Programs/Content
Second school district halts use of WNET’s ‘Mission US’ games
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A Black Lives Matter leader said using the games to teach students about slavery was “grossly irresponsible.”
Programs/Content
Sequestration cuts now figure into APM’s Budget Hero online game
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American Public Media has updated its popular online game Budget Hero to reflect the ongoing battle over sequestration cuts in Congress. This fifth version, backed by funding from CPB, also includes updated cost projections for federal spending in 2014 and new policy options to overhaul immigration policy, expand states’ Medicaid programs and reverse the effects of sequester cutbacks on defense and non-defense spending. The original game came out in 2008. Budget Hero currently gets some 40,000 plays a month, according to Linda Fantin, who heads APM’s Public Insight Network and oversees development of the game. The game has been played more than 1.7 million times, according to Diane Tucker, director of the Wilson Center’s Serious Games Initiative and APM’s partner.
Programs/Content
With young actors, Localore’s interactive Ed Zed Omega critiques education system
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CPB’s American Graduate initiative has set its sights on targeting dropouts, but another project in public media, Ed Zed Omega, is zeroing in on “rise-outs” — students who are excited to learn but feel that high school is failing to meet their needs.
CPB
Preschoolers get 40-plus (count ’em!) new PBS Kids math games
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PBS Kids unveiled last week its largest offering of math-skill games for preschoolers — a cache of 40 games that can be played on computers, mobile devices and interactive whiteboards. “As the nation’s children continue to fall behind, we need to embrace new technology to help them learn,” said Lesli Rotenberg, PBS’s senior v.p., children’s media. Games include Monkey Jump from Curious George, which has kids hop along with George and count as they fill a toy-store bin with bouncing balls; Hermit Shell Crab Game from The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, in which players help the Cat, Nick and Sally fit hermit crabs into shells of corresponding sizes and patterns; and Carnival Count-off from Fizzy’s Lunch Lab, which teaches children how to estimate added sums and count by fives and tens. PBS partnered with CPB on the project, which is supported by a U.S. Department of Education Ready to Learn grant.