Developing games and simulations for today and tomorrow’s tech savvy youth

Abstract

c onstructively promoting the educational development of today's young tech savvy students and fostering the productive technological facility of tomorrow's youth requires harnessing new technological tools creatively. The MIT Teacher Education Program (TEP) focuses on the research and development of educational computer-based simulations and games for K12 students and teachers. This field grows out of the social constructivist basis of much of science and mathematics educational research where students are encouraged to learn through collaboration, conducting experiments and testing hypotheses. These new technologies engage students at a deeply meaningful level, and provide them with the tools and techniques that scientists, engineers and technology workers across a diversity of fields use every day. Also at the core of this program is the belief that we must build a bridge between students' experiences in and out of school by incorporating into school curricula the tools, technologies and experiences that students acquire outside of the classroom. The specific technologies that the TEP has created range from StarLogo TNG, a simulation environment that allows students and teachers to build their own 3D immersive simulations, to handheld Augmented Reality (AR) simulations that combine real surroundings with virtual simulated information to convey authenticity in large scale scientific investigations. This comprehensive program works with scientists and engineers to ensure that the tools accurately convey scientific practices. It involves multiple levels of teachers in a variety of subject domains as design and implementation partners, and engages researchers to better understand what and how students learn from these technologies. Our goal is to provide important links between school curricula and the tools and technologies students are either already experiencing or are likely to experience in real world events, with the notion that they will acquire the skills, knowledge and habits of mind to be successful participants in our increasingly technology-infused society, thereby "bridging" experiences between the classroom and the outside world.