Institute of Play
Encyclopedia
The Institute of Play is a 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 2007. Based out of New York City
, the Institute’s mission is to promote game design, games and gaming as a model tool to enhance personal and social development, in particular learning in secondary school students. Within six months of its formation by a group of game design
ers from Gamelab, the Institute of Play received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to develop Quest to Learn, a New York City public school designed around game design principles and based on over thirty years of learning research.
and is the result of a partnership between Institute of Play and New Visions for Public Schools. Quest to Learn is based on the model of "game-like learning," in which the curriculum is based on and mimics the design principles of games
, increasing interactivity and fostering systems thinking
. "[It] is organized specifically around the idea that digital games are central to the lives of today’s children and also increasingly, as their speed and capability grow, powerful tools for intellectual exploration." The school's curriculum is co-designed by teams of teachers, curriculum specialists, and game designers. At Quest to Learn, students both play games and learn to make them.
Q2L opened in Fall 2009, beginning with a founding class of sixth graders, and added another class of sixth graders in Fall 2010. It will continue to add grades until 2015, when it will become a full middle-
and high school
. The school is located in the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex on West 18th Street between Eighth
and Ninth
Avenues in the Chelsea
neighborhood of Manhattan
, which it shares with a number of other small schools
.
platform.
opened a charter school – a privately managed public school – in Chicago
based on the same model as Quest to Learn, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Digital Youth Network, based at DePaul University
.
Partners
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the Institute’s mission is to promote game design, games and gaming as a model tool to enhance personal and social development, in particular learning in secondary school students. Within six months of its formation by a group of game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
ers from Gamelab, the Institute of Play received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to develop Quest to Learn, a New York City public school designed around game design principles and based on over thirty years of learning research.
Quest to Learn
Quest to Learn (Q2L) is a public school in District 2 of the New York City Department of EducationNew York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
and is the result of a partnership between Institute of Play and New Visions for Public Schools. Quest to Learn is based on the model of "game-like learning," in which the curriculum is based on and mimics the design principles of games
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
, increasing interactivity and fostering systems thinking
Systems thinking
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish...
. "[It] is organized specifically around the idea that digital games are central to the lives of today’s children and also increasingly, as their speed and capability grow, powerful tools for intellectual exploration." The school's curriculum is co-designed by teams of teachers, curriculum specialists, and game designers. At Quest to Learn, students both play games and learn to make them.
Q2L opened in Fall 2009, beginning with a founding class of sixth graders, and added another class of sixth graders in Fall 2010. It will continue to add grades until 2015, when it will become a full middle-
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. The school is located in the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex on West 18th Street between Eighth
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
and Ninth
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
Ninth Avenue / Columbus Avenue is a southbound thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs downtown along its full length...
Avenues in the Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, which it shares with a number of other small schools
Small schools movement
The small schools movement, also known as the Small Schools Initiative, in the United States of America holds that many high schools are too large and should be reorganized into smaller, autonomous schools of no more than 400 students, and optimally under 200. Many private schools of under 200...
.
Mobile Quest
In conjunction with the school, the Institute of Play also hosts a week-long summer camp called MobileQuest, which is entering its third year. The Mobile Learning Institute, a Pearson Foundation program, supports the camp, which focuses on mobile game making platforms and devices. The curriculum introduces campers to basic ideas in game design utilizing the mobile phoneMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
platform.
Chicago Quest
In August 2011, the Institute of Play and the Chicago International Charter SchoolChicago International Charter School
Chicago International Charter School is a charter school with 15 campuses in Illinois.Campus Locations* Chicago International Avalon1501 E. 83rd Place, Chicago, 60619serves 420 students, K-8* Chicago International Basil...
opened a charter school – a privately managed public school – in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
based on the same model as Quest to Learn, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Digital Youth Network, based at DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
.
Support
Funders- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Carnegie Corporation of New YorkCarnegie Corporation of New YorkCarnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
- Intel CorporationIntel CorporationIntel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
- Robert Wood Johnson FoundationRobert Wood Johnson FoundationThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
- National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
- Pearson Foundation
- Margulf Foundation
- New Youth City Learning Fund at the New York Community TrustNew York Community TrustThe New York Community Trust was founded in 1924 to distribute the income from charitable funds established by will to improve the quality of life in New York City. It also offers services to living donors. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States, and...
- NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Partners
- Digital Youth Network
- Remix Learning
- E-Line Media
- CingleVue
- K-12 Embodied Media and Learning Group at ASUArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
- Parsons The New School for DesignParsons The New School for DesignParsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
- New York City Department of EducationNew York City Department of EducationThe New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
- New Visions for Public Schools