Developed with the Institute of Play in New York City, the Woodrow Wilson HistoryQuest Fellowship offers professional development for middle and high school
American history teachers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania. The program aims to use the power of games and digital tools to
transform both teacher practice and student engagement. In the long term, it
may also provide a new disciplinary resource for university-based teacher
preparation (please find also K-12 Innovators To Update Use Of Serious Games In the Classroom At 2017 Serious Play).
HistoryQuest helps teachers
who are selected as Fellows learn how to apply game design principles to foster
inquiry-based learning. Fellows learn to tie games to the curriculum, integrate
them into the classroom, create their own games, and assess learning outcomes.
Inaugurated in 2016 with a group of New Jersey
teachers, the transformative professional program has been expanded this year
by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation to support selected middle- and high-school teachers, having
named 57 new Fellows coming from 43 schools in 33 districts across the four
states.
Summer Intensive, Yearlong Development
All WW
HistoryQuest Fellows will take part in a free weeklong intensive summer institute,
to be held July 16–21, 2017 in Princeton, New Jersey. The program also offers several
follow-up sessions during the 2017–18 school year, including:
• Two mid-year
workshops
• One
in-person/three virtual coaching sessions per school
• A ten-month
membership to an online professional network moderated by Institute of Play
designers
• Networks
with other history teachers using games and simulations in the classroom
The HistoryQuest
Fellowship is built on a pedagogical foundation that features interactive
learning through games and play, game design process and principles, systems
thinking, and the purposeful integration of technology.
Because WW
HistoryQuest Fellows must have the full support of their schools and
districts, they must be nominated by their principal or superintendent. Direct applications by candidates and
self-nominations are not accepted.
Principals and superintendents are encouraged
to nominate teachers in teams of two or three and must affirm that their
nominees will be encouraged and supported in the integration of games and
simulations into the American history curriculum. Fellows nominated in teams of
two or three receive preference in the selection process. Teams should also strive
to include a mix of representation - for example, one middle school teacher and
one high school teacher, across schools, or one relatively new teacher and one
more seasoned teacher within the same school.
Competitive Admission—School Endorsement
The Fellowship includes room and board
(single-occupancy) for the Fellows during the summer and the associated
workshops. There is no registration fee for the Fellows, school, or district.
However, nominating principals/superintendents must affirm their support for
candidates’ full participation, including up to two days of release time for
workshops and approval for ongoing coaching time.
Read more at https://woodrow.org/fellowships/historyquest/