For my first technology review I am going to review is http://www.nick.com/club/, The Club: Online Virtual World For Kids. It is designed to be a safe place for kids to hang out, be creative, and connect with each other online. In the Club, kids can customize their own rooms, visit interactive common rooms called Clubhouses, watch videos of their favorite Nickelodeon shows, interact with Nick characters and play games. One exciting feature that kids will love is they can actually chat with each other in real time. I really like the Safety Information on the Parent page. This helps explain to parents why and how this website is safe for kids. To join the club, a child just sets up a user name and password. There is no cost to join. They can they customize their avatar in this virtual world.
A resource on this website that could be used in my classroom is the Nickelodeon Network for preschool. It has popular shows with games/activities by theme or age. This part is called Nick, Jr. It also has printables, home connections, videos, etc. I like how this website is centered around different age groups: nick, teennick, nicktoons, nick at nite, nickjr, plus divided by shows so if a child loves a certain show they can do activities centered around that show. I have signed up myself so my 3 year old daughter can have access to these games and activities. :)
Wow! I was not familiar with this site. It sounds like a great 'safe' place for kids to connect with other kids and have fun with their favorite Nick characters at the same time. I am going to have to check it out and see how I can use it in my classroom!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really cool website! I like that they have an option for each age group, so it is not just designed for the younger kiddos. Did the website explain its safety features in detail? I wonder if the chat is censored or if they have a way to verify the age of the user.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of this site! It seems like a great place for kids to be safe while online. I know several of my students enjoy the Nick shows because I have overheard them talking about it. I'm sure they would be psyched to play games with their favorite cartoon characters. Great find, Shannon!
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