1. An intrinsically interesting environment to teach kids something. The Learning-Based Virtual World © 2008 Numedeon, Inc. Career Exploration in Whyville

2. Whyvillians Meet a VIP for Discussion at the Greek Theatre WELCOME TO WHYVILLE! The learning-based virtual world Whyville is hard to describe but easy to show! Each “cartoon character” is a user logged into Whyville. This place in Whyville is called the Greek Theatre. Whyvillians are asking questions of Bethany Dillon, a real- life singer & songwriter and “VIP of the Day” in Whyville.

3. Ion Engine Design © numedeon, inc. 2006 Whyville.net features activities in math, science, art, journalism, economics, government and entrepreneurship. In this activity sponsored by NASA, users adjust the plate location and charge in an Ion Engine. If they are successful in creating an Ion Engine, Whyvillians will increase their “clam” salary that they earn every day they login to Whyville.

4. Whyville Beach © numedeon, inc. 2006 Whyville combines community with learning. The Beach is one of the most popular hang-outs in Whyville. When Whyvillians get tired of the Beach, they can always summon their Toyota Scion ® and take a drive with their friends. Of course, Scions aren’t free – in Whyville, clams make the world go ‘round. Whyvillians earn clams through educational activities and through starting businesses in Whyville.

5. Learning-based virtual world for teens and tweens 150,000 unique users a month, 3.3 million served since 1999. Its own newspaper, economy, government Educational games in math, science, journalism, art, government and economics

6. numedeon inc. © numedeon, inc. 2006 > 3.4 Million Registered Users 19992008 2/3rds girls 12 1/2 AA

7. numedeon inc. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Whyville Census - 2007  Page Views: 1 Billion  Visits: 35-40 Million  Monthly Hours Per Unique User: 3.5  Total Hours Spent: 5 Million  Chat Phrases Spoken: 500 Million  Educational games played: 8.5 million

8. © numedeon, inc. 2004 Whyville’s 400 Monthly Page Views Per User out-performs… Disney.com by 276 page views Amazon by 269 page views Google.com by 234 page views AOL.com by 197 page views Ebay by 96 page views comScore Media Metrix “ Whyville is our users first life, not their second life.”

9. © numedeon, inc. 2003 0 clams 80 clams 20 clams 50 clams 100 clams They progress and stay for a long time

10. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Make money, Invest money …

11. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Nutrition in Whyville Healthy Diet Not-So-Healthy Diet “Hotwired Educational Site…Don't you wish this kind of stuff was around when we were in school?” 587,000 requests to the Dietician.

12. 2007 Metrics *8.5 million food items eaten *3.5 million cafeteria visits *125,000 kids have signed up for Why-Eat *45% say they have changed real world behavior* *Classrooms around the country using Y-eats Moonbrite Healthy 368 days CloverKat Healthy 331 days xxgirl95 Healthy 326 days © numedeon, inc. 2004

13. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Global Climate Change Connected to the real world

14. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Senator OrEoBaBy “Digital Kids… research has shown that kids engage deeply in virtual environments”

15. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Getty Museum

16. 100 articles submitted each week © numedeon, inc. 2006

17. “This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education … whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can't think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, (and) distinguish good information from bad …” The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, December 2006

18. In 2006, The Texas Workforce Commission funded Whyville to help attract “tweens and teens” to Texas high-tech, high wage careers in Biotechnology & Advanced Manufacturing. Here’s what Whyville has done to accomplish that goal …

19. Whyville Biotech Do you have WhyPox? First seen in Whyville in 2003, WhyPox strikes yearly and spreads through the population. But the Texas Workforce Commission has saved the day. With funding from the Governor’s Industry Cluster Initiative, Whyvillians will be learning about immunology and finding a vaccine for WhyPox, all the while earning clams from Whyville Biotech.

20. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Pandemic Data Virus seededChristmas Vacation Detailed Metrics

21. © numedeon, inc. 2006 “I’m getting a FLU SHOT” Launched Nov. 22 (6 weeks) 134,000 visits to CDC vaccination station (SL - 123)

22. © numedeon, inc. 2004 Whyville Biotech Whyvillians are learning about immunology by working together in a multiplayer game to keeps cells from getting infected by viruses. Later, they make vaccines, conduct trials, and sell their vaccines to Whyvillians who prefer not to get WhyPox!

23. Whyville Planeworks People in manufacturing know that manufacturing jobs are high wage and high tech. Whyvillians will know this after running CAD simulators and managing supply chains in Whyville PlaneWorks. Besides, they will be able to fly the airplanes they build off Whyville Island, or open a flying business and add clams to their Whyville bank account.

24. Whyville Planeworks Parts in, Assembled Planes out … A Supply Chain!

25. Whyville Planeworks Building planes to spec …

26. Whyville Robotics Whyville Robotics with the Texas Institute for Educational Robotics (TIER), Northwest Vista College, San Antonio

27. Whyville Robotics

28. OUTREACH CAREER SIMULATION Career Pipelines CAREER SIMULATION Career Pipelines JOBSJOBS Texas users are referred to the web sites of educational opportunities in the region they live in. We ENGAGE kids in STEM education and we START THE PIPELINE by showing them where to continue their education. Schools for biotechnolog y Schools for advanced manufacturing

29. 20,000 Engaged 1,000 Referred We will engage 20,000 Texas 14 and 15 year olds (and more kids of all ages) and refer 1,000 to the web sites of educational opportunities in their region, for both Whyville Biotech and Whyville PlaneWorks.

30. The Whyville Texas Challenge “The first statewide competition in a learning-based virtual world.” The Whyville Texas Biotech Challenge: A statewide class vs. class competition to win the most clams in Whyville Biotech. The Whyville Texas PlaneWorks Challenge: A statewide class vs. class competition to win the most clams in Whyville PlaneWorks.

32. DATA to Date Total Texas Students 200+ active classes ALL OVER TEXAS ~1,000 students 7,100 have completed activities 1,600 have clicked through to educational opportunities Game Statistics 91,000 completing activities 5,108 vaccine sales 6,000 plane contracts won

33. Adoption in the Classroom – Waco ISD Adopted by Donna McKethan, CTE Director Integrated into 8 th grade Career Connections curriculum Free, online lesson plans 58 semester long classes 1,010 students

34. © numedeon, inc. 2006 Evaluator Cathleen Galas in Why Whyville Studying WhyPox Epidemiology a meaningful problem collaborative think critically about the spread gathering data … making hypotheses many hours outside school deep questions, researched answers took responsibility for their own open-ended learning productive citizens

35. © numedeon, inc. 2003 Welcome to Whyville’s first live concert! Singer Stacie Orrico was our featured guest for over 3,000 Whyvillians online in the Greek “Ampitheatre!” But there’s more here than fun and games. Whyvillians are being polled about the questions being asked of Stacie. Before this question, the prior one was “Stacie, what was your favorite subject in high school?” She said “Science!” Can you find the Whyvillian who also likes science? By the way, can you find the Whyvillian with WhyPox?

36. Our partners. © 2007 Numedeon, Inc.

37. Where From Here © 2008 Numedeon, Inc. More build-out: Expand activities & make new ones More competitions: Regional, state, state vs. state Pipeline development: Integrate; bring in program recruiters Classroom integration: Start with Careers classes, go from there Outreach & PR: Competition sponsors

38. An intrinsically interesting environment to teach kids something. The Learning-Based Virtual World © 2008 Numedeon, Inc. Career Exploration in Whyville

39. Whyville’s kids are engaged in… Nutrition education (obesity & type II diabetes) Music (and dancing, of course) Science – from astronomy & physics to rocket science & marine biology Global warming Art History Entrepreneurship Film & tv Economics Fashion & design Work force development (robotics, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology) Mathematics Hearing loss education Learning about disabilities – physical & learning Infectious disease Civics & governance Journalism Reading Recycling Finance & credit Philanthropy Automobile engineering Internet safety Games What sets Whyville apart is not what it teaches kids about the world, but how it teaches them. © 2007 Numedeon, Inc. There’s room for more!

40. How the education works. Healthy Diet Not-So-Healthy Diet Pedagogy Hands-On Inquiry Based Constructivist Fun! Hotwired Education Site…Don’t you wish this kind of stuff was around when we were in school? Whyville’s Grocery Store – 496 Foods Whyville’s Cafeteria © 2007 Numedeon, Inc.

41. How the safety works. “Report Decision: You are muted for 3 days due to inappropriate behavior.” Underage “newbies” cannot chat until…. – Visit the site a certain number of times – Submit signed parental permission slip – Pass ‘Chat License’ test (100% required) Whyville Safety White Paper – available upon request Whyville Safety White Paper – available upon request Whyville’s safety orientation is best in class and also offers kids and teenagers a secure environment to socialize and play.

42. Hey, our teachers like it too. Whyville is the leading web-based educational community for children…” Learning Landscapes Introduce this site to your students for months of science fun! My sixth graders love it! Whyville supports the use of computers by kids the way that scientists use computers: for data collection, data visualization, simulation and modeling, and scientific communication. The site also reflects what we know about learning communities and the kinds of interaction kids seek while learning and having fun.” Wendy Li, sixth grade teacher We are including a Whyville experience in the pilot distance education piece of our science elementary methods curriculum. After visiting Whyville, I am convinced that it would be great for pre-service teachers to experience Whyville over the course of several weeks to see what excellence in electronic learning for kids really can be.” Dr. Maureen McMahon, Dept. Chair, Cal State Long Beach © 2007 Numedeon, Inc.

43. Behind Whyville. Dr. James Bower - Chairman, Founder  Professor of Biology at Caltech 1985-2002  Founder and Director of Caltech Pre-College Science Initiative  Authored 100+ scientific publications and edited or authored 15+ books  Ph.D. in Neurophysiology – University of Wisconsin Dr. John Nackel – Chief Executive Officer Global Managing Director of Ernst &Young’s Health Care Consulting business Managing Director of New Ventures (E&Y’s Venture Capital Fund) CEO of Sogeti North America Masters Degrees in Public Health and Industrial Engineering from Univ. of Missouri Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at the University of Missouri Dr. Jennifer Sun - President, Co-founder  Founding member of Idealab’s Learning.net  Director Educational Development – Electric Schoolhouse  Ph.D. in Neuroscience – Caltech Mark Dinan - Chief Technology Officer, Co-founder  B.S. Physics – Caltech Ann Pickard - Senior Art Director, Co-founder  Pasadena Art Center College of Design Whyville, the place girls love to go for science.