The Images Go: Kerpoof

Heading into the final weeks of class, I'm going to introduce my first grade to a website called Kerpoof. They really enjoy KidPix, but it has been having some compatibility problems with a new version of Quicktime. I can't figure out how to back out the newer version of Quicktime so I can reload an older version.

When looking for an interesting project to allow for some storytelling, I came across a post over at the Welcome to NCS-Tech Blog.

The Setup
We've been working at Panwapa, so I am keeping the same username and password scheme from that website over on Kerpoof. I like the website's parent information letter. They are very clear in their intention to allow children to work at the website and keep their private identity information safe.

Real Life Decisions
One of the lessons at CyberSmart for the K-1 group is called Find the Ad. Using this website will allow us to discuss a real life situation. Kerpoof is an ad-free space, but there are commercial intentions involved. As the students sign in, there are coins that are given to the user account. Some of the items will be available to all students, others are only available to users whose parents have signed up for a membership. This may not arise as an issue for a while since it takes a couple hundred points to "buy" things at the Kerpoof store. It will be good to discuss the value of $4.39 for a month's membership, $24.79 for a six-month membership, and $44.79 for a year long membership.

The Equation So Far
I am looking forward to presenting this lesson during the week. We will easily have time to sign in, create the avatar, and begin creating a story. We will finish it before the end of the school year. I am curious to see how the students feel about the character sets randomly changing. They are used to a standard set of stickers and stampers always being available in Kid Pix. I have requested a group id for my students. When I receive the id, I will come back and describe more of our journey through this website.

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Image Citation:
"Copyright 2008 Kerpoof, LLC; Used With Permission."