TEEN SL:  Yesterday a "select" group of real life and in-world journalists were invited to tour a special area in Teen Second Life.  This tour was sponsored by the group Global Kids Inc.  Linden escorts accompanied the in-world journalists on their visit.

The special press tour focused on three of Global Kids’ new projects:
•    The launch of a Motorola Foundation-funded Science through Second Life class at the High School for Global Citizenship in New York City.
•    A $40,000 commitment from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to create health-related youth-run social ventures.
•    A series of competitions linked to MacArthur Foundation international program areas.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to open the new Science Education Island.  moo Money filmed this event for Massively

  and permitted SLNN to quote it:   http://www.wegame.com/watch/Ribbon_Cutting_Ceremony_for_Science_Sim_on_Teen_Second_Life/  

“We are seeing an explosion of teen-oriented virtual worlds driven largely by commercial and marketing interests.  Parental concern about excessive time spent in these environments is on the rise,” Barry Joseph, director of Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program said. 

“However, virtual worlds can provide important opportunities for an assortment of unintended learning, from identity formation, to social networking and entrepreneurial skills, to financial literacy. Global Kids has responded by developing programs that formalize this informal learning to support youth leadership development around social and global issues.”