Virtual Worlds Forum

Interesting news of a summer camp run by New York-based organisation Global Kids, which got a bunch of children to make one-minute videos about child rights within Second Life, to promote the 18th anniversary of UNICEF's Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Participants chose a theme raised by the CRC, and then learned how to create machinima within Second Life in order to illustrate it. This week saw the premiere of the videos, in an event held on Global Kids' island within Teen Second Life, with participants introducing their own videos, then answering questions on the summer camp. Nearly 100 visitors turned up for the screening, with free virtual t-shirts and popcorn on offer. Global Kids plans to expand the summer camp next year - it's already pretty cosmopolitan, with children from the US, UK and Finland taking part this year.