Digital technology and video games have a big impact on many
kids’ lives—and some believe they could play a bigger role in
education. Chicago is getting a new school that some think might
be a window into the future of learning. Elizabeth Purvis is
head of Chicago International Charter Schools. And she really
does not want me to call her newest school “the video game
school.” PURVIS: In fact, I worry when people think it’s a video
game school. Because it isn’t. It’s a project-based learning
school that uses digital learning literally to hook the kids.
FERRON: I really wanna be in that video game school. Yep, he’s
hooked. Seventeen-year-old Nikkei Ferron was at an event last
week put on by the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation to
showcase its digital learning initiatives. Ferron stood near a
video game console he helped design in a MacArthur-funded
afterschool program. Nearby, 16-year-old Andrei Zbikowski is
also psyched about the new Chicago Quest school, which is
opening on the North Side to 6th and 7th gra