SimCity Videogame to Create Educational Community

RMN Digital | January 19, 2013 | Americas, Consumer, Feature, Games, Lifestyle, Masses, Regions | No Comments

Digital interactive entertainment company Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), in collaboration with GlassLab, announced Friday SimCityEDU is in development, an online educational community based on the SimCity videogame.

SimCityEDU will serve as a resource for classroom teachers who have a strong interest in utilizing digital platforms as a learning tool to drive student interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.

Educators will be able to create and share digital SimCity-based lesson plans that will encourage students to think critically about the challenges facing modern cities.

In the classroom, SimCity will be more than a game – it will be a way for the next generation of leaders to hone their skills through urban planning, environmental management and socio-economic development.

According to EA, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter hosted a panel on Friday, titled “Learn. Build. Create.: Connected Learning Over the Next Four Years” at the United States Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.

Featuring a diverse group of panelists including Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy Roberto Rodriguez, MacArthur Foundation Director of Education for U.S. Programs Constance Yowell, and musician and philanthropist John Legend, the group engaged in a discussion on the importance of community-centered, connected learning.

The discussion focused on public-private partnerships with a goal to advance STEM education, including EA and GlassLab’s collaborative effort on SimCityEDU. SimCity is scheduled to release on March 5, 2013.

GlassLab is a non-profit bringing together leaders in the commercial games industry and experts in learning and assessment to leverage digital games as powerful, data-rich learning and assessment environments.