FLORIDA SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAMS FUSE LEARNING WITH IMMERSIVE EDUCATIONAL VIDEO GAMES


New York, August 5, 2009 –Statistics show that over the summer break, most students lose an average of two-three months of math computational skills they learned during the school year.  But this year educators from Florida’s Hillsborough and Escambia Counties were determined to combine summer fun with learning by incorporating Tabula Digita’s DimensionM™ Multiplayer educational video games into their summer school programs.

Hillsborough County Public Schools offered the video game course at four middle schools to support its intervention and enrichment program.  The School District of Escambia County launched its summer instruction at four middle school sites as part of its intervention and course recovery curriculum.  By all accounts, the summer programs were a huge success.

 

“Our students commented that they never knew they could have this much fun at summer school,” said Janet Boatman, middle school mathematics supervisor for Hillsborough County schools.  “As educators, we love to see this kind of enthusiasm for math coupled with improved student learning – it makes us all winners.”

Sheila Montgomery, secondary math supervisor for Escambia County, added this, “I was amazed at the retention rates our summer school program enjoyed this year.  Parents told us their students were begging them to let them continue attending after the session was over.  It was so refreshing to see how interested these students were in math and how much they helped one another.”

 

For the programs the schools used DimensionM Multiplayer 2009, which offers four distinct missions packed with standards-based content focusing on more than 200 math skills.  The collaborative simulations are geared toward students in grades 3-12. The supplemental curriculum programs correlate to both National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and state standards, and target key objectives covered on state tests.

 

The DimensionM games require students to create their own avatars and then face numerous mathematical obstacles that necessitate knowledge of content and swift reaction to navigate through the games and score points.  As they compete, students build upon basic skills like multiplication, division, and fractions, which in later years will lead to mastery of everything from proportions, number lines, and adding and subtracting integers; to order of operations, evaluating expressions, employing function tables, and solving complex equations.

 

Hillsborough students finished the summer course with an action-packed gaming tournament in Tampa where they successfully demonstrated what they learned in just a few weeks time.  Escambia County summer school students competed in teams and as individuals during their summer tournament held in July.

 

“In a recent interview, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan characterized the effects of ‘summer learning loss’ as devastating and well-documented,” said Ntiedo Etuk, chief executive officer and co-founder of Tabula Digita.  “These programs proved that through the use of stimulating, educationally sound technology, we can re-engage and re-energize students over the summer so they come back to school on pace and ready to advance.”

 

The DimensionM video game series is available on both Windows and Macintosh platforms.  There are several purchase options available for schools and districts to consider when purchasing DimensionM games. Please visit www.DimensionM.com or contact sales@tabuladigita.com for more information.

 

About Tabula Digita

Tabula Digita is the world leader in the development of innovative educational video games.   Research-based and aligned to state standards, the award-winning DimensionM and League of Scientists instructive tools currently support math and science curriculum for elementary, middle and high school students.  Through its fusion of collaborative, content-rich, immersive learning environments, Tabula Digita’s single and multiplayer products have been proven highly effective in increasing student engagement, time on task, and achievement scores.

 

Tabula Digita games are currently being used in school districts across the country including New York City Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Broward County Public Schools, and the Ft. Worth Independent School District in Texas.  In 2008,Tabula Digita’s DimensionM gaming series was named the Best Educational Game/Simulation from the Software Industry Information Association (SIIA).  

For more information, please call 1-877-6-TABULA or 1-877-682-2852 or visit www.DimensionM.com.

 

Media Contact:

Leslie Eicher @ 314-965-1776 or Leslie@EicherCommunications.com

 

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