Three Digital Technology Entrepreneurs Collaborate to Stimulate Math and Science Learning in Urban Areas with the Urban Video Game Academy
Digital Arts & Technology Learning Center announces the Urban Video Game Academy at E3. The newly formed private non-profit organization will use the video game development model to enhance math and science performance in school-age students across the US.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 20, 2005 -- Three entrepreneurs announced today
at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world's largest computer
game expo, that they are channeling their passion for technology and video game
development into a new education initiative, entitled “The Urban Video Game
Academy™” (UVGA), that uses the components of video game design and development
to foster new pathways to learning in math, art, and science for school-age
students in underserved areas.
The UVGA is the brainchild of Joseph
Saulter, professor of the game technology curriculum at American
Intercontinental University (AiU); Mario Armstrong, TV and National Public Radio
(NPR) digital technology guru; and Roderick Woodruff, president and co-founder
of AAGAMER.com.
The UVGA creates a bridge between the rigorous design,
programming, and development requirements of the game industry and the
foundations for competency in math and science. “The curriculum helps to
demystify math and science for urban school-age children by applying the
subjects in the game development environment. In addition to further studies in
video game development, the program helps these students prepare for
engineering, computer science and digital media studies,” says AiU Professor
Joseph Saulter.
Saulter, who heads the academy’s curriculum development,
says, ”We want our students to embrace the foundations of geometry, physics, and
creativity when we apply them in the fun and interactive world of computer
gaming.”
The UVGA is managed by a new private non-profit organization
called the Digital Arts & Technology Learning Center® (DATLC). The DATLC
will provide an enhanced technology preparatory curriculum for school-age
children that will be made available through partnerships and outreach in
primarily underserved urban communities. The UVGA will launch in the Washington,
DC, Baltimore, MD and Atlanta, GA metro areas in June 2005 and will eventually
be made available to school systems, parks and recreation districts, churches,
public housing authorities, and other non-profit organizations throughout the
U.S.
“Our plans are ambitious,” states Roderick Woodruff, who heads up
marketing and industry relations for DATLC. “We plan to provide new pathways to
learning by using video game design and development to engage students who are
performing below standards in math and science."
The video game industry
acknowledges $38 billion in sales of software and related hardware. Currently,
game industry revenue is outpacing revenue for movie studio productions and also
for the music recording industry. “We know the video game environment is a
catalyst for creativity and experience," says Mario Armstrong, who leads media
and government relations as well as technology research for DATLC. "When an
inner city youth tells you of his aspirations of becoming a programmer and
wanting to learn the Japanese language, the UVGA will help bridge that gap and
create the opportunity for those dreams to become reality.”
Roderick
Woodruff is president and co-founder of AAGAMER, the two-year old online news
and information website developed for African-American video game enthusiasts.
He is joined by his wife, author Connie Briscoe, in a continuing effort to
promote awareness and opportunities for people of color in the video game
industry. http://www.aagamer.com
Mario Armstrong is the
Technology Correspondent for NPR's "News and Notes with Ed Gordon" and he is the
host of "The Digital Spin" and "The Digital Cafe"--heard on NPR stations WEAA-FM
88.9 and WYPR-FM 88.1, Baltimore, MD--a weekly digest of the digital world with
interviews and reviews of cutting edge technology and how it affects our lives.
Mario also develops community and business technology programs as Baltimore
City's Technology Advocate for Mayor Martin O'Malley.
http://www.thedigitalspin.com
Joseph Saulter is the
chairman of the Game Design and Development Department at American
Intercontinental University (AiU) and CEO of Entertainment Arts Research, one of
the first African-American owned 3-D video game companies in the nation.
Professor Saulter is also the chair of the International Game Developers
Association's Diversity Advisory Committee. http://www.ea-research.com
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Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb242298.htm