Category Archives: Games and Learning

On November 14, 2016, the National STEM Video Game Challenge celebrated its fifth year with an awards ceremony and reception in Washington, DC at National Geographic for all 24 student winners and their families, as well as leading educators, game designers, and policy makers from across the country. I’ve been involved with the STEM Challenge for the past three years, and was humbled by the winning games’ quality, the caliber of the speakers the students met, and the excitement that…

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s newest Digital Games and Family Life infographic looks at the game genres and titles that kids and their families play. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a generational gap. There is also a curious gender distinction. When it comes to age, puzzle/strategy games, first person shooters and role-playing games have universal appeal. They seem to be equally popular among parents and their children. I’d like to imagine that it is because families are playing Halo…

As part of our Families and Media Project, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center conducted a survey of nearly 700 parents whose 4-13-year old children play video games. We are pleased to present this data as a series of infographics, each featuring a particular facet of video games and family life. Here, we explore the genres and titles of digital games played by children and their parents. Stay tuned for more installments of this series over the next few months. Learn more about the…

Once a novelty restricted to arcades, video games have become a deeply embedded part of our lives. As digital game platforms have become increasingly more affordable and more accessible over the past forty years, it has become clear that games aren’t just fun to play, but can motivate people of all ages to learn more deeply and to improve productivity. As part of our Families and Media Project, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center conducted a survey of nearly 700 parents…

Imagine you were playing a game of Trivial Pursuit and this was your question: What institution has the largest collection of primary sources in the world, a board game on human morality, and now a video game expert? Answer: The Library of Congress Trivial Pursuit was just one of the games featured in our August 1, 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge teacher workshop co-sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In the event hosted at the Library of Congress, a group of DC-area teachers explored…

What does László Moholy-Nagy, a Hungarian artist active during the early 1900s, have to do with video game design? The National STEM Video Game Challenge and the Guggenheim Museum’s art education team partnered up last month to host a workshop that explored ways to apply Moholy-Nagy’s artistic process to the practice of game development. In preparation for the workshop, the STEM Challenge team visited the museum to tour the current exhibition, Moholy-Nagy: Future Present. Working with the educators at the…

Almost every child in the United States plays video games—91% of children ages 2-17, according to NPD. But how many kids make their own video games? I could not find any reliable statistics. Nowadays, one barely needs to write a line of code in order to build a video game because there are so many platforms that make the process simple. Gamestar Mechanic, Unity, GameMaker, and Scratch are probably the most popular. Each one involves a different amount of complexity…

Back in January, I joined the Joan Ganz Cooney Center as a Senior Fellow. It is a perfect fit. I’ve been a fan of the Center’s work for a while, writing regularly about its research reports for my Forbes Blog. Many of the folks at the center have also been fans of my work—in particular, the Mindshift Guide to Digital Games and Learning that I created in partnership with the Cooney Center back in 2013-14. I wrote that guide to…

Are you the parent or guardian of a child between 4 and 13 years of age?  Does your child play video games?  If so, you are eligible to take a survey about digital games and family life by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.  Parents who complete the survey will have a chance to win one of two $25 gift cards to Amazon.com. In 2014, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center launched a study to learn about digital game…

What do virtual reality innovators, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Mr. Roger’s studio have in common? All three were part of an amazing weekend honoring the winners of the 4th annual National STEM Video Game Challenge! Ten students and their families celebrated their achievements this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA, home of this year’s regional spotlight. The events aimed to show the winners how to channel their passions into purpose and how to use that purpose on a meaningful pathway to…