MacArthur Foundation funds NYC school to teach 'Gaming Literacy'
This past week, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a $1.1 million grant to the Gamelab Institute of Play, to design and create a new 6-12th grade public school in New York City. The school will teach critical thinking skills and media literacy, using game design and game-inspired education methods.
The Institute of Play, a non-profit currently headed by designer and educator Katie Salen, seeks to introduce games into school curricula in order to foster creativity and promote new ways of thinking about problems. The Institute has dubbed the term "Gaming Literacy" to refer to a revolutionary way of approaching education by adhering to modern media. The school, which is being built in collaboration with New Visions for Public Schools, is due to open in the fall of 2009.
The MacArthur Foundation has shown great support for the potential of games in education. In a recent NPR piece, journalist Heather Chaplin spoke with Connie Yowell, the Foundation's Director of Educational Grant-Making, who was excited to introduce games into the education process. The MacArthur Foundation also recently awarded a grant to the Institute of Play's sister company Gamelab, to create educational software for teaching game design.
Update: corrected a minor factual error.
