Melissa S. Cook

Your Second Selves Player-Designed Avatars

Avatars in online games and worlds are seen as players’ key representations in interactions with each other. In this article, we investigate the avatar design and identity play within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 8—16. One unique feature of Whyville is the players’ ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the expressive resources available for avatar construction, individual tween players’ choices and rationales in creating their avatars, and online postings about avatar design in the community at large. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online worlds such as Second Life, our discussion will address the role of avatars in identity play and self-representation as well as the social issues that arise within the game world.

‘‘Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!’’: Design and Discussion About Diversity and Race in a Tween Virtual World

In this paper, we investigate racial diversity in avatar design and public discussions about race within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 8—16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player’s ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the racial diversity of available resources for avatar construction and online postings about the role of race in avatar design and social interactions in the community. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online worlds such as Teen Second Life, our discussion addresses the role of avatars in teen/tween identity development and self-representation, and the role of virtual entrepreneurs and community activists in increasing the diversity of avatar parts available.

The Possibilities and Limitations of Curriculum-Based Science Inquiry Interventions for Challenging the “Pedagogy of Poverty”

Low-income and minority students in the U.S. are disproportionately subjected to didactic, teacher-controlled instruction—a phenomenon called “the pedagogy of poverty” (Haberman, 1991). This study examined the role that curriculum-based interventions could play in addressing these equity issues in science education. Eight teachers from three demographically diverse urban schools participated. Teaching in intervention classrooms was more inquiry-based and less didactic than in control classrooms, and differences in control/intervention teaching were most pronounced at the two higher-need schools. Learning benefits were found for intervention students at these two schools. Findings suggested both potential and limitations of curriculum-based interventions in challenging the pedagogy of poverty.