I recently read a Facebook status where someone rightly said, “We have literacy in the world but not education”. It really makes you think. The world is progressing every day but what happens when we don’t seem to be educated enough to understand how it works? Education isn’t just about learning from books. It is about teaching, learning skills, and knowledge. Education also means helping people to learn how to do things and encouraging them to think about what they learn. It is also important for educators to teach ways to find and use information. Through education, the knowledge of society, country, and of the world is passed on from generation to generation. Essentially, what the world needs is an effective society. And with Acting Kindly @ School, in a way, it’s what Greg Acuna hopes to achieve.
Greg Acuna, the man with all the ideas
Greg Acuna, the brains behind the Planet Earthlings project and Zarbul is a man of varied interests and loads of talent. Originally from Los Angeles in the United States, he has lived in Goa for the last 16 years.
Greg has tried a bit of everything. He has experience in both business and creative experience writing. He has directed and produced media projects and managed complex ventures for major companies. Educational qualifications include a degree in political science from the University of Southern California and a Masters degree in playwriting from San Francisco State University. He has written/directed one feature film, co-written two other produced features, been a script doctor on several projects, directed an animation/live-action TV pilot as well as plays for the theatre.
He’s done a ton of other great stuff too. However, if we tell you all about it here, it might take away the fun of meeting him and finding out just how interesting he really is.
The games kids play
Greg owns a company called Earthlings Infotech which has created “Zarbul” a cooperative educational gaming platform to empower children to change the world. They have also developed the “Acting Kindly” app/game and will soon be releasing a printed card game version called “Acting Kindly in School.
Image credit – Greg Acuna
Planet Earthlings and Zarbul
The Planet Earthlings project merges the functionality of a 3d Virtual World and a Social Network into a gamified educational destination. It’s called “Zarbul,” the intergalactic word for the universe. Zarbul is space themed and has an overall story to excite and reward players giving them an opportunity to have fun while learning.
Acting Kindly @ School
Bullying is something that runs rampant in society today. It’s a major concern in schools. And as the years go on, the methods used to tackle this big issue also change. Some methods use force and others take calmer stands against it. Acting Kindly @ School is designed to take a more patient and fun route in tackling bullying and just getting kids to cooperate with each other. The game already exists on Google Play – Android and the Apple Store on iOS.
Acting Kindly @ School gets players to work together or even do random acts of kindness and playful deeds resulting in empowering each other. The idea behind it is to spread joy, create new friendships and create great experiences in co-operation. The game is fun, creative, simple and thoughtful. Greg and his team want to now bring it to schools in the country in the form of a physical card game.
There are 5 different kinds of cards; ACTION CARDS, SWITCH CARDS, PEOPLE CARDS, WILD CARDS, CREATE & PLAN CARDS. You can read up on the game and other information on the Planet Earthlings website which is really cool. Of course, you need to make sure you buy it for your kids.
Do your bit for Acting Kindly @ School
The world needs more people like Greg Acuna and his team. They are working to bring children together in friendship and camaraderie through games and to create the best life experiences through co-operation with others. The fact that it’s different should attract more people to experience the same and also empower others to do the same and create a chain reaction. The world isn’t a friendly place anymore and it’s the little things, like these that matter.
You can help to spread it to schools across India. Please watch the really cool video of kids playing on the crowdfunding page. Here’s the link: https://www.ketto.org/actingkindly. It’s going to be a great game for the kids, with Goa being the first to benefit from it.
So let’s try and do our bit and purchase the card game when it’s finally out. It’s time to teach our kids to make a better world so that they, in turn, can do the same for someone else!
Information credit – Greg Acuna and Earthlings Infotech
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