From: David M. Marcovitz <ma...@loyola.edu>

What are the pros and cons of children using Webkinz?

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David M. Marcovitz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Educational Technology Director
Department of Education
Loyola College in Maryland

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From: Charlotte Anker <canke...@ZANESTATE.EDU>

David M Marcovitz,

I never heard of Webkinz. Could you please explain this to me? I am not
really familiar
with all of these Web sites or blogging.

Thank you
Charlotte A Anker

x-From: David M. Marcovitz <ma...@loyola.edu>

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From: MaryBeth Burns-fs <bu...@chapin.edu>

Pros- I can't think of any.

Cons- the marketing pulls kids in, they need more and more of them
- it teaches social networking at a very young age- why do they need to
learn how so young- what ever happened to just playing with your real toys
and talking to your friends.
-the children get to experience social bullying at an early age too-
friends log in to friends accounts, change passwords, and do other things
to the pets when they get angry at a friend.
-the children actually believe their pets can die- what does that tell you
about their understanding of the online world?

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From: David M. Marcovitz <ma...@loyola.edu>

Wikipedia has a good, but brief description:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webkinz

These are basically stuffed animals with a virtual life (somewhat like a kids'
version of Second Life--see http://secondlife.com/whatis/). It is a very hot
craze for tweens.

--David

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------------------------------------------------------------------------
David M. Marcovitz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Educational Technology Director
Education Department
Loyola College in Maryland

mailto:ma...@loyola.edu
http://www.marcovitz.com/

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From: "Overstreet, Kim" <kim.overstr...@fayette.kyschools.us>

Pros--
They do teach children some responsibility (they need to feed them and play with them and take care of them).
It does introduce children to social networking at a young age (as does Club Penguin).  I don't think this is a bad thing.  It has given me many opportunities to talk to my children (1st and 2nd graders) about keeping your username and password to yourself.  About not accepting invitations to be "friends" with people you dont' know.  Using proper netiquette.
My family hasn't witnessed any bullying and my 8 yr old was sitting next to me when I read this email and he said, "they can't die...they aren't real."   I think kids understand the online world as much as we help them to understand it and this seems to me like a good place to start since they are definitely interested in it and probably going to do it at a friends house.  I'd rather them have the lessons on how to behave with me!
All of this is done under a lot of supervision by me and my husband.  I think like all things it needs to be done in moderation so like TV, we limit the amount of time they can spend on there.  But I don't see the harm in it.

Cons--
Once a child has one, they want to get more and more.  But I make my kids save up their allowance and buy their own, so we get another lesson in value (is it really worth what it takes to save the money?)

Kim Overstreet
7th grade math and language arts teacher
Monarch team
Jessie Clark Middle School

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From: Kevin Jarrett <kjarr...@ncs-nj.org>

Interesting thread and contributions ... both sides of the coin represented. Here's my $0.02, sorry for the length. :)

To me, the Webkinz/Club Penguin 'craze' is many things, but most importantly, it is the harbinger of things to come - to wit: (as David points out) multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) like Second Life. While I am concerned by the overt marketing, commercialism and materialism (BUYING things is a huge part of the experience), I am impressed by the safety features built into these sites to allow safe and age-appropriate exploration and building of online social skills. My daughter, age 11, has mutliple Webkinz and loves the site.

If Gartner is correct in their prediction that 80% of the current internet population has a presence in a MUVE like SL by 2011 ( http://tinyurl.com/32a4be ), then it will be THESE kids, the ones who are immersed in MUVE technologies NOW, that will be the leaders in the design, development, and implementation of MUVEs in our society.

Witness Microsoft, HP and others, already conducting interviews - and hiring people - in Second Life: ( http://tinyurl.com/2z93rb ). Imagine the growth curve continues at its present rate, then imagine these kids, many of whom who are now 8-12 or so, interviewing with ease in a MUVE years from now.

There are people who believe, and I am one, that what we are seeing now is a very early, and very crude, future of the 3D internet. UK Teen Katharine Berry, who is one of the leading developers in Teen SL, has already developed an AJAX-based client to run SL via a web browser: ( http://tinyurl.com/2zo7u9 ).

Further, interested parties should read these two articles, which talk about Club Penguin in specific, but are nonetheless relevant to the conversation at hand:

Margolis, Dawn (2007, March). Puffle Kerfluffle. Retrieved May 8, 2007, from WIRED.com Web site: http://tinyurl.com/ywj9de

Slatalla, Michelle (2007-May-03). My Daughter, the Burger-Flipping Penguin. Retrieved May 8, 2007, from New York Times Online Web site: http://tinyurl.com/237wrl

I'm a K-4 educator who also teaches grad school (Walden University, MS in EdTech). I have spent the last five months immersed in a grant-funded study of Second Life (project blog: http://www.storyofmysecondlife.com ). I am more convinced than ever that these "social networking training wheels" sites should be used in schools. Personally, I am trying to find ways to bring Whyville.net into my classroom, as it is research-backed, education friendly, and less commercial.

I'll close with this (horribly retold) story, from my colleague, friend, co-presenter and SL guruette Catherine Parsons ( http://victoriagloucester.net/ ). Essentially, her daughter, who is (I think) seven, has a Club Penguin account, and was lamenting one day about the high cost of purchasing a particular item that she desired. The essence of her complaint (I wish I had the exact words) was that the item was overpriced, and, that it would take several hours of earning money in Club Penguin - more time than she was willing to invest - to earn the income needed to purchase it. Catherine says she had been trying to explain to her daughter FOR MONTHS about why she should save her real-world allowance and only buy things she really needs and wants, but she never got the concept. However, she figured out the value of money ON HER OWN in Club Penguin.

A small, singular example, to be sure. The point? MUVEs do things and teach kids (and people!) in ways we are only now beginning to understand. I encourage anyone here who is curious about MUVEs to join the growing educator community in Second Life. In-world, I'm KJ Hax. Look me up. I'll help get you started.

Peace,

-kj-

-----
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
- African Proverb

Kevin Jarrett | Part-Time Faculty | Walden University Graduate School of Education
In-World: KJ Hax
SLBuzz Profile: http://profiles.slbuzz.com/kj-hax
Research Project Blog: http://www.storyofmysecondlife.com
Email: kjarrett at waldenu dot edu

Kevin Jarrett | Technology Facilitator, K-4 | District Webmaster | Google Certified Teacher
Northfield Community School: http://www.ncs-nj.org
eBoard: http://kjarrett.northfield.site.eboard.com
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kjarrett at ncs-nj dot org

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