as well as courses on electronic democracy and electronic government.

To read more, please go to http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty_profiles/beth_simone_noveck.

Written by: rikomatic

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.

All at the Foundations sim (click here to teleport.)

MacArthur Island in Virtual World to Open with Public Forum on May 18

On May 18, to mark the launch of MacArthur Island in the virtual world of Second Life, the Foundation will host an event featuring the avatars and live voices of Foundation President Jonathan Fanton and co-creator of Second Life, Cory Ondrejka. The discussion between Ondrejka and Fanton will consider the future of virtual worlds and philanthropy. This public forum also will be broadcast as a webcast to standard internet browsers.

For those with avatars, a visit to MacArthur Island will offer a way to understand MacArthur’s grantees and work, via interactive 3D exhibits on issues ranging from biodiversity to human rights and education. The island is also open to other foundations and nonprofits for events and activities in the public interest.

The investigation into virtual worlds and philanthropy is led by Global Kids and the Network Culture Project at the University of Southern California, with support from the MacArthur Foundation.

For more information:
Details on the webcast, the event, how to attend the event as an avatar, and how to visit the Island are available on MacArthur’s Spotlight blog.

To learn more about MacArthur’s digital media and learning initiative, visit our website.

Written by: rikomatic

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!

Written by: rikomatic

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
WHERE: International Justice Center, Main Grid, Second Life (http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Justice%20Commons/7/221/29)
Machinima Island , Teen Grid, Second Life (http://slurl.com/secondlife/GK%20Machinima%20Island/208/125/30)

See http://virtualpremiere.holymeatballs.org for more info.

Written by: rikomatic