Funny Garbage: 10 Years of Making the Web Worth Watching

Let's face it: we all grow up hoping one day to have the chance to hurtle through space piloting a rocket-propelled wheel of cheese. It goes without saying. Well, now lucky students visiting The Learning Curve at Central Library in Indianapolis are able to live that dream — while strengthening literacy in information, technology and media along the way — as they blast off into CurveWorld!

CurveWorld is actually a game-like interactive educational experience developed for The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library's high-tech learning facility, The Learning Curve. Focused on improving students' understanding and use of evolving digital media, CurveWorld provides a hands-on, immersive learning environment that engages the user's creativity and motivates intellectual curiosity.

To begin their exploration of the virtual cosmos, children construct personalized transporters — strapping rocket boosters to lipstick, flying-V guitars and, yes, cheese — to navigate through space. After take-off, students chart their own courses, interacting with each other while also creating and sharing art, audio, video, and other projects. Through these activities, kids gain practical experience with real-life technology in a safe, nurturing environment.