I have been asking around to friends what are some of the cultural exhibits and shows that I should be sure and catch while I am in Amsterdam. Catherine told me that I should go to the "Kunstvlaai" experimental art exhibition that is happening at Westerpark in northwestern Amsterdam. Another friend Mark warned me against…
Category: Information Society
USIP Conference on Media & Peacebuilding on May 12: Watch the Webcast (updated)
The nice folks at the US Institute of Peace send out the news that they are holding an all-day conference on "Seizing the Moment: Media & Peacebuilding" this Wednesday, May 12, at the Newseum in Washington DC. It looks like a fantastic event, which will consider "specific recommendations on ways to harness the power of media for…
IBM’s CityOne Game: Solve Real World Problems in a Virtual City
CityOne, a new game being developed by IBM, combines the god-view SimCity experience with current urban development challenges like clean water, overcrowding and small business growth. The goal of the game is "to teach laypeople how to better cope with complex modern problems by showing them the forest of solutions that have to be brought…
Headed to Charlotte, NC April 8 for a UNCF Forum on Digital Media & Learning
I'm happy to announce that next Thursday, April 8, I will be speaking on a panel on digital media and learning at the Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sponsored by the UNCF (United Negro College Fund), the purpose of the forum is to "to look into what these new technologies mean for…
Service Learning, Social Media & the Lost Boys of Sudan: the 2010 National Service Learning Conference
From March 24-27, Global Kids teen leader Mayank and I got to travel to San Jose, California to participate in the National Service Learning Conference along with 2,000+ other young people and educators from around the country. Sponsored by the National Youth Leadership Council, the NSLC is a very impressively run annual gathering focused on…
FCC Chairman and Elmo explain on how broadband can help America’s youth (video)
Here's a pretty inspiring talk by the chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski, talking about how broadband internet access can help America's young people be successful students and engaged citizens. (Note that the chairman begins at about the 14:52 mark in this video.) He begins by outlining how much has changed in the past couple…
“Play”: A Mind-bending Short Film on Games and Reality
Check out this unpredictable, thought-provoking short film "Play." The film examines what happens when digital game play becomes indistinguishable from reality. By David Kaplan (Little Red Riding Hood and Other Stories, Year of the Fish) and game designer Eric Zimmerman (Gamelab, Rules of Play). (I personally find the First Date level extremely difficult to beat.)…
World Bank Launches “Urgent Evoke” Online Game to Inspire Youth to Social Action
EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo. The World Bank, working with ARG master Jane McGonigal, have launched a new online game called "Urgent Evoke" that's geared toward getting young people — particularly African young people — to come up with creative solutions to the worst of the world's social ills. It…
Field Museum of Chicago is Hiring a Digital Learning Specialist
I got word from my friends at the fantastic Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago that they are looking for a "Digital Learning Specialist" to work in the education department. According to the job description, the Digital Media Learning Specialist will "develop digital learning projects and help manage the infusion of digital media into…
“Hindsquare”: The ethics of checking in on FourSquare when you aren’t actually there
I've been playing FourSquare, the passively multiplayer online game for a few months now, and find it diverting and sometimes useful. For those that don't play, basically it's an online service that gives you points and virtual rewards for "checking in" at various places in your city. FourSquare has a web version, but it's most…