Through the U.S. Department of Education’s Star Schools Program, Maryland Public Television (MPT) was recently awarded a five year $15 million grant to create a series of digital learning games and simulations. These games and simulations will be intended for students at the pre-algebra level, and aim to improve math instruction, student vocabulary and reading comprehension skills.

In collaboration with several partners, including the Center of Technology in Education (CTE), the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and the Education Arcade at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MPT plans to design “serious games” that both entertain and educate. By creating games that appeal to media-savvy youth, MPT hopes to meet the needs of children who struggle with traditional learning methods. This initiative has been entitled Learning Games to Go.

In addition to the development of Learning Games to Go, the project will provide resources and training to educators in the use of media in math instruction. The project will cull the best of existing mathematic media resources and make them available to teachers and families through MPT broadcast and online (Thinkport.org) platforms.

The award winning MPT educational website, Thinkport.org, will serve as the online access point to the games and simulations developed under this grant. The Thinkport site offers online educational resources, valued professional development, and innovative multimedia learning tools that aim at harnessing technology in the service of education. By using the site, the Learning Games to Go project will demonstrate promising applications for emerging mobile technologies, such as hand held devices and visor technology.