DS106 is going went to Camp!

Starting on April 21st, Camp Magic MacGuffin becamse the official DS106 summer camp of 2012. Under the guidance of the camp’s fearless leaders, camp participants will experience a DS106 like none that has come before. For ten weeks, campers will get the opportunity to learn about how to harness the open web to create meaning, tell stories, and explore their digital identity. Camp Magic MacGuffin will be FUN, but it will also be a lot of work.

It went a little bit off the rails (but this was a real class!)

UMW DS106 students will be joined by open, online DS106 participants from around the world who are interested in exploring the boundaries of Web-based storytelling. Campers will be be grouped into bunkhouses for the duration of the summer, allowing smaller communities of support to emerge.

In addition, a cadre of DS106 veterans will be serving as camp counselors, offering advice, insight, and, sometimes, a kick in the pants to new campers.

This site will serve as the camp’s main digital hub — here you’ll find information about

• the camp directors,
• the camp plan (or “syllabus”),
• the camp staff, and
• your bunkhouse mates.

This site will also become the main Web site for getting weekly assignments and keeping up with your fellow-campers’ work. In addition, we’ll be building our own virtual camp on the DS106 Minecraft server — here you’ll be able to build your bunkhouses, meet will fellow-campers for adventure and fun, and even explore Minecraft as a platform for narrative and storytelling.

You’ll also find your camp orientation materials, a handy-dandy list of camping essentials, and a brand-spanking new DS106 FAQ, where we’ll answer the most asked questions about the DS106 experience. You can even submit questions that you have!

When you mix together expert leaders, experienced mentors, and excited new members with digital tools, crazy stories, and compelling assignments, anything can happen. And we really do mean ANYTHING. . .