December 10, 2008
· Filed under Vignettes
Lucia knows a little something about books. She has of course read all Harry Potter books, kicking the ‘24 hours awake’ limit for that last one, but her latest obsession is Holes, by Louis Sachar. Last week she introduced ‘Holes’ to the Bookworms Group in Being Me. Everybody got really excited but they all agreed that it’s the rule- nobody can post anything about how the book ends until everybody in Bookworms has read it.
Today is Lucia’s favorite day of the week; it is Codeworlds class ! Last week her teacher, Igor, announced that there would be a new puzzle quest before they level up to Boss Challenge. But Igor has been so secretive about it. Lucia has been constantly checking Igor’s page on Being Me and he hasn’t posted anything yet.
Lucia is very excited about these mini quests and has been doing pretty well in them, wining the title of a Wiki-us Talent last month, an award that made her little learning creature next to her avatar grow a bit. Also, her badge collection is finally getting bigger.
In the Wiki-us Quest, her class had to solve ‘the mystery of Alexandria’. They had to use this new tool in their Being Me, called Wiki, to seek and find missing information about the famous library of Alexandria and reveal who is behind the mischievous plot.
Obviously, this was a piece of cake for Lucia who easily led her team to gaining extra points for the quest, awarded to them through Being Me. With all those points she can easily now get some lab time with this famous mentor in metaplace, called Ibu, that everybody has been talking about…or maybe she gets some smalab time…she ‘s heard that the smalab scientist Kyle is really awesome…
Ah… class time on the matrix data screen, time for Lucia to go.
December 9, 2008
· Filed under Vignettes · Tagged Add new tag, being me
User Scenario #1: Jeff
This past summer eleven year old Jeff moved with his parents from Portland, Oregon to New York City. He is normally quiet and quite shy which has made starting the 6th grade in a new environment a little hard on him. He has not made many friends since the move and after finishing his homework spends most of his nights playing World of Warcraft and talking to his friends back in Portland on MySpace.
About a month into the school year the students are given access to the school’s new social web site “Being Me.” On “Being Me” Jeff is able to create an avatar, design a personal space and portfolio, and explore a 3D simulation of his school and its neighborhood.
Jeff starts fiddling around with some of the applications available on the site and soon is designing and building custom items for his virtual space. He notices that students are allowed to upload items they created to the virtual school store and decides to post a few of the things he made for others to use. Within a few days, news of Jeff’s talent spreads. Lots of students stop by his personal space to praise him for what he made. Two other students–Mark and Tom–ask Jeff if they could come over one day and have Jeff help them design custom items for their spaces.
During their visit Mark, Tom and Jeff learn that they have a lot in common. They start eating lunch and playing together during recess. Jeff’s confidence builds. He initiates IM conversations with other classmates in Being Me’s virtual space. These virtual interactions allow Jeff to emerge from his shell gradually, breaking the wall between himself and his new schoolmates at his own pace.
