Become part of the founding faculty at a new, innovative public school called Quest to Learn (Q2L)!

In partnership with several organizations including New Visions for Public Schools, the Institute of Play, and the New School, Quest to Learn is slated to open its doors this fall at a Manhattan location to-be-determined. The school will open 6th grade and will eventually grow to accommodate grades 6 through 12. For the 2009-2010 school year, we expect to hire six founding staff members with specializations in math, science (physics preferred), English, social studies, special education, and technology.

Please note that eligible applicants must hold a valid NY State teaching certification (or comparable out-of-state certification) and be fully eligible to teach within the NYC Department of Education. Teachers interested in teaching at Q2L must have a passion for teaching and learning through nontraditional methods and curriculum, an eye for innovation, and a strong commitment to young people.

To apply, please e-mail your resume and a brief cover letter describing your interest in the school to newvisionsstaffing@gmail.com with the subject line “Q2L Teachers”.

On Monday December 15, 2008, the Institute of Play visited the Fieldston Lower School. At Fieldston, educational technologist Charles Vergara’s after school class of junior game designers were faced with the semester's ultimate challenge—a jury of professional game designers! The students, ranging from the third to the fifth grade, presented their games to a discerning panel of experts, including, members of Gamestar Mechanic’s design team, Greg Trefry, Charles Amis and Scott Price, and the Institute of Play’s Chloe Varelidi.

The class has been beta-testing Gamestar Mechanic, an online multiplayer world in which players both play and edit games, currently in development by Gamelab. Throughout the semester, the class’s science-driven curriculum has drawn parallels between game systems and ecosystems, studying short clips from the video Planet Earth to better understand complex game design ideas—such as "game mechanic" and "space"—as they appear in our natural surroundings.

On December 6, game developers and programmers, Mike Edwards and Kyle Li playtested a new game scenario in SMALLab-New York. The New York team travels to Arizona State University this week to work with their K-12 Embodied Media and Learning group collaborators.The two teams will be brainstorming new game-based learning scenarios all week!