University of Southern California

Anne Balsamo, a faculty-member associated with the Network Culture Project is researching how might informal learning environments change to better serve young people, both those who are already engaged with new digital media, and those who are not yet?

To explore this question, Anne will consider:

• the role of tinkering in the learning process
• the creation of evocative learning objects that meld the physical and the digital
• the cultivation of the technological imagination as a 21st century literacy

This project, led by Douglas Thomas,  and made possible with a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundaiton, is an effort to better understand what role philanthropic organizations might play in the context of virtual worlds. As virtual worlds grow in size and scope so do the opportunities for engagement with the players who visit them, the communities they build, and the spaces they inhabit. In order to access the ways in which foundations might be integrated into virtual worlds, we ask the following three questions to help us understand the purpose of philanthropy in virtual worlds:

 

Selected Projects :
1) The Ability Commons
2) Interactive Accessible Home
3) Mauerkrankheit/Wallsickness
4) Native Lands Culture Outreach Project
5) The Texas Obesity Research Center in Second Life

 Vote here by June 30th to participate.

Click here to visit the projects in Second Life!

The USC Network Culture Project invites the residents of Second Life to imagine new ways that virtual worlds such as Second Life can be used to make a contribution to the public good.

We are currently accepting proposals from groups, organizations, or individuals for projects that show how Second Life can enhance, develop, or sustain the public good. The best submissions will be selected based on how well they demonstrate the significance of virtual worlds for making an impact on society or culture.

This journal, edited by Douglas Thomas, is an international journal publishing innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within the context of interactive media. The journal's scope includes the socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming from a wide variety of perspectives, including textual analysis; political economy; cultural studies; ethnography; critical race studies; gender studies; media studies; public policy; international relations; and communication studies.

Modern Prometheus is a game designed to teach students about issues of science, technology and ethics through experiential learning.

Situated within the context of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Modern Prometheus encourages learning about ethics, particularly as they relate to science and technology, by immersing students in an imaginative play space and requiring them to make choices that affect game play. By making ethics about the choices they make and the effects of those choices, rather than prescriptive rules for conduct or behaviors, students can better understand the complexities of ethical judgment and better evaluate their decisions and how their decisions affect others.