I will be joining a panel on this very topic sponsored by The MacArthur Foundation and Common Sense Media November 14th in Los Angeles. It's free, but you have to register here. Here are the details (hope to see some L.A. Ypulsers there!):

Club Penguin, Whyville, The Sims, Second Life.
You've heard these names, what do they mean for kids?
Hear from a panel of experts as they discuss:

- What are kids really doing in virtual worlds?
- How are they learning?
- What does this mean for parents and educators?

A MacArthur Foundation/Common Sense Media Forum
Wednesday, November 14th
Davidson Conference Center, University of Southern California
5:30 Registration, 6:00-7:00 Panel Discussion
7:00-8:00 Reception and Tour of Virtual Worlds

Featured Panel Participants:

Introductory Remarks
Julia Stasch, Vice President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grantmaking will present an overview of MacArthur's $50 million digital media and learning initiative and introduce panelists.

Anastasia Goodstein
Journalist and author of Totally Wired: What teens and tweens are really doing online will describe the virtual world landscape for kids.

Doug Thomas, Associate Professor
Annenberg School of Communication at USC, and founding editor of Games & Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media, will demonstrate his latest project, an immersive online world designed to teach students ethical decision making.

Yasmin B. Kafai, Associate Professor
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, will discuss her research in tween's learning about science, race, and beauty in Whyville.net, a virtual world for tweens.

Barry Joseph
Director of Global Kids Inc., Online Leadership Program, will share his experience using virtual worlds, such as Teen Second Life to develop youth leadership skills around world issues.

Moderated by Jim Steyer
Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, author of The Other Parent: The Inside Story of The Media's Effect on our Children, and a respected expert on issues related to children's policy and media.

Posted by anastasia