Can You Design Video Games to Teach STEM? National Challenge Open to Students and Pros
11.16.11 | The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and E-Line Media, a publisher of game-based learning products, just announced the launch of the second National STEM Video Game Challenge. Game designers of all ages are encouraged to create video games that teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Entries are due by March 12.
This year, the competition is launched in partnership with Digital Promise, a federal national research center that focuses on developing new technologies for teaching and learning.
The challenge will award prizes in four categories: middle school, high school, collegiate, and educators. Entrants can enter as individuals or as a team of up to four. Collegiate and educator entrants are encouraged to design games for children in pre-K through grade 12 that teach STEM curricula in a new and innovative way.
Game entries can be created using any game-making platform. Some suggestions include Gamestar Mechanic, Microsoft’s Kodu Game Lab, GameMaker and Scratch.
Two new features this year are the PBS KIDS and Sesame Street streams, which encourage entrants to design games for children inspired by PBS’s Ready To Learn Initiative’s math curriculum or by Sesame Street‘s curriculum and footage.
Complete guidelines and details on how to enter are available at stemchallenge.org. You can also follow the competition on Twitter @STEMChallenge.
In addition to cash prizes, youth winners will receive laptops. Collegiate and educator winners will receive seed money for the research, marketing and distribution of their game, along with advice from industry experts and research support to help identify potentially scalable outcomes of their games.
Competition sponsors include AMD Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS KIDS Ready To Learn Initiative, Entertainment Software Association and Xbox 360.
Outreach partners include the American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, BrainPOP, George Lucas Education Foundation, The Girl Scouts of the USA, One Economy, and The International Game Developers Association.
Last year’s challenge drew more than 600 entries from students, teachers, collegiate developers and professional digital game makers. Check out some words of wisdom from one of last year’s winners in this video:
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