Last week Jenny Saucerman, a graduate student in the Epistemic Games Group, traveled to the Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary near Boston to observe a group of local high school students play Land Science.
What’s remarkable about this group of 10 students isn’t that they hail from several different schools, or even that they voluntarily signed up to participate in a learning simulation during their spring break. Rather, it was their commitment to finishing the game under less-than-desirable circumstances.
Each day, the high school students traveled to Drumlin Farm to continue their virtual internship. Jenny remarked that the students were completely absorbed in the game, rarely even pausing for breaks. On the final day of the simulation, the students couldn’t leave their homes to finish Land Science because the entire city was locked down after the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The group’s mentor, Robin Stuart, and site coordinator, Kris Scopinich, emailed the students that morning, inviting them to finish the game remotely from their homes. To their surprise, every student did.
It is a testament to our mission at Epistemic Games that these students were so committed to finishing the game that they were willing to participate from home. “The factory model of education is the wrong model for the 21st century,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says. “Today, our schools must prepare all students for college and careers – and do far more to personalize instruction and employ the smart use of technology.” The eagerness of these students indicates that they are ready for such changes, and we hope to advance this educational revolution one virtual internship experience at a time.
To all of those affected by the recent events in Boston, you are in our thoughts.