For decades, educators have been scrambling to find better ways to prepare students for the real world. It began with the mildly apocalyptic government report, A Nation at Risk, which warned that an outdated school system was unwittingly sabotaging America’s economic superiority. … Audits of the U.S. educational system have revealed that the highest hurdle to adopting skills-based teaching practices is the lack of an easily implementable curriculum.
Enter social video games as a solution — immersive environments that simulate real-world problems. Today, technologically eager schools are replacing textbook learning with social video games, and improving learning outcomes in the process. Here’s how they’re doing it.
via Mashable & Slashdot -> How Social Gaming is Improving Education.
Mashable’s list of top 15 iPhone apps for the kids
Within the article, the following NYC school is mentioned, Question 2 Learn… a school that puts “social gaming” in the classroom:
Design and innovation are at the heart of Quest to Learn (Q2L), a school committed to helping every student to achieve excellence in the skills and literacies necessary for college and career readiness. We believe that students today can and do learn in different ways, often through interaction with digital media and games. Q2L builds on this belief to create a nurturing and vibrant 6th-12th grade school environment that supports all students in the pursuit of academic excellence, social responsibility, respect for others, and a passion for lifelong learning.
David Mantilla 