Kids' virtual-world takeaways

Some good, some not so good, but kids are learning things from virtual worlds targeting them, comments Organic's Chad Stoller in ClickZ.com. Pointing to Disney’s Toon Town, Club Penguin, WebKinz, Nicktropolis, and There.com, he says they learn how to handle (virtual) money, including saving vs. spending (“kids are now discussing the eBay prices of a [Webkinz] Dalmation in classrooms”); “what it means to get something in return for their time” via the “leveling up” experience in games; how to customize their spaces and differentiate them; and how to protect their computer from errant code and other hacks.