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Minyanland.com: like Webkinz, but without the plush toys, and focused on education!
5 CommentsGood morning everyone!
Webkinz are incredibly popular these days. The toys are adorable, the online community is engaging, and kids spend hours and hours playing with their pets in real life (often with friends) and on the computer. I am one of many educators (like Maria Knee from Deerfield, NH) who believe that online learning environments like Webkinz have terrific educational potential. Some, like Maria, have even integrated Webkinz into their classrooms (I’m still working on that!) It’s not easy, though; commercialism is such a big part of the Webkinz experience that some people fear the risks of doing so outweigh the benefits.
There is hope, however! Thanks to Diigo user and teacher extraordinare Vicki Davis, today we’re talking about a great educationally-focused virtual community that is similar to Webkinz but doesn’t require purchasing a toy or promoting a product. It’s called Minyanland.com and it’s totally free!
Quoting from the Minyanland “About” page, “MinyanLand is a virtual community designed to engage kids and families in games and interaction that is entertaining and educational.” The focus is financial education and economics so it’s very real-world. There are jobs, banks, investments, businesses, organizations – all waiting for kids to interact with and explore. Quoting further:
We created MinyanLand as a platform to entertain and educate a young generation so they understand the concept of a market and the basics of economics and finance on a real world level. The economic system of MinyanLand mimics the real-life pricing of general goods and services. As players participate in the system, their actions will affect the overall MinyanLand economy. This is how they will learn. To keep the economy stabilized, for instance, players must stay healthy by eating on a regular basis. MinyanLand will also offer incentives to encourage such behavior as charitable giving.
Let’s take a closer look!
Kids work jobs that require them to use, among other things, math and reasoning skills:
They learn about the value of money and the concept of investments:
And they interact in immersive 2D spaces that combine nifty graphics with recorded, realistic environmental sounds that make the experience incredibly lifelike (I love the ambient sounds in the diner below!):
Internet safety is paramount at Minyanland, and the chat system (partially shown above) helps ensure that messaging is limited to the context of the game and that no personally-identifiable information is shared. Parent accounts are also linked to children accounts, as well, as they are encouraged to use the site with their children, setting up an “allowance” paid within Minyanland for chores done IN REAL LIFE! Kids do the work and get rewarded with money in Minyanland that they can use how they wish – to invest, save, spend, or even donate to charity. How cool is that?
There are some that would argue the “consumerism” implied here is a bit over the top, but I don’t feel that way. It’s an environment designed to educate children about money, community, finance and investments, which, last time I checked, is critical knowledge in the world we live in. Minyanland makes it all fun! Definitely check this site out and decide for yourself!
Hope this helps!
-kj-
Published on April 24, 2008 · Filed under: Virtual Worlds;
5 Responses to “Minyanland.com: like Webkinz, but without the plush toys, and focused on education!”
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Robin said on April 24th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Thanks! This is great! Can’t wait to check it out. Now the next step is for them to make it 3D…
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liam said on April 24th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I’m extremely excited about the educational potential of virtual worlds for kids. I’m also all for teaching young people to be financially responsible and learn the value of money, but I find Minyanland’s methods, messages and mascots very problematic.
In the wake of the sub-prime mortgage disasters, a recently crashed and then bailed-out (thanks to a federal injection of cash) stock market and the rippling effect of this economic uncertainty around the world, I have to question the effectiveness and appropriateness of a site like Minyanland, whose very mascots (Bull and Bear) represent much of the cause of these financial troubles: the Wall Street stock market.
Consumerism elements of the site aside, I find it troubling that these two mascots of free-market Wall Street are now being marketed to kids via Minyanland’s cartoon-style graphics.
Additionally, for the creators of the site to claim to “address the gap between classes” by solely focusing on “financial illiteracy” without incorporating other causes for the class divides (race, gender, language, etc) is not only ineffective and misleading to young people, it also reinforces the idea that those who are running, invested in, or believe in the values of the free market are the only ones who are financially literate – despite all evidence to the contrary (allowing sub-prime mortgages to be approved, selling this bad debt on to other lenders, borrowing money from the federal reserve when low on cash, while decrying government assistance as being a bad thing, etc.)
As I said, I’m all for teaching young people how to better manage their money. I just don’t think those lessons should be coming from a group (http://www.minyanville.com/) who are cheerleaders for the source of many of the financial struggles faced by people across North America.
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Ann Oro said on April 29th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
My students enjoy playing Hot Dog Stand, Ice Cream Truck, My Mathematical Life, and Concert Tour Entrepreneur. I’ll have to check out the website and see if this will be usable in class. It’s always good to have other sites to offer students when they complete tasks in class.
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Hi Liam,
I see you got my comment on your blog, thought I would reply there since you had posted about Minyanland first, after all. :)
Hi Ann,
I think you and your kids will find that Minyanland is pretty complicated – while most of the terminology is available (explained) in the library, it’s still a stretch for the elementary set, think. Didn’t matter to my guys, though, they had a great time with it today!
-kj-
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eleanor said on May 1st, 2008 at 1:19 am
minyanland is very cool !the selectionof characters is good and it is really educational!!!!!!definitly a must play:)!!!
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