Three students from the Computers for Kids program of the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly’s Youth Activities Task Force (YATF) attended the ED Games Expo 2019, held on Jan. 8 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This allowed 125 developers of educational games to showcase their programs, with plenty of opportunities for students to get some hands-on experience trying them out, in what often proves to be a transformational learning experience.
The participating students included Lauren Thomas who graduated from the Computers for Kids program a year ago, and has just started high school, and Jakayla and Jamia Williams, both in third grade, who are currently enrolled in the program and will graduate on Jan. 26. The students gave the event a rating of ten out of ten. They were chaperoned by YATF members Bonnie and Vic Sutton and the overall field trip was made possible through the team efforts of YATF members Perry Klein, Thelma D. Jones (chair) and Christine Spencer.
The ED Games Expo is an annual event organized by the U.S. Department of Education, which points out that “game-based learning is gaining popularity in education as more young people and adults learn from games both in and out of the classroom.” The Department believes that “well-designed games motivate students to actively engage in content that relates to coursework, and master challenging tasks designed to sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, employment and life skills.”
By Vic Sutton