New Website Gamesandlearning.org Aims to Help Create The Best Educational Games Yet

Gamesandlearning.org, a new website launched today by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the Games and Learning Publishing Council, aims to help make that a less daunting task.

By providing coverage of key developments in the educational gaming industry, how games are being integrated into classroom, interviews with top thinkers and doers and explanations of the latest learning and market research; gamesandlearning.org is the honest broker of what is working and what is not in this emerging field.

“In the US, school reformers and digital content developers are looking for new answers to an old question: can the promise of technology finally be fulfilled in today’s learning environments,” said Michael H. Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. “Gamesandlearning.org provides cutting edge analyses and practical tools to build a new generation of allies who are devoted to tapping the unfilled potential of digital innovations.”

To serve game developers and foundations, venture capitalists, government agencies and others who support the development of new games, gamesandlearning.org offers a variety of content including:

• Translation of Research – will offer possible takeaways that are often hidden in academic journals and highlight the best new research.
• Explainers – will clarify some of the more arcane and jargon-filled aspects of the educational games market, introducing and analyzing key trends.
• Commentaries – track the thinking of some of the leaders in the industry through timely and engaging op-eds and audio interviews.

The digital games industry has grown to be a behemoth $65 billion-a-year industry, with products ranging from arcade-style shooter games to increasingly complex tools for learning and education. Although games have, for decades, made their way into classrooms and informal learning outlets, there are few major sources to inform the development and funding of games with overt or subtle educational components. Gamesandlearning.org is a resource to help those producers and funders who want their games to “do good” and to assess their performance.

The site launches with a week-long series of interviews with industry experts including Dan White of Filament Games, Sara DeWitt, vice president at PBSKids and Jim Gee, professor at Arizona State University.

Gamesandlearning.org is a project of the Games and Learning Publishing Council and is produced by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center investigates the potential of digital media to help children learn, and collaborates with educators, media producers, policymakers and investors to put this research into action. An independent nonprofit organization, the Center addresses issues of digital equity and aims to strengthen connections between formal and informal learning environments. Learn more at www.joanganzcooneycenter.org.