EA Redwood home to new education lab
Games, Learning and Assessment Lab aims to make educational games for students
Electronic Arts has joined forces with the ESA and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations to launch a new design lab.
Housed at EA's Redwood Shores studio, the Games, Learning and Assessment Lab will create titles aimed at students, schools and their families, both by adapting current titles and developing original games.
"Video games can revolutionise American education and students' testing and learning," said ESA CEO Michael D. Gallagher.
"We can harness students' passion and energy for video games and utilise that to reach and educate a 21st century workforce with skills critical for college and career readiness."
The Bill & Melinda Gates and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations have contributed $10.3 million to the project and it's also supported by non-profit developer Institute of Play.
"The Lab's work is focused initially on assessments that track learning gains in middle school students against the Common Core State Standards and key twenty-first-century skills, like systems thinking, perseverance and creative problem solving," it explained.
It hopes to tap into the skills of Silicon Valley talent around the Californian studio.
"The video game industry has experienced a transformative change over the past decade with the advent of new mobile, social and online platforms that have opened up opportunities for gaming in a number of sectors, including education," added EA's SVP of public affairs Jeff Brown.
"We are excited to be a founding partner of GLASS Lab and not only house the organisation at our headquarters but lend our world-class IP and talent to the project."