Muzzy Lane competitively selected for DARPA grant to create games to teach middle-school science.
A proposal by Muzzy Lane to develop games to teach middle-school Science has been competitively selected to receive a multi-year SBIR Phase II grant by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The grant is part of DARPA's Game World project.
The proposal builds on Phase 1 of the project, completed in September. In Phase 1, Muzzy Lane worked with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) to research areas of the middle-school science curriculum in which game-based approaches could have the highest impact. Working from this research, the team then developed game designs in several areas, and created a prototype focused on cellular biology.
In Phase II, Muzzy Lane will create a suite of immersive science games that expand on the Phase I design work. The games will be delivered via Muzzy Lane's new SANDSTONE Game Service, which delivers true 3D games online as an “always-on” web service.
In making the award, DARPA praised the project's pedagogical strength, the quality of the game design ideas, and the potential of the game-service platform to enable successful implementation of the game in and out of classrooms.
David Martz, Muzzy Lane’s executive producer for the project, said: “We’re very happy to have DARPA validate our approach with the Sandstone service. Its architecture addresses the hurdles that we’ve seen in our work designing and deploying learning-games, and we think it solves many of the problems that have limited the success of serious games projects."
Students will play the 3D games in their browsers, and their accomplishments and data will be stored on the web, so that teachers can easily see and assess student progress, and offer feedback and help. Web features will also let students collaborate, share their accomplishments, and build a community where science is cool.
Muzzy Lane will continue to partner with FAS, and expects to work with K12 Inc. on the game-curriculum and pedagogy. K12 also plans to participate in the testing and deployment of the project.
ABOUT MUZZY LANE SOFTWARE: (www.muzzylane.com)
Muzzy Lane Software is an innovative developer of 3-D games and game technology. . Based in Newburyport, Mass, the company creates its own branded games and works with partners including CPB, Pearson Education, DARPA, and others to create custom web-based games based on the company’s Sandstone platform. Sandstone delivers 3D-games in the browser as a web service, and provides tight integration between the game and the web, providing web tools to let teachers see and assess student's in-game actions. Muzzy Lane’s games include the Making History series, a noted line of historical strategy games that has been successful commercially, and has been used as a learning game in hundreds of classrooms across the United States.
ABOUT FAS: (www.fas.org)
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was founded in 1945 by scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs. These scientists recognized that science had become central to many key public policy questions. They believed that scientists had a unique responsibility to both warn the public and policy leaders of potential dangers from scientific and technical advances and to show how good policy could increase the benefits of new scientific knowledge. With 70 Nobel Laureates on its Board of Sponsors, FAS provides timely, nonpartisan technical analysis on complex global issues that hinge on science and technology. Priding itself on agility and an ability to bring together people from many disciplines and organizations, the organization often addresses critical policy topics that are not well covered by other organizations.FAS projects are organized under three main program areas: Energy and the Environment, Learning Technologies, and Strategic Security.
ABOUT K12: (NYSE:LRN; http://www.k12.com )
K12, Inc. is a leading provider of proprietary, technology-based curriculum and education services created for online delivery to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. K12 provides individualized, one-to-one learning solutions for students in online schools, distance education programs and classrooms. K12 Inc. also operates the K12 International Academy, an accredited, diploma-granting online private school serving students worldwide. More than 40,000 students are using the K12 learning program in online public schools and other e-lear
Monday, Jan 26, 2009
A proposal by Muzzy Lane to develop games to teach middle-school Science has been competitively selected to receive a multi-year SBIR Phase II grant by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The grant is part of DARPA's Game World project.
The proposal builds on Phase 1 of the project, completed in September. In Phase 1, Muzzy Lane worked with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) to research areas of the middle-school science curriculum in which game-based approaches could have the highest impact. Working from this research, the team then developed game designs in several areas, and created a prototype focused on cellular biology.
In Phase II, Muzzy Lane will create a suite of immersive science games that expand on the Phase I design work. The games will be delivered via Muzzy Lane's new SANDSTONE Game Service, which delivers true 3D games online as an “always-on” web service.
In making the award, DARPA praised the project's pedagogical strength, the quality of the game design ideas, and the potential of the game-service platform to enable successful implementation of the game in and out of classrooms.
David Martz, Muzzy Lane’s executive producer for the project, said: “We’re very happy to have DARPA validate our approach with the Sandstone service. Its architecture addresses the hurdles that we’ve seen in our work designing and deploying learning-games, and we think it solves many of the problems that have limited the success of serious games projects."
Students will play the 3D games in their browsers, and their accomplishments and data will be stored on the web, so that teachers can easily see and assess student progress, and offer feedback and help. Web features will also let students collaborate, share their accomplishments, and build a community where science is cool.
Muzzy Lane will continue to partner with FAS, and expects to work with K12 Inc. on the game-curriculum and pedagogy. K12 also plans to participate in the testing and deployment of the project.
ABOUT MUZZY LANE SOFTWARE: (www.muzzylane.com)
Muzzy Lane Software is an innovative developer of 3-D games and game technology. . Based in Newburyport, Mass, the company creates its own branded games and works with partners including CPB, Pearson Education, DARPA, and others to create custom web-based games based on the company’s Sandstone platform. Sandstone delivers 3D-games in the browser as a web service, and provides tight integration between the game and the web, providing web tools to let teachers see and assess student's in-game actions. Muzzy Lane’s games include the Making History series, a noted line of historical strategy games that has been successful commercially, and has been used as a learning game in hundreds of classrooms across the United States.
ABOUT FAS: (www.fas.org)
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) was founded in 1945 by scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs. These scientists recognized that science had become central to many key public policy questions. They believed that scientists had a unique responsibility to both warn the public and policy leaders of potential dangers from scientific and technical advances and to show how good policy could increase the benefits of new scientific knowledge. With 70 Nobel Laureates on its Board of Sponsors, FAS provides timely, nonpartisan technical analysis on complex global issues that hinge on science and technology. Priding itself on agility and an ability to bring together people from many disciplines and organizations, the organization often addresses critical policy topics that are not well covered by other organizations.FAS projects are organized under three main program areas: Energy and the Environment, Learning Technologies, and Strategic Security.
ABOUT K12: (NYSE:LRN; http://www.k12.com )
K12, Inc. is a leading provider of proprietary, technology-based curriculum and education services created for online delivery to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. K12 provides individualized, one-to-one learning solutions for students in online schools, distance education programs and classrooms. K12 Inc. also operates the K12 International Academy, an accredited, diploma-granting online private school serving students worldwide. More than 40,000 students are using the K12 learning program in online public schools and other e-lear