As neologisms go, and like any SL resident I'm used to more than a few, Skoolaborate is one that feels ugly, but represents a wonderful new project. I'm adding their RSS to my feedreader right now.

The aim of the project is to have schools from around the world have their own space, allocated by time zone, and with a time zone specific co-ordinator, collaborate on range of projects to promote global citizenship and information about cultures and the like, and to make it available to other students from other time zones and cultures. The time zone specific co-ordinator will let the schools work at good times for them, whilst they'll be able to use the other areas to see how people their age see their own cultures.

Sadly it's a teen-grid project so most of us won't be able to visit it, but it is an interesting project nevertheless, and another cracking example of the sorts of things SL will enable us to do more easily than anything else I've seen to date.

There is currently an interesting discussion about Global Kids and their "Adult" presence on the Teen Grid on Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning. Global Kids runs a summer camp and seemed to have provided a useful program for the Second Life youth who inhabit the teen grid. However, this goes in the face of what Relk Akula says about them. "I view Global Kids as a despicable attack on TSL's existence as a place for teens to take a break fro real life and be able to have a world entirely grown by them," Says Relk Akula. He also likens Global Kids to the people behind the ESRB and RIAA, a comparison by which he seems to mean they censor free speech. Cheesepuff Barnard believes Global Kids should be eliminated as well stating, "This is like the Revolutionary War. A mainland, a colony, and somebody up there trying to take advantage of the colony." I was looking for the give me liberty or give me death line but I couldn't find it.

Now that is only one side of the story, Lucky Figtree says, "I can't imagine not having the GK leader in-world anymore. . . There are many teens that think of the Global Kids Islands as a second home (me included)." Should Global Kids or any other adult organization be allowed to operate in Teen Second Life? Is Teen Second Life a bad idea and we should just let everyone on the main grid? I don't really know the right answer, but I see Second Life as the beginnings of an important educational tool and removing the ability for educators and students at any level to collaborate in Second Life is a bad idea.