ABSTRACT
It is writing time in Kortney Sherbine’s second grade class. In one corner of the room, eight children are tightly huddled around one small computer, staring intently at the action on the screen. They are engrossed in an online site called Poptropica, a role-playing game written by Jeff Kinney of Diary of a Wimpy Kid fame, geared for children from 6 to 15 years old. Poptropica allows children to personalize an avatar and control its movements using the arrows on the computer keyboard or the computer’s mouse. Each avatar explores variously themed islands (e.g., Vampire Curse Island, Shrink Ray Island, Red Dragon Island, Wimpy Wonderland) in an effort to solve problems by collecting hidden objects and eventually saving the world, or at least the island (Retrieved from https://www.Poptropica.com/about" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.Poptropica.com/about, April 13, 2012).
