This September, a new charter school called ChicagoQuest will open on North Ogden Avenue and challenge kids to play more games as a core component of the curriculum, which also includes game creation.
Parents worry that their kids play too many video games. Even U.S. President Barack Obama has cited Xboxes and PlayStations as distractions when it comes time to do homework. Games can, however, be an invaluable tool inside and outside of the classroom.
“We want a curriculum that creates in students a need to know,” said Sybil Madison-Boyd, ChicagoQuest Schools director of education and leadership.
Chicago International Charter School will operate ChicagoQuest and the ChicagoQuest program, which will be tuition-free within the Chicago Public Schools system.
Madison-Boyd emphasized that video games will not be the only gaming component of day-to-day learning at the school, where the classes will be modeled off of lesson plans currently in place at an affiliated school, Quest to Learn, in Manhattan.
“Games are just complicated systems,” she said.
By teaching students to reverse engineer puzzles via board games and computer games, ChicagoQuest will initially work with sixth and seventh graders to develop drafting, revising and presentation skills as they learn traditional math, science, language and social studies material.
Class names may sound unfamiliar to parents, however. At Quest to Learn, for instance, math and science are taught under the heading “The Way Things Work.” Game design is called “Sports for the Mind,” and social studies and English appear under the heading “Being, Space and Place.”
“The titles for the courses are intended to communicate that this is an integrated curriculum,” Madison-Boyd explained. “We want kids and parents to understand the connections.”
Meanwhile, the classroom technologies will include some more recognizable, modern tools. Laptop carts and interactive whiteboards will be used. Google Docs and other software will facilitate collaborative blog writing and podcasting, and one lesson plan used Quest to Learn even tasks students with designing a new rollercoaster for a theme park.
Eventually, ChicagoQuest Schools hopes to expand to encompass two other schools in the city, said Katherine Floyd, Chicago International Charter School communications manager. (via Chicago’s new charter school plans to game the system
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