Educational/Interactive Websites
Popper, B. (2017, Mar 2). The empathy layer. Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/2/14764620/koko-social-network-mental-health-depression-app-kik.
It was a little trickier to get the citation information about Koko from the first page. The link lead me to the above article which explained Koko, showed a sample exchange, and linked me right to getting started with the website. I felt it was the most complete citation available.
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Koko is an anonymous, interactive website where anyone can post about anything that causes stress, anxiety, or fear. Other users can offer encouragement, a way to rethink the problem, or simply let someone know that they have been heard and offer empathy. It is completely anonymous and since the app is not yet available in the United States, a user can participate via the chat website (https://chat.itskoko.com/) and choose to receive notifications via text. The idea developed from observing how the users of the app "Kik" would often interact with the chatbot that is always automatically entered as the first contact in a user's address book. The engineers noticed that Kik users would often confess anxieties and fears to the chatbot but that the Kik chatbot was not programmed to deal with these emotional posts. Kokobot has been carefully designed to handle emotional issues. Kokobot is a form of AI that is programmed to "read" a user's post and first determine if the individual posting is in any immediate danger. If so, the program will connect the user to the appropriate crisis intervention agency. If the problem posted is not deemed a troll and seems manageable, it is passed on to other Koko users. Other users can choose to respond, with the help of a short preliminary tutorial, in hopes of helping someone with an issue rethink or reframe whatever is bothering them. The hopes for this very new application are for people who can't or won't yet readily receive professional cognitive behavior therapy to feel empathy from another human being and be better able to handle their issue. In turn, users can feel good about helping someone else by choosing to respond to another user in distress. Designers feel like YA users can talk about bullying, friend issues, depression, and harassment.
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I have categorized this as an interactive website and not an app because the app version is not yet available in the United States. As a teacher, I have seen a lot of different kinds of educational/interactive websites but I was looking for something new and different. I tried out the website myself and even though it's not perfect, I felt this is a good start in combining social media with anonymous peer to peer support. The Kokobot encourages empathy, offers a way to earn "karma" points through helping others, and let's you know when someone has responded to either your problem or a problem you have responded to. Most of the issues I responded to were about a user's break up, unrequited love interest, or problems with friends. When I posted an empathetic response and let the user know they were not alone or not a loser, I typically got favorable feedback and that made me feel good. There is no way to know who posted any problem or response and no way to reach out directly to anyone once the exchange is over. I did view a couple posts that I passed back to Kokobot because I felt the problem was more serious and could have even warranted crisis intervention. Kokobot is not a replacement for therapy but it can help someone navigate a rough patch they may be experiencing and possibly feel good about helping someone else.
Image from: https://itskoko.com/
Learn4Good Ltd. (2017). Educational Online Games for High School & College Students. Retrieved from: https://www.learn4good.com/games/for-high-school-students.htm
As I was looking through lists of websites that I might choose to interact with, I wanted to find something that was slightly different from the usual games and puzzles that seemed to be everywhere. I almost reviewed a website that showed the effects of different drugs on the body through various cartoon mice. Alas, I ended up choosing Learn4Good.com because their games seemed a little more interesting. I did not get a chance to play all of them but here are some of the games I did interact with on this site:
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Arm Surgery 2: Choose the correct treatment and surgical tools to operate on patients at St. Flak's Hospital. Work toward saving as many lives as you can. I get queasy at the thought of cutting into someone else- even on a screen but I can see why this game might appeal to someone else.
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3rd World Farmer: Manage an impoverished farm in a desert area of Africa. This is a thought provoking game that brings in ethics and business management skills. Work on increasing your profits without endangering your family or farm. I played a few round of this game- it's definitely one that requires some strategic planning and patience.
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Pandemic 2: Play the role of an evil scientist working on creating a biological weapon. Create a virus, parasite, or bacteria that will infect everyone on Earth while medical professionals and government agencies work to stop you. This one was super creepy. I didn't like being the creator of a lethal disease and working to spread it across the globe. However, of the games I had a chance to play, it was my favorite because it was easiest to understand how to make your disease spread quickly in order to achieve the goal.
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Airport Tycoon: Manage and run an airport as efficiently as possible. Make decisions about expansions and amenities all while keeping employees and customers happy. This one was the trickiest. You had to really visualize how the changes were going to have an affect on your airport without really seeing them in action. This is great to practice business building strategies such as how to market your airport and make it more attractive to travelers.
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