“Bringing Game-Based Learning to Scale: The Business Challenges of Serious Games”
Published October 19th, 2009
Category Research
By Juan Barrientos
Topics Business, Kauffman Foundation, Merrilea Mayo, National Academies, Serious Games,
Presented by Merrilea J. Mayo (Director, Future of Learning Initiatives Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: mmayo@kauffman.org) at the National Academies’ workshop on Learning Science: Computer Games, Simulations and Education on Oct 6-7
Beginning with Jim Gee’s recognition of bona fide learning processes in his and his son’s video-game playing [1], and propelled to public recognition through Ben Sawyer and David Rejeski’s launching of the Serious Games movement[2] and its attendant conference, the use of video games to teach academic content has now reached a level of national interest. Game-informed learning is now the basis for a new urban school serving grades 6-12 [3]; numerous colleges and universities offer game design courses [4]; engineering professional societies have launched member sections devoted to games [5]; a recent issue of Science magazine featured several articles on virtual-world and game-based learning [6]; foundations have recently poured millions of dollars into research on games and learning ($50M from the MacArthur Foundation alone [7]), and the venerable National Academies, as evidenced by this volume, has begun to hold workshops on the topic.
“Bringing Game-Based Learning to Scale: The Business Challenges of Serious Games”
