The "Quest To Learn" Starts Next Month

The Quest to Learn school launches next month and will be the first school in the U.S. to feature a public school curriculum revolving entirely around game-inspired learning.

When classes start, sixth graders will have the opportunity to learn through play via knowledge based video games (and many non-digital games) such as "Little Big Planet" and Civilization". The Quest to Learn (Q2L) school, located on East 23rd Street, hopes its guided approach can help students take on the role of explorers, mathematicians, historians, writers and evolutionary biologists. “This is design-based pedagogy,” says Katie Salen, who conceived the program and is helping to create its immersive environments. “From day one, kids should imagine themselves as designers of their own learning.”

That said, Q2L is not a school where children will spend all day playing commercial video games. The Quest website confirms this much and a quick glance at the school’s curriculum shows a more well-rounded approach to education. Since the school abides by State education standards, students will be required to take the same standardized tests as other public school students. One thing we found interesting was that student will also be exposed to serious professional game creation tools such as Maya and Adobe Flash.

The school originated from the vision of Institute of Play, and is supported by Parsons School for Design. Financial backing to the tune of $1 million comes from donors such as the Gates Foundation, Intel, and the MacArthur Foundation, but New York City plans to take over funding by 2015.

In addition, New York City education officials hope that the school can represent the tip of a "transformative" revolution. In other words, Q2L is not just about what students know but how they discover it. For Salen, the difference is crucial. “We are,” she says, “deeply interested in creating a school where kids actually love learning.”

(via PopSci)