MIT Comparative Media Studies and the Entertainment Software Association
Announce “The Education Arcade” Games in Education Conference at the
2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo

MIT Comparative Media Studies and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
today announced the launch of a three-day conference focusing on games in education
as part of The Education Arcade initiative. The new conference will offer in-depth
discussion of key issues and emerging trends in the development, use, and marketing
potential of games in education. The event will be held May 9th to 11th at the
2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) in Los Angeles, CA, prior to the
opening of the Expo show floor, and will be open to the public.

“While historically educational games have been a bit like a spinach sundae
— not very tasty and not very good for you either — more and more people are
discovering the pedagogical potentials of games. This conference will bring
together key players to discuss key issues and emerging trends that may help
educational gaming achieve its promise. The goal is to get educators and industry
people talking and working together to see what we can build in the coming few
years,” said Henry Jenkins III, Director of MIT Comparative Media Studies
and Co-Director of The Education Arcade initiative. . .

The conference will include an array of panels, talks, and discussions featuring
well-known game designers, academics, and educators. Topics and panels will
include:

  • Are Games Educational?
  • From Simulation to Interaction
  • Fostering Games Literacy
  • Building Partnerships Among Universities, Industry, and Public Institutions
  • Making Tools for Making Games
  • Commercial and Educational Successes
  • New Collaborators: Making the Next Move
  • Roundtables on Educational, Technical, Creative, and Market Trends

“We are excited to be a part of this important new conference focusing
on the often overlooked but critical topic of the role games can and will play
in education,” said ESA president Doug Lowenstein. “We believe that
games can be a powerful teaching tool, allowing kids to explore, create, and
learn from their own mistakes. The Education Arcade conference will offer leaders
in this area and interested attendees an in-depth forum through which to examine
and further the role of games in education.”

Conference Details

A complete schedule and a list of speakers, which will include leaders invited
from the academy, industry and classroom, will be available at http://www.educationarcade.org/
by December 2003.

Participation will be free and open to all members of the public age 18 or
higher. A limited number of high school seniors and undergraduate students will
be selected through an essay competition that will begin in November 2003 and
end in January 2004. To register for the conference, visit http://www.educationarcade.org/
after November 23, 2003.

Attendance at the Education Arcade Conference is not a qualification for admittance
to any other parts of the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3Expo) or associated
events.

About The Education Arcade
The Education Arcade (www.educationarcade.org)
is an initiative that includes a consortium of international game designers,
publishers, scholars, educators, and policymakers who are exploring new frontiers
of educational media opened by computer and videogames. The initiative aims
to broaden and sustain educational game research previously established by researchers
at MIT Comparative Media Studies and UW-Madison School of Education and to leverage
efforts at other universities, educational institutions and the games industry.
By bringing together a community of professionals interested in the future of
videogames in education, The Education Arcade will expand research and development
work using games in educational settings and will encourage broader investigations
into games and learning with industry and university partners.

About E3Expo
E3Expo is the world’s premier trade show for computer and video games and related
products. The show, now in its tenth year, is owned by the Entertainment Software
Association (ESA), the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and
public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video
game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. For more
information, please visit www.e3expo.com.

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