Gamifying the Classroom, a Talk, Nov. 17

How the U.S. Department of Education Is Using Video Games and Common Core to Transform K-16 Education. (Photo from an educational game used to teach One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.) Learn how "educational games" are replacing books.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Talk begins at 7:30 p.m.
Refreshments will be served.
The Solarium, 321 W. Hill Street, Decatur, GA 30030 (Oakhurst Neighborhood)

The U.S. Department of Education is pushing the takeover of education to the next level by imposing Common Core on college and promoting video games in the classroom, K-16. (Yes, the senior year of college is considered grade 16 now.) Video game designers, who work at their own companies as well as in academic departments (and often at both) and receive grants from the federal government and technology-aligned non-profits like the Gates Foundation, argue that games motivate students and “cultivate dispositions.”

Textbooks and classroom lectures are being replaced by video games that teach subjects like science and literature, but even more so impart lessons in “social and emotional intelligence” and “social justice.” While technology companies and professors of “gaming” benefit from this gravy train, students will lose in the ability to focus, to read, and to think for themselves.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Drinks and refreshments will be served. Free parking is available in the parking lot and on the street. Handicapped accessible.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Ann Hartle (ahartle@emory.edu)

This lecture is made possible through the generosity of the The Devereaux F. and Dorothy M. McClatchey Foundation, and is sponsored by the Georgia Chapter, The National Association of Scholars.