The D.I.D.I. InitiativeUsing virtual worlds to promote good health

Serious Games Pre-Conference 2008

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Project Overview

The Dream It. Do It. Initiative (D.I.D.I.)

Engages teens to create and lead their own sustainable ventures that address issues of health through Teen Second Life (TSL), the version of Second Life for youth ages 13-17

18-month project launched September 2007 with goal of launching 40 venture teams and ultimately “tipping” TSL

A partnership between Ashoka’s Youth Venture and Global Kids, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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Pioneered the field of youth social entrepreneurship; youth division of Ashoka

Building a global culture of youth creating positive, lasting change

Invested in over 2,000 youth teams to launch their own social ventures, involving over 30,000 young people

Connecting them into a global network of Youth Venturers

Operating in 14 countries and growing

“Youth Venture has encouraged diverse initiatives, ranging from sixth-grade kids who teach math to third-graders to high schoolers who have set up an internationally recognized organization to combat childhood diabetes.”

Ashoka’s Youth Venture

Global Kids

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Youth Venture is partnering with Global Kids to bring the YV opportunity to youth using Teen Second Life

Global Kids, a non-profit organization based in New York City, is dedicated to developing youth to become global citizens and community leaders

First nonprofit to develop a dedicated space for youth programs in TSL

Established Global Kids Estate within TSL, which hosts interactive, experiential programs for teens from around the world.

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Objectives

The primary objectives of this project are to:

Examine to what extent a virtual medium can promote youth changemaking

Explore online/offline cross pollination of youth development and changemaking

Determine the extent to which online endeavors affect youths’ mindsets about leadership and initiative

Test whether Youth Venturers could efficiently tip a virtual world from a culture of self-interest to promoting societal good

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How D.I.D.I. Works

Dream It. Do It. workshop: youth identify health-related problems in their community (local, virtual or international) and brainstorm ideas to tackle the problems using their skills and interests

Youth participate in a series of interactive workshops that explore issues of health and guide them through the process of forming teams and developing detailed action plans for their venture projects

Teams then present their ideas to a Selection Panel of peers and adults who determine whether the team’s venture is ready to launch

The D.I.D.I. Process:

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How D.I.D.I. Works

Dream It. Do It. WorkshopYouth connecting problems they have identified with their passions and skills

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How D.I.D.I. Works

When teams are ready to launch, D.I.D.I. provides:

Seed funding (up to US $1,000 per team) Ongoing tools and support Peer Mentors to provide expertise and support A network of fellow Venturers both within and outside of TSL An identity as part of the global Youth Venture movement (GenV.net)

Selection Panel

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A new initiative started by TSL residents that is youth-led

Creates benefit to the community

Addresses an issue related to health (defined broadly, including social determinants of health)

Has a credible plan that will be sustainable

Has an adult “ally” willing to support, but not control, the venture

Involves a strong team

Venturers who care and have the energy to be successful

What Is a D.I.D.I. Team?

Teams can choose to launch ventures that function entirely within TSL or use the TSL space for creating and planning offline ventures

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Welcomes new TSL residents into the community by offering free classes on building and scripting, giving out freebies, and answering questions

Has an amusement park with rides to combine learning with fun

Aims to raise awareness of and knowledge about health issues that affect teens by posting flyers and having kiosks around the park with information on a variety of health issues

Jump Start ParkLaunched February 2008

Team Profile

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In TSL addresses problems faced by teens including stress, self-mutilation, suicide, drug abuse, and underage drinking

Creating a peer support group to provide a place where teens around the world can discuss these issues and share ideas with other teens who are dealing with similar problems

Plans to raise awareness about these issues by creating and selling bracelets and t-shirts with inspirational phrases that reflect the team’s mission

KLASSLaunched March 2008

Team Profile

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Aims to raise awareness among peers in TSL about cancer and other major health problems

Constructing a facility where teens will be able to gather, learn about health issues, and participate in fundraisers to raise money for the American Cancer Society

Plans to facilitate group discussions for teens who have friends or family who have died or are suffering from disease to discuss their feelings and receive support from one another

A New TomorrowLaunched April 2008

Team Profile

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D.I.D.I. Ambassadors

D.I.D.I. Ambassadors

Teen volunteers who have started D.I.D.I. Ventures or participate in other Global Kids programs

Meet bi-weekly with D.I.D.I. staff member

Use their various networks within TSL to help spread the word about D.I.D.I. on the TSL mainland (where adults aren’t allowed) in order to recruit TSL residents to launch ventures

Provide feedback on programming to D.I.D.I. staff

The D.I.D.I. Ambassadors are

currently working to put on a contest for TSL

residents to spread the word about D.I.D.I.

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D.I.D.I. Staffing

Youth Venture Global Kids

Staff Director of Global Digital Strategy (part time)

TSL Manager (full time)AmeriCorps VISTA (half time)

Director of Online Leadership (part time)Program Manager (full time)Program Associate (full time)

Role Work with GK’s staff to design and carry out program activities;

Serve as primary resource for potential and launched D.I.D.I. teams

Run selection panels and provide seed grants

Conduct outreach to YV’s networks

Coordinate day-to-day operations and programming in TSL

Work with YV’s staff to adapt educational activities to TSL and helps carry out those activities

Design and maintain D.I.D.I. Island in TSL and manage land ownership

Run D.I.D.I. Ambassador ProgramConduct outreach to GK’s networks

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Outreach Strategies

Within Teen Second Life Outside of Teen Second Life Leveraging GK’s already-existing network of

youth Group notices, flyers

D.I.D.I. Ambassadors Events and contests Launched Venture Teams

Teens seeing what venture teams are doing

Word-of-mouth

YV and GK partner organizations Orgs that are already using TSL YV and GK networks of youth

Newsletters Listservs Social networking sites Blogs

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Outreach experience so far

Fall 2007: Phase 1 Worked with youth recruited within TSL Engaged 37 youth in Dream It. Do It. workshops 4 venture teams presented to selection panels

Spring 2008: Phase 2 Working with youth from a middle school tech club Working with TSL youth: 3 teams have presented to panels, approx. 10 teams currently

forming action plans Many of the teens participating in phase 2 were recruited by teams that launched in

phase 1 Just began working with youth in a juvenile detention center

Summer 2008 Plans Partnering with Digital Network Group to work with 40+ at risk youth in the D.C. area Holding a “D.I.D.I. Summer Camp” session for teens recruited within TSL

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Lessons Learned

1. Engaging teens in topics of health takes work

Youth often come up with venture project ideas that are not related to health

Working to further integrate concept of health into outreach materials and workshops

Asking youth to think about all aspects of health and how their venture idea could address a health-related issue

For example, a team that provides support to new TSL residents (mentoring, classes, freebies) suggested that their service would improve the health of the TSL community by helping new members integrate into and positively contribute to the TSL community

 

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Lessons Learned

2. Teens and parents don’t want to cross the line between Second Life and real life

Prior to providing grants, YV requires team members to submit a form with their contact info and an agreement signed by them and a parent

We have found that a majority of parents of TSL users will not allow their children to give us their contact information, or to sign the Youth Venture Agreement, regardless of the amount of explaining we do

When asked for real life information, many teens feel uncomfortable and prefer to keep SL and RL entirely separate

Must adapt the YV program to the TSL context. We plan to start providing grants in the form of land instead of Linden Dollars for teams that aren’t able to provide contact info

 

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Lessons Learned

3. Team building in a virtual setting is difficult

Youth form teams with other TSL users who are often on the other side of country or world and who they know solely through TSL

Many teams are finding it challenging to work together to build trust, understand each other’s level of commitment and expectations and coordinate venture activities

We have developed a workshop focused on team building and are working with teams individually to try to help them work through the challenges

 

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Lessons Learned

4. TSL youth easier to recruit yet less likely to commit to a long-term project

We’ve found it’s actually easier in some ways to recruit teens to start venture projects in TSL than it is offline Unlike real life, the TSL environment is already an extremely creative,

entrepreneurial, youth-led space Teens approached in TSL seem to be considerably less daunted by the

prospect of starting a venture project than teens approached in real life However, it is a challenge to ask youth to make a long-term commitment to their

ventures Youth often use TSL for a few months and then move on to something else Within TSL, youth tend to think about time in terms of days and weeks rather

than months In the venture planning process, we have teams think about how their

ventures will be sustainable – how they we will keep them going when the grant funding is used up or when they are no longer in TSL

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Other Virtual Worlds

Exploring potential for heath and youth changemaking education in other virtual worlds for youth such as Whyville.net, Habbo Hotel, and There.com

Just formed partnership with Whyville.net for significant summer program

Whyville has over 3 million registered users ages 8-16

Exploring ways of modifying TSL program to fit Whyville context

Whyville’s 2D environment is focused more on social interaction than is TSL’s more “free for all” 3D environment

Learn More

Adam Aberman

Director of Global Digital Strategy

Ashoka’s Youth Venture

310.633.9593

aaberman@youthventure.org

http://genv.net/en-us/region/didi