Spotlight

From Popular Science:

"Games have long played a role in classrooms, but next month marks the launch of the first U.S. public school curriculum based entirely on game-inspired learning. Select sixth graders can look forward to playing video games such as 'Little Big Planet' and 'Civilization,' as well as non-digital games ranging from role-playing scenarios to board games and card games.

"But this goes beyond guiding your virtual settlers in 'Oregon Trail' during classroom free time. The Quest to Learn (Q2L) school, based in Manhattan, hopes its guided approach can help students take on the role of explorers, mathematicians, historians, writers and evolutionary biologists.

"New York City education officials certainly hope that the school can represent the tip of a 'transformative' revolution, according to Metropolis. Q2L will start with sixth graders and add a grade each year until it reaches the high school senior level.

"The school originated from the vision of a nonprofit called Institute of Play, and has support from Parsons School for Design. Financial backing to the tune of $1 million comes from donors such as the Gates Foundation, Intel, and the MacArthur Foundation, but New York City plans to take over funding by 2015."

You can read the full article here.