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Quest to Learn Opens: Leveraging Games-based Learning for Public Education

Posted by Hsing Wei on 02-17-09

Quest to Learn, a new 6-12th grade public school, will be opening in New York City this fall.

Quoting Quest’s principal, “In an age when low-income urban kids continue to drop out of school at alarming rates, yet research is consistently showing the high levels of engagement youth are exhibiting in various media platforms, it is incumbent upon educators to take notice and indeed redirect teaching methods to meet the needs and interests of students.”

Many educators have been tinkering with the idea of how games might improve public education and prepare students for global civic participation.  Inspired by the media-rich learning kids are engaged in outside of school, Quest aims to foster the type of learning that is possible today — learning based on access to online resources and tools from around the globe, learning that supports customized content for every student on demand, learning that is game-like in its ability to inspire and motivate.  Its curriculum uses the underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences for students.  Games and other forms of digital media serve another useful purpose at Quest: they model the complexity and promise of “systems.”  Understanding and accounting for this complexity is a fundamental literacy of the 21st century.
Quest is not a school whose curriculum is made up of the play of commercial videogames, but rather a school that uses the underlying design principles of games to create learning experiences.  Says Katie Salen, lead partner and Executive Director of the Institute of Play, “Students today need to know how to connect what they are learning in school with the world and communities beyond its walls. We want to prepare students for participation in today’s global environment.” (The full press release )

The school is currently looking for both teachers and students.  Read this “Day in the Life” of a student narrative and visit Quest’s website for a more complete picture.

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