NYC School Adds Games To Curriculum
Manhattan-based school Quest to Learn, which is about nine blocks from where I sit typing, has added some serious gaming to its curriculum. In partnership with the aptly-named Institute of Play and the Parsons School of Design, Quest to Learn will be using video games like Spore and LittleBigPlanet alongside other software and board games to learn, well, stuff:
There has been a cultural shift in the past few years. Parents and teachers recognize a kind of engagement children have with games and digital media that could lead to a new way of learning.
This year the program will accept only sixth graders but will add a grade every year until it's pumping out high school seniors - classes will stay small, about 20 or 25 kids, who will each have access to a laptop and study "domains" rather than discrete subjects. Examples of domains include Codeworlds, which combines math and English, and The Way Things Work, which partners math and science.
What's better, each domain comes with a "Boss Level" - a phrase borrowed from gaming that, I'm guessing, sounds a lot more encouraging to a student than "Final Exam." Where was Professor Bowser when I was a wee indigo microtiny, I want to know?
Learning, a New Game [MetropolisMag via GamePolitics]
tiny dancer
Posted to Miscellany on 18 September 2009
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: curriculum, nyc, quest to learn, school
Man - I loved my school and all, but I can't help but wish I was a kid again just so I could go back to school in a place like that instead.
I'm not even that old, but in my generation games and school did not mix. Teachers made sure of it. The idea that they could co-exist makes me all kinds of happy, if not a little jealous too. :P
But really - this stuff is awesome. If I ever had kids (which I wont), I'd want them to go to a school like that for sure.
-Age