Last September, the Quest to Learn school opened in New York. Itâs aim? To educate kids almost entirely though the use of video games.
There are 72 students at the school, which uses games, game design and game programming to teach children almost everything theyâd traditionally have learnt from books.
âGames are exceptionally good at engaging kids,â Questsâ Katie Salen says. âThey drop kids into complex problems where they fail and fail, but they try again and again.â Which apparently gives them one over regular school problems, where many kids try, fail, then donât try again.
Itâs hoped that the current crop of students can continue to be educated via games throughout high school, though they will still have to take New Yorkâs mandatory, standardised tests, same as everyone else.
Quest is the culmination of almost three years worth of work, which first began in 2007 when Salen and the Institute of Play were awarded $1.1 million in funding from the MacArthur Foundation.
http://lastchance.cc/271327/macarthur-foundation-contributes-to-gaming-literacy%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
