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In this session, Dr. Kelly Whitney, Ed.D., iCivics’ Chief Product & Partnerships Officer, and Dan Norton, Filament Games Chief Creative Officer, discuss how their shared focus on purpose, process, practicality, and playability have contributed to iCivics’ unparalleled success in the civic education and game-based learning spaces. With 68 million lifetime plays and more than 5 million student users in 2017 alone, iCivics and Filament have navigated a year of explosive platform growth, harnessing the national conversation around civics and navigating the emergent needs of our nation’s changing demographics. Join us as we share the secrets behind iCivics’ swift widespread adoption, reflect on the affordances and challenges that face a rapidly growing learning platform, and discuss our latest efforts to engage all U.S. students in civics education through inclusive new initiatives like English language learners (ELL) support and more.
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We create playful experiences that improve people's lives 115+ PROJECTS 13 YEARS EXPERIENCE 70M PLAYS AWARD WINNING
U.S. Civics Crisis • In January 2017, 35% of Millennials said they were losing faith in American democracy, and just 25% were confident in the democratic system. • 24% of U.S. Millennials considered democracy to be a ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ way of running the country.
Only 1 in 4 Americans can name the 3 branches of government; 75% can name an American Idol judge
4 out of 5 Americans think incivility and political dysfunction prevent our nation from moving forward
Young people are widely disconnected from civic life, living in “civic deserts civic deserts”: places where young people perceive few to no opportunities to meet, discuss issues, or address problems. • 60% of rural youth • 30% of suburban youth • 30% of urban youth
The State of Civic Education Today is Dismal
Civics at Scale to Repair Our Democracy Problem: Young people are not prepared to become active thoughtful citizens Solution: iCivics taught 5 million students last year about systems of government and the rule of law using educational video games
Product Suite 19 games covering the three branches, civic duties, and civic engagement Designed to be played within a single class period Most have decent replay ability- some addictively so! Teacher guides and pre- and post-game activities/PowerPoints for each game 170+ lesson plans Webquests, DBQuest, Drafting Board
Quality Civics Education Benefits Extend Far Beyond the Classroom! • More likely to work on community issues • Boosts youth voting turnout • More likely to complete college, obtain employable skills, develop social responsibility 18
Game Extension Packs Each pack contains Starter Activity Available for download on these game pages Mini Lesson • Win the White House • Executive Command • Argument Wars • Law Craft • Do I Have a Right - now with ELL supports! Post-Game Activity Assessment
Come for the games… Stay for the 200+ fun, effective, and free learning resources
iCivics Lesson Plans Off the shelf. Print and go. Fun and relevant for students. Convenient for teachers. Matched to state standards
Quick Chat: Attributes of Games • What games did you love to play as a kid, or adult? • What are some desirable outcomes of playing games? • What are some attributes of games that might work for teaching/learning?
Students process future information by the framework of civic structures iCivics offers: Framework to understand politics and law
