Biome4Kids (B4K)Terms of Service
WHO IS IT FOR?
Biome4Kids is for children in the grades K-12 age group and
teachers. It can be used for classroom activities. It may be
used as a learning tool for homeschooled children. And it is a wonderful place
for children to play, create and learn any time from anywhere. I am encouraging a global population so
that your children will be able to meet children from across the world. I will
require evidence that a member is either a child or a teacher. I will require an adult email and I may request a phone number and/or Facetime or Skype video call.
Visitors are
allowed during special events under very specific, supervised circumstances. They are blocked from returning to the children's areas as soon as the event is over. While parents cannot have an account, they may, of course, watch over their children’s shoulders while they visit. In fact, I would
definitely hope they are always aware of what their children are doing on the internet.
Parents, teachers and administrators are encouraged to contact me at any
time with a concern or question.
Anyone may visit the main island of Biome4Kids, explore there a
bit, and obtain an avatar. However, to leave the island you must be invited to
a group by me or an approved leader or teacher. Only approved children and
teachers will be allowed on the other islands.
Before you are given permission to visit the other islands I need
some evidence that you are:
1) A child of the age between 4-18. I suggest that teens may prefer
visiting Biome (http://cloweysbiome.blogspot.com) where there are more options for exploring a wider virtual
environment. However, any K-12 classroom
is encouraged to use Biome4Kids for learning activities.
2) A teacher in a K-12 school or approved pre-service teachers with
requests from their university instructor.
3) University instructors using Biome4Kids with permission (but not
for their students’ educational activities – university students will be
directed to Biome).
4) The professionals working with the program running Biome4Kids and
the content it contains. A list of these people is available upon request.
5) Coordinators of official K-12 home school organizations.
RESTRICTIONS:
Rated G
No mature content, language or behavior is allowed. Absolutely no bullying
will be permitted. Any violation of this in content, language or action will result
in banning of that avatar. If you have any issue please send me the chat log in
question so I can gain the information I need in order to ban the person(s) involved. Overt bullying may be reported to appropriate people (school administrators or law enforcement)
Avatars
Only the provided animal avatars are allowed. You must obtain an animal avatar before you
will be allowed off the main island. If
you would like for me to make your avatar I need you to send me login information
– your real name, your chosen avatar name, a password, and what animal you want
to be from the following (subject to change – you can always choose another
once you get there). You can also have your teacher make you an avatar.
Avatar options (changes over time):
o
Cats: white, black, orange, pink, blue
o
Bears: panda, polar, black, brown
o
Otter
o
Beaver
o
Bunny: white, black, brown, pink, blue
o
Lady bug or others
o Jellyfish
If I have not made an avatar for you, your first avatar will be a white cloud. The absolute first thing you must do is make an animal avatar. There are instructions here in the Getting Started page or upstairs in the log cabin.
Intellectual Content Rights
Anything built by an avatar belongs to that avatar and, as such, can be shared, given away, or downloaded and saved by the owner unless it includes materials that are part of the item which belong to someone else and they have not given you permission to call it yours. Examples might be textures, scripts, or sculpt maps. I will provide information on how to save your own items.Selling things
This is a free world and it has no money involved. You may not sell things on Biome4Kids. You may, of course, give away whatever you wish.OTHER VIRTUAL WORLDS
Biome4Kids is not associated with any other virtual world (Second Life, Inworldz, OsGrid, Kitely, etc.). You cannot “get there” from here. You would need
to make an account with those entities as well as with any other virtual worlds
that require individual accounts.
Biome4Kids is a part of the VIBE (Virtual Islands for Better
Education) group of educators and educational virtual worlds. Other parts of
our group are VIBE, Alexandria (library), Biome, Genome, Nova Archaeology and World
Traveler. Visiting those requires additional information. Send me an email at drclowe@gmail.com for information.
