Kids Learning How to Make Games, Not Just Play Them: MyG-Life.org

MyG-Life is a new SNS that’s more than a platform for socializing - its larger goal is to teach disadvantaged youth about the basics of graphic animation and how to build their own computer games (which they can share with their friends in their virtual network). Though currently only active in West Virginia and a few US universities, the site is planning to go international in late 2008. The site allows users to evaluate different web-based games, suggest improvements, and use tutorials to help them learn the basics of being a game producer and programmer. Kids are even encouraged to manipulate the open-source code of the games the site producer’s have created and change graphics, text, and create their own remixed versions.  According to American-Israeli Idit Caperton, MyG-Life’s founder, the site is targeted towards students in Israel and Palestinian territories, hoping it might encourage communication and play between youth in the areas. As BBC reports:

“We are a global foundation - our mission is to reach youth globally, and to create multiple networks,” she said. “Cisco gave us some seed funding to start networks in the Middle East to develop the platform, and take Arab-Israelis, Jewish Israelis and Russian immigrants from five different cities and get them all connected through learning how to make games about education, social purpose and social change… That was very successful, and led us to go and do some pilots at the college level at the American university. Now we are in conversations to continue the work with urban Jewish Israelis as well as Palestinian students, and see if, both at the high school level and the college level, we can create this powerful network.”

The site is also in conversation with foundations in India and Amnesty International, looking at incorporating this in their youth strategy for Asia-Pacific.

BBC News: Teach Yourself Game Design