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"Undercover Mom" Fox News story on virtual world culture for kids and tweens. 4 minute article. Good vid to introduce pervasiveness of vw for this demographic kzero interview re: vw and kids

This award-winning website allows children to: * Interact with dozens of famous historical and fictional characters from the arts, literature and sciences. * Submit creative writings for others to read and comment upon. * Explore famous works of art and play art related games. * Undertake challenging quests that take kids into the world of classic literature, the arts and humanities. * Practice typing with typing-tutor games. * Learn best practices for staying safe on the Internet. The website is not free, and they have a Teachers Console for class management. They recently partnered with the San Francisco Opera to bring classical music to young adults.

Dizzywood was developed by the entertainment company Rocket Paper Scissors. It is considered a virtual game, but there are many learning experiences built in. Dizzywood is participating in an elementary school program with the Reed Union School District in Marin County. "The highly interactive workshop uses virtual activities to reinforce the school's character pillars, which include caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness. Students also learn about important issues relating to virtual worlds, such as digital citizenship and online safety, as well as complete storytelling and team-building exercises that emphasize creativity, writing and reading skills, and working together to achieve goals." In addition, they have partnered with the YMCA to create a virtual learning program promoting cooperative skills.

This site has been around since 1999 and reportedly has a player base of more than one million. Whyville works directly with the Getty, NASA, the School Nutrition Association, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Players, or "citizens" earn a salary of "clams", a virtual currency, by participating in a wide range of educational games and activities. Whyville has become involved in a number of projects aiming to encourage children to consider technical and scientific careers.