quest-to-learn
Latest
NYC's public gaming school enters first semester, teaching with 'Troggles'
The first semester of New York City's Quest to Learn began last week on the 9th, with an inaugural class of around 75 sixth graders in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood taking classes that employ games (of all types) in learning. "One thing I want to emphasize: this is not a school about just playing video games ... this is a school that uses the system of games to deliver rich discussion," the school's principal, Aaron Schwartz, told Joystiq over the phone this morning. "We use games as a medium here." Education at Quest to Learn is delivered through a variety of means other than games, though game systems are a focus for teaching the specific subset of student that Q2L targets: "digital kids." We pressed him on exactly how the students will be using games like LittleBigPlanet to assist with education. "Right now, one of our classes called 'The Way Things Work' [math/science] is using clips from LittleBigPlanet to introduce this race called the 'Troggles' who are having problems with how things work," he said. " Our kids are studying simple machines, so the Troggles have reached out to our children for help building their machines." As the semester progresses, students will build on their knowledge by creating something a bit more complex -- a Rube Goldberg machine. "Some of them will be doing it in actuality, some may be doing it virtually, and from there they'll use LBP to understand other concepts." Quest to Learn plans on adding one new grade annually (up to 12) and is currently hiring teachers for next year.
New York to open game-focused school this fall
Enrolling in a game-focused school may have been just a dream for us children of the 20th century, but for the kids growing up in the 21st, this fantasy will soon become reality. Quest to Learn is New York's new school for "digital kids" in grades 6 through 12. It uses the "underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences for students."The basic goal of Quest is to enhance traditional academics with new ways of learning through "digital media, games, online networks and mobile technologies." Students will not just utilize these new learning tools, but will also learn to design them. They can eventually take courses in computer programming, media arts and game design. Internship and mentorship programs also aim to further the learning experience, while affiliates like the Parsons New School for Design further helps a Quest student prepare for a career in new media. We already know what Parsons students are capable of, but how is the untested Quest to Learn going to fair? Hopefully these bred-for-gaming star developers of the future will give us more games like this and fewer of these. Quest opens with its first 6th grade class this fall. [Thanks, Drew]
