Poptropica

What is the site's mission? (i.e. purpose of the community and its objectives).

This site's mission is to provide a virtual world in which kids explore and play in complete safety. Accessibility to this world for kids is important to the creators, which is why the Poptropica Islands are free for all kids to play.

Who are the community's members?

Children between the ages of 6-15 can play and parent's can monitor their child's activity.

What are the guidelines for membership?

Poptropica is always free for kids to play. However, the Poptropica Store offers extras that let kids personalize their character. Items in the store can be purchased separately with Credits, or you can get Membership for Early Access to all new Islands, plus access to all costumes and Gold Cards in the Poptropica Store.

What are the guidelines for adult involvement? (teachers, parents)

Parents are required to create a Parent Account when purchasing a Membership. Your parent account login allows you to view your Membership purchases. However, your Parent Account login does not allow you to log in to your child's game on Poptropica.

What features are included in this site? (e.g. message areas, discussion forums, blogs, chats, photo and video sharing, games, etc…)

Message areas, blogs, videos, and chats are included in this site.

Is there a clear rationale for the features that have been included?

Children can communicate with their friends that are playing on this website as well as watch videos of other players.

In your opinion, can this site be used for an educational purpose? Can it be related to curriculum? Why or why not?

This site does not have much educational purpose. It cannot be related to the curriculum, however, as a computer teacher, I would allow students to play on this website on the last 10 minutes of class if they completed all their work. This website aids children in problem solving and decision making, which are necessary skills. It also encourages children to interact with their classmates, which helps them with their social skills.

If it can't be directly tied to curriculum, would you recommend it to parents? Would you let your own children use the site? Why or why not?

I would recommend this website to parents because there are plenty of bad and violent websites for children to use today, and this website is a good way to kids to have fun safely. Through this website, p arents can trust that their children are playing—and learning—in a safe online environment. **No personally identifiable information is ever collected from kids.** Communication with other players in Poptropica is safe. Kids can only interact using scripted chat, so **no personal information can ever be shared.** I think this is a huge benefit for parents. If I had kids of my own, I would let them play on this website; however, depending on their age, I would set up their account and monitor their activity often.


 * Lauren Cassidy**

 Choose a social networking site from the list below.  [|www.poptropica.com]   Create a new page for the site you have chosen.  Explore the site and answer the following questions:  What is the site's mission? (i.e. purpose of the community and its objectives).  Poptropica is a virtual world that entertains and informs millions of kids all around the world by engaging them in narrative quests and online games.  The objective is to explore, collect and complete. They explore different times periods in history, as the kids play. Kids have to complete a level to continue to the next one.   Who are the community's members?  Boys and girls between the ages 6-15, parents can monitor what their kids are doing. But, people can lie about their ages.  <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> What are the guidelines for membership? <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Yes, there is a membership. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> What are the guidelines for adult involvement? (teachers, parents) <span style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Parents are required to create a Parent Account when purchasing a Membership. Your [|parent account login] allows you to view your Membership purchases. Membership will automatically renew at the end of the term. If you'd like to end this Membership after the current term, you can cancel automatic renewal online in your parent account at any time before the Membership renewal date, and your credit card will not be billed for renewal. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Your Parent Account login does not allow you to log in to your child's game on Poptropica. To access a Membership or Credits, your child should click the "Returning Player" button on Poptropica.com and log in with the username they created when they saved their game, along with their password. Any Membership or Credits purchased for that username will appear for them in their Stats and Store pages. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> What features are included in this site? (e.g. message areas, discussion forums, blogs, chats, photo and video sharing, games, etc…) <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Yes, there are blogs, video sharing, games, faqs, journals, chat, a studio to edit pictures, and a creative writing journal. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Is there a clear rationale for the features that have been included? <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Students can learn about some ancient civilizations, and other things about society. Kids create a "Poptropican" character to travel the many Islands of Poptropica and use gaming literacy to enjoy a narrative that is often rooted in factual history. Problem-solving skills are honed as kids discover and solve mysteries unique to each Island. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> In your opinion, can this site be used for an educational purpose? Can it be related to curriculum? Why or why not? <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> No can be used in class, students can chat with other character that people can be lying their age. <span style="line-height: 19.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> If it can't be directly tied to curriculum, would you recommend it to parents? Would you let your own children use the site? Why or why not? Yes, I would recommend to parents, and advice to the parents to always supervise what their kids are doing. Yes, I will let them use regularly.

Azucena Quintuna