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MIT And ESA Announce "The Education Arcade"

20th November 2003, 4:36pm
MIT Comparative Media Studies and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today announced the launch of a three-day conference focusing on games in education as part of The Education Arcade initiative. The new conference will offer in-depth discussion of key issues and emerging trends in the development, use, and marketing potential of games in education. The event will be held May 9th to 11th at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) in Los Angeles, CA, prior to the opening f the Expo show floor, and will be open to the public.

"While historically educational games have been a bit like a spinach sundae - not very tasty and not very good for you either - more and more people are discovering the pedagogical potentials of games. This conference will bring together key players to discuss key issues and emerging trends that may help educational gaming achieve its promise. The goal is to get educators and industry people talking and working together to see what we can build in the coming few years," said Henry Jenkins III, Director of MIT Comparative Media Studies and Co-Director of The Education Arcade initiative.

The conference will include an array of panels, talks, and discussions featuring well-known game designers, academics, and educators. Topics and panels will include:
  • Are Games Educational?
  • From Simulation to Interaction
  • Fostering Games Literacy
  • Building Partnerships Among Universities, Industry, and Public Institutions
  • Making Tools for Making Games
  • Commercial and Educational Successes
  • New Collaborators: Making the Next Move
  • Roundtables on Educational, Technical, Creative, and Market Trends
"We are excited to be a part of this important new conference focusing on the often overlooked but critical topic of the role games can and will play in education," said ESA president Doug Lowenstein. "We believe that games can be a powerful teaching tool, allowing kids to explore, create, and learn from their own mistakes. The Education Arcade conference will offer leaders in this area and interested attendees an in-depth forum through which to examine and further the role of games in education."

Conference Details
A complete schedule and a list of speakers, which will include leaders invited from the academy, industry and classroom, will be available at http://www.educationarcade.org/ by December 2003.

Participation will be free and open to all members of the public age 18 or higher. A limited number of high school seniors and undergraduate students will be selected through an essay competition that will begin in November 2003 and end in January 2004. To register for the conference, visit http://www.educationarcade.org/ after November 23, 2003.

Attendance at the Education Arcade Conference is not a qualification for admittance to any other parts of the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3Expo) or associated events.
by Benjamin Murphy