SMS Tech Solutions Partners with GlassLab Games
Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) May 27, 2015 -- GlassLab Games, a nonprofit located on the Electronic Arts campus in Redwood City, CA, creates and enables high-impact games that make learning visible. (“Glass” stands for games, learning and assessment)
No one questions that well-designed games can engage children, and a growing number of teachers are introducing them in their classrooms. But skeptics abound when it comes to games’ impact on learning outcomes. Are the flurry of split-second decisions that a player makes in a game translatable to real-world skills? Jessica Lindl, Executive Director of GlassLab Games believes she has the tools to measure it. As she and her team have been building games that serve as formative assessments for standards and critical thinking skills. They also work with the best game learning and game developers in the world to get their games into the hands of students and teachers.
“High quality, impactful learning games are key to engaging students in deep learning and providing conceptual frameworks in everything from standards-based skills to more soft, 21st century skills,” Lindl said. “But at GlassLab we know that providing actionable, easy-to-interpret reporting to teachers is just as important when it comes to personalized learning. That’s why GlassLab Games has real-time, standards-aligned reporting for all of its games.”
In 2013, GlassLab released “SimCityEDU,” a modified version of the popular franchise designed to be used in the classroom. This year, it launched the iPad game “Mars Generation One: Argubot Academy,” where players make decisions regarding the colonization of Mars. Both games address Common Core English Language Arts standards around making evidence-based claims, along with Next Generation Science Standards and 21st century skills. A study conducted by the Education Testing Service and Pearson shows that students “who play Mars Generation One for three hours with two hours of instruction can make as much as one year in learning gains in key aspects of argumentation.”
SMS Tech Solutions President, Sally Shorb said, “We are thrilled to have these quality learning games as part of our offering for the K12 market. We believe in game based learning, and with the new assortment of GlassLab products we have something for every school whether they have desktops, laptops, chromebooks, tablets and/or iPads.”
Since 2003 SMS Tech Solutions has been providing software, hardware, licensing and technology solutions for K-12, Higher Ed, Non-Profits, SMB, Commercial, and Government. If you would like to hear more about the learning games that GlassLab has to offer please call 800.656.7702, email info(at)smstechsolutions(dot)com or visit SMS Tech Solutions/GlassLab
Sally Shorb, SMS Tech Solutions, http://www.smstechsolutions.com, +1 800-656-7702, [email protected]
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