MPT Awarded $15M from U.S. Department of Education for Creation of Innovative Digital Learning Games

MPT Awarded $15M from U.S. Department of Education for Creation of Innovative Digital Learning Games

Collaboration with Johns Hopkins, MIT will focus on tech-savvy approach to learning math

OWINGS MILLS, Md., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Maryland Public Television (MPT) has been awarded a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to create a series of digital learning games and simulations. The initiative, Learning Games to Go, will be designed to improve math instruction and student achievement at the pre-algebra level, while simultaneously improving students' vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. The grant will be distributed over five years and comes to MPT through the department's Star Schools Program.

The $15 million grant builds upon a previous $10 million Star Schools grant that led to the inception of MPT's award-winning Thinkport.org, a dynamic K-12 educational supersite. Thinkport will serve as the online access point to the games and simulations developed under this grant. The project also will demonstrate promising applications for emerging mobile technologies, such as hand-held devises and visor technology.

"This grant will benefit teachers and children across the state and across America," said Robert J. Shuman, president and CEO of Maryland Public Television. "MPT broke new ground with the creation of the Thinkport supersite, and now we will build on that success with new educational tools that appeal to the children of today."

Joining MPT in this initiative are the Center for Technology in Education (CTE) and the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University, The Education Arcade at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), several Maryland school districts, cutting-edge technology developers and education experts. The group will apply the latest research and practice to "serious games," content that is entertaining but has educational goals, in order to reach today's media-savvy youth and improve the low performing levels of middle school students in math and literacy skills.

"We need to find ways to reach kids who are struggling with traditional instructional methods by using the engaging and motivational aspects of digital learning games," said Gail Porter Long, MPT vice president and chief education officer. "Our university collaborators are leading researchers and practitioners of games and simulations and will play a valued role in helping meet the goals of this project."

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.

Maryland Public Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station, which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland, and beyond through a variety of broadcast and non-broadcast activities to fulfill MPT's mission to educate, enlighten and entertain.

MPT and its partners will support this project by providing research, training, technical facilities and expert consultation, the delivery of digital resources on Thinkport.org and broadcast of reading and math programs totaling $9,073,353 thereby contributing 38% to the total project cost with the U.S. Department of Education contributing 62% to the total project cost.

Source: Maryland Public Television

CONTACT: Betsy Peisach, Maryland Public Television, +1-410-581-4042,
betsypeisach@mpt.org

Web site: http://www.mpt.org/

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