Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 03, 2017
Today, Legends of Learning and University of Colorado Boulder’s PhET Interactive Simulations project announced a partnership that will bring educational games and simulations to middle school science students. Thirty interactive simulations for middle school sciences will be hosted on the Legends of Learning platform with more to be added.
Combined with Legends of Learning games, teachers now have a comprehensive library of engaging content and interactive exercises for their classroom. Spanning Earth and Space, Life and Physical sciences, Legends of Learning now offers thousands of games, simulations and assessment items for middle school science classes.
“Partnering with PhET Interactive Simulations expands the opportunities we can provide to educators,” said Dr. Vadim Polikov, CEO of Legends of Learning. “With any new school year comes new possibilities. Simulations take Legends of Learning one step further.”
“The partnership with Legends of Learning is a wonderful opportunity to bring our simulations to more teachers and students,” said Dr. Kathy Perkins, director of PhET Interactive Simulations. “We are excited to provide teachers with an easy way to share both educational games and simulations in one place.”
Legends of Learning joining forces with PhET Interactive Simulations, a nonprofit science and math educational project at the University of Colorado Boulder, will provide educators with high-quality simulations that actively engage students in science practices and align with the subjects that educators teach. The simulations will be available on Legends of Learning later this month.
PhET was founded by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman in 2002 to advance scientific literacy, and today its interactive, research-based simulations are utilized more than 80 million times a year by students and teachers. The simulations are designed to be highly interactive and engaging and to build real-world connections for students. For example, students explore forces, energy and motion as they engage in a tug-of-war, design their own skateboarding track, or shoot pianos out of a cannon.
Announced last week, PhET was awarded the 2017 WISE Award, recognizing and promoting innovative education initiatives around the world, by the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), a leading international initiative for innovation and collaboration in education.
“PhET is a fantastic resource,” said Teresa Cobble, an eighth-grade science teacher from Atlanta, Georgia. “After being in the classroom for almost a decade, I still find it difficult to find resources that work together, are appropriate for the content I am covering and are engaging for the students. My students love Legends of Learning and the addition of PhET simulations will give them an even richer experience.”
Legends of Learning was launched after Dr. Polikov co-led the largest research study of its kind, which revealed that students boosted their test scores by the equivalent of over half a letter grade in three weeks when their teachers used digital games in the classroom. The research, published by Journal of the Learning Sciences, demonstrates the benefits of game-based learning for students when compared to students who had no access to such games.
The company was featured in a USA Today article that explained how its platform can overcome a barrier to “getting high-quality learning games into K-12 classrooms.”
About Legends of Learning
American children need new education heroes, teachers dedicated to using new, engaging methods to teach curriculum. Legends of Learning helps educators make their classrooms fun, engaging and productive learning environments through research-driven, curriculum-based games. We use ongoing original research to create a learning game platform filled with an epic range of lessons for stronger subject mastery and classroom engagement. All games are based on state curriculum standards. Teachers can don their capes with Legends of Learning at http://www.legendsoflearning.com.
About PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder
PhET Interactive Simulations, a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, was founded by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman in 2002. The project is known for its collection of over 140 innovative interactive simulations for STEM education. These powerful educational tools are based on extensive education research, and are used worldwide over 80 million times per year in K-12 and college settings. PhET is a registered trademark of The Regents of the University of Colorado.
https://phet.colorado.edu
Media Contacts
Stacey Finkel
ASPR
Stacey.Finkel(at)aspr(dot)bz
703.304.1377
Geoff Livingston
Legends of Learning
geoff(at)legendsoflearning(dot)com
703.859.0089
Dr. Kathy Perkins
PhET Interactive Simulations
kathy.perkins(at)colorado(dot)edu
303.492.6714