A new video game design lab, GLASS (Games, Learning and Assessment) Lab, will research and develop compelling video games that engage students in innovative ways, as well as provide data on student understanding of "the core skills deemed critical by states for college and the 21st century workplace." In other words, they're set to move well beyond Mario Teaches Typing.
Managed by the non-profit Institute of Play, GLASS Lab, with support from EA, the ESA, and with two foundations, will modify popular video game titles to measure student learning, and then create new, original video games. When these new games are finished, GLASS will make them avaialble to students and school districts at little to no cost.
"Video games can revolutionize American education and students' testing and learning," said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of ESA, the trade association representing the U.S. video game industry. "We can harness students' passion and energy for video games and utilize that to reach and educate a 21st century workforce with skills critical for college and career readiness."
"We are very enthusiastic about the GLASS Lab project," said Robert Torres, Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who, with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is providing GLASS Lab with grants of over $10 million. "We need projects that will work with students and speak to them in their native language - digital media. Through game-based learning, students will be challenged, and teachers and parents can get real-time feedback on student progress."
GLASS Lab hopes to develop games that will teach students the skills that aid in issues like creative problem solving, collaboration and systems thinking, and master new technologies. GLASS Lab will address these new challenges by exploring how video games can be effective environments for learning.
GLASS Lab is based on the understanding that video games and simulations can validate student learning and provide feedback for teachers and parents on students' progress toward established learning goals. Unlike traditional measurement tools, video games are by nature designed to measure progress since learning is happening, and is captured, in the gaming experience itself.
"The video game industry has experienced a transformative change over the past decade with the advent of new mobile, social and online platforms that have opened up opportunities for gaming in a number of sectors, including education," said Jeff Brown, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, EA. "We are excited to be a founding partner of GLASS Lab and not only house the organization at our headquarters but lend our world-class IP and talent to the project."
Commenting on the potential of video games to provide evidence of learning, Katie Salen, Executive Director of Institute of Play said: "Video games are data rich environments designed to provide ongoing feedback to players; tapping into this richness has the potential to radically alter the way we approach both teaching and learning."