Serious Games

In its recent report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the National Academies concluded what many have long feared to be true — that the nation’s outdated K-12 educational system is inadequately preparing America’s youth for the jobs and global competition of the 21st Century. One of the most promising ways to remedy this is by investing in the research and development of advanced learning technologies, a.k.a. “Serious Games.” We all know of the power of video games to captivate and engross. Please join us and see for yourself how we could harness the power of virtual reality, advanced gaming platforms, intelligent computer tutors and other cutting-edge technology for teaching, learning and workforce training. You will be able to see and “play” prototypes of advanced learning games created under the leadership of the Federation of American Scientists, including:

• Immune Attack! — an advanced video game teaching human immunology from the 9th grade to the college level;
• Discover Babylon — a cultural, educational and historical virtual reality of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq);
• Mass Casualty Incident Responder — a high-stress, interactive real-time decision-making training simulation to teach firefighters and serve as a model for other first responder training.

The briefing and demonstration will highlight the potential impact of the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust (DO IT) legislation (S.1023) sponsored by Senators Dodd, Snowe, Durbin and Burns. DO IT is a proposal for increased federal leadership and investment in R&D for advanced learning technologies to ensure innovation and competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy. In addition to the demonstrations, we will present recent research findings on the effectiveness of technology for education and training.

The educational innovation emerging from this Serious Games movement is also very relevant to other pending legislation aimed at enhancing U.S. math and science education. One is the National Innovation Act (S.2109), introduced by Sens. Ensign and Lieberman; the others are a trio of related bills, collectively titled the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE) Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Domenici, Alexander, Bingaman and Mikulski.

Participants

• Michael Calabrese
  Vice President and Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation
• Lawrence K. Grossman
  Co-Chair, Digital Promise and Former President, NBC News and Public Broadcasting Service
• Kay Howell
  Executive Vice President, Federation of American Scientists