My work with games, gadgets and gizmos provides me with the perfect opportunity for connecting with my oldest son (now a teenager...it is everything they say it is)
In fact, tomorrow he and I are co-presenting a workshop about Second Life at Bucknell University to a group of high school, middle school and elementary school teachers.
My son is going to show them how to edit the appearance of their avatars, how to build items and add textures, how to navigate the world and how to chat and communicate. I am just going to sit back and watch the 13 year old do his stuff (and talk a little about the educational aspects of the tool.) We have co-presented twice before and he does a great job. This is going to be the highlight of my month! (and to top it off, he get 60% of the stipend directly...the rest goes to his college fund!)
Here is a picture of his avatar from the teen grid...Dmc Dench.
You can read more of his Second Life exploits in my TrainingDay post Like a Fish to Water.
If we are going to talk about reaching kids through technology...we need to involve the kids and gain insights from their perspective. I look forward to learning a lot tomorrow in the two 3-hour workshops.
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6 comments:
I hope he's using Teen Second Life :)
I found this comical video if you haven't seen it yet...
http://www.marcowens.co.uk/avat.html
Barton,
Definitely, he is on the teen grid and even that is questionable at times.
Completely unrelated to this post...
Saw your Pageflakes project.
Superduper cool!!! Love it!!! Bookmarked it!!!!
Thanks for all of your work.
Wendy,
Thanks!
I think it’s a wonderful idea to present Second Life with your son. I find that kids who grew up with technology don’t question it as much. I had a very interesting realization this week when I went to visit my aunt. I had two conversations about Second Life (what it is, avatars, our class, etc.), one with my aunt who is tech savvy and in her mid 40’s and one with my cousin who is 17. My aunt just didn’t understand the point; she kept asking why she would want to do this? However, my cousin asked no questions about why she would want to do this; instead she responded with “That sounds so cool!” and said she was going to download it later. Maybe then she can teach my aunt a thing or two!
Heather Gee
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