Continuing on their crusade to be viewed as the most philanthropic, down-to-Earth, easy-going game company on the planet, Valve has taken the next step in being viewed as the Jedi to EA's Sith: they're giving away free copies of Portal 2 and the Portal 2 Puzzle Maker to schools, in order to help teach kids about math and physics.
According to a blog post by Aperture Laboratories, it explains what the program is about and how Valve is using the popular physics-based puzzle game to help enlighten students and empower teachers to use video games to help teach kids about the fun and importance of physics in today's and tomorrow's society...
We understand that learning is not fulfilled by a one-size-fits-all approach, so we’re engaging with a community of educators, parents and students to create infinite possibilities for learning. The educational version of our Puzzle Maker empowers students and educators to craft unique puzzles, explore worlds, and share custom lesson plans. Teachers can also simply leverage other contributor’s shared lessons, selecting among the best of them to suit their learners’ needs.
Teach With Portals is a teacher's resource education hub that enlightens and informs school room instructors how to setup lesson plans, curriculum and educational information to teach kids about the joys of physics, math and technological science using the video game medium as a conduit for learning.
I've always felt that gaming can be used as a positive to help kids learn, especially when they can identify easily with mascots, mechanics or game worlds that tickle their fancy. I'm glad Valve is using this opportunity to engage kids and help teachers bring the virtual classroom to life with Portal 2 and the Puzzle Maker.
If you're keen on finding out more or you're an educator who would like to setup lesson plans to utilize the physics-based puzzle game as a way to visually illustrate and teach students about physics, feel free to find out more by paying a visit to the Official Learn With Portals Website to find out how to acquire the game for your classroom.
