Game-Based Schools
When the idea is presented of designing a school based on gaming principals, people tend to protest before they know all the facts. Visions of children glued to screens rush to people's minds. However using video game methods in schools is not the same as handing children a controller. Instead, teachers and schools tap into the theory behind these games in adapting them for education. Games have achieved something teachers have long been after, the ability to make playing it’s own intrinsic, or internal, reward. Games make failure something not dreaded but something celebrated. It becomes a reason to work harder. Winning taps into the pleasure centers of the brain and encourages players to keep playing keep working to get better. Games continually evolve, get harder, and make players happier. Why not use this power to motivate students and to make learning fun?
Game-Based Schools are examples of schools that use the science of gaming to create lessons that motivate, engage, and encourage students, not just to learn, but to love learning! Two prototypes for this style of learning are the Quest to Learn school in New York and the Playmaker school in California. Both of these are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and both are testing out the use of games in education.
Quest to Learn
Quest to Learn (Q2L) is an American public school in New York City that was designed to be the first school based around gaming principles.
Game-Based Schools are examples of schools that use the science of gaming to create lessons that motivate, engage, and encourage students, not just to learn, but to love learning! Two prototypes for this style of learning are the Quest to Learn school in New York and the Playmaker school in California. Both of these are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and both are testing out the use of games in education.
Quest to Learn
Quest to Learn (Q2L) is an American public school in New York City that was designed to be the first school based around gaming principles.
- Q2L opened with a class of sixth graders in the Fall of 2009. It will continue to add grades until 2015, when they will have their first graduating class.
- The school uses gaming ideas but students to not simply play games. The games give structure to their lives. The designers think that learning doesn’t have to take place in the school. They use social networks to connect with students all day. The classes are designed to be organized around what students are interested in and to be graded on projects instead of tests. Watch this video where students and teachers talk about their school.
- In 2011, a book was published by Katie Salen, Robert Torres, Loretta Wolozin, Rebecca Rufo-Tepper and Arana Shapiro called Quest to Learn: Developing the School for Digital Kids. The authors are all involved in education. The book is available for free download.
- Q2Lis based upon the seven commandments for game based learning
- Challenge is constant
- Everything is interconnected
- Failure is seen as repeating
- Learning happens by doing
- Feedback is immediate and ongoing
- Everyone is a participant
- It feels like play (Schwartz)
Playmaker School
Across the country another school is making waves, and the news, for their dive into game-based education. Playmaker school is a prototype school created by Lucien Vattel and his team of designers.
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Discussion Questions:
- Do you think that these game based schools will have the same quality of education as regular schools? Or will they be better/worse?
- How do you think these gaming schools might evolve in the future?
- Do you think your friends would support games in education? Your parents? Your teachers?