In the same week as the European Union gave computer games the A-OK, declaring them 'good for children', a new and rather exciting school opened its doors in New York to the public, celebrating the art of learning through play.
The brainchild of Gamelab and the team who brought us the Rules of Play and supported by the MacArthur Foundation and other innovative, forward-thinking enterprises, the Quest School is a public school for 6-12th graders (12-18 year olds) that promotes:
the play, analysis, and creation of games, as a foundation for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. Through a variety of programs centered on game design, the Institute engages audiences of all ages, exploring new ways to think, act, and speak through gaming in a social world.
That means they'll be learning about collaboration, problem-solving and innovation by using
Digital games, videogames, mobile games, board games, paper-based games, collectable card games, big games, pervasive games, ARGs, slow games, fast games, and everything in between.
I officially want to be a kid again.
Now, before you start dismissing the Quest team as a bunch of hippies, recognise that they have a firmly established pedagogical model that has again and again proven its worth (pdf). They're also very realistic about the needs of learners:
Quest balances traditional academic needs with a belief that students today can and do learn in different ways, often through work with digital media, games, online networks, and mobile technologies. Kids today use digital media as part of their everyday interactions—their learning should too.
More from the Quest School can be found here.
Originally found on HASTAC.
