modmyxbox
06-02-2004, 04:54 PM
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 2, 2004--The Liemandt Foundation, a nonprofit family foundation committed to promoting technology-enabled education, is hosting a college student video game development contest with a twist -- students have been challenged to build entertaining games that "secretly" teach middle school subjects.
The contest began in September 2003 with participation from over 60 students nationwide. On June 28-29, five finalist teams will come to Austin, Texas, to present their games for judging by a panel of experts. The winning team will take home $25,000.
The contest, which can be found online at www.hiddenagenda.com, focuses on the notion of "stealth education" in gaming, pushing students to create entertaining games that subtly teach science and math topics such as forces, statistics or the periodic table.
Final judges include Ultima creator and gaming legend Richard Garriott, educational game visionary Marc Prensky, instructional design and game experts from the Digital Media Collaboratory (DMC) at the University of Texas, and a middle school teacher and students.
Austin-based Trilogy Inc. has supported the project since its inception, and will donate all meeting spaces, equipment and meals for the final judging event on June 29. Game firm NCSoft and the DMC at University of Texas have provided expertise throughout the contest.
"I have no doubt that college students can create the next breakthrough educational video game, and look forward to playing the final entries," says Garriott. Among the benefits of challenging college students to build the game is that once these students enter the professional game development community, they will understand the importance and potential of stealth education.
While all submitted games must fulfill teaching and technical requirements to be considered, final judging will be based on 70% entertainment and 30% educational value. "The uneven split in judging criteria is crucial," explains program director Lauren Davis. "In the past, educational games have failed because no matter how well they taught, kids just weren't motivated to absorb information. Children will only learn from the games they want to play."
About The Liemandt Foundation
The Liemandt Foundation is a nonprofit family organization dedicated to improving education through technology. The goal of the Foundation's Stealth Education Project is to facilitate the development of video games that rival the quality and game-play of today's top sellers, while "stealthily" teaching K-12 scholastic information along the way. The Project plans to make possible the creation of a student-built game through the "Hidden Agenda" contest, but also to facilitate, test and promote similar games in the future. Once stealth education is proven possible for middle school subjects, the Foundation sees no end to the effect that the educational games will have on children throughout the world.
The contest began in September 2003 with participation from over 60 students nationwide. On June 28-29, five finalist teams will come to Austin, Texas, to present their games for judging by a panel of experts. The winning team will take home $25,000.
The contest, which can be found online at www.hiddenagenda.com, focuses on the notion of "stealth education" in gaming, pushing students to create entertaining games that subtly teach science and math topics such as forces, statistics or the periodic table.
Final judges include Ultima creator and gaming legend Richard Garriott, educational game visionary Marc Prensky, instructional design and game experts from the Digital Media Collaboratory (DMC) at the University of Texas, and a middle school teacher and students.
Austin-based Trilogy Inc. has supported the project since its inception, and will donate all meeting spaces, equipment and meals for the final judging event on June 29. Game firm NCSoft and the DMC at University of Texas have provided expertise throughout the contest.
"I have no doubt that college students can create the next breakthrough educational video game, and look forward to playing the final entries," says Garriott. Among the benefits of challenging college students to build the game is that once these students enter the professional game development community, they will understand the importance and potential of stealth education.
While all submitted games must fulfill teaching and technical requirements to be considered, final judging will be based on 70% entertainment and 30% educational value. "The uneven split in judging criteria is crucial," explains program director Lauren Davis. "In the past, educational games have failed because no matter how well they taught, kids just weren't motivated to absorb information. Children will only learn from the games they want to play."
About The Liemandt Foundation
The Liemandt Foundation is a nonprofit family organization dedicated to improving education through technology. The goal of the Foundation's Stealth Education Project is to facilitate the development of video games that rival the quality and game-play of today's top sellers, while "stealthily" teaching K-12 scholastic information along the way. The Project plans to make possible the creation of a student-built game through the "Hidden Agenda" contest, but also to facilitate, test and promote similar games in the future. Once stealth education is proven possible for middle school subjects, the Foundation sees no end to the effect that the educational games will have on children throughout the world.