NC Educators, Businesses Organize To Promote Serious Games

North Carolina educators, scientists and business executives have banded together to form an organization known as the North Carolina Association for Advanced Learning Technologies (NCALTA). The aim of NCALTA is to provide a network between educators, legislators and technology developers regarding the use and creation of “advanced learning technologies,” a discipline that also includes serious games. According to a note released by the newly formed organization, NCALTA “aims to advance research and multidisciplinary collaboration on the innovative paradigms, architectures and implementations of learning systems for adaptive learning related to STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), mobile learning, life-long-learning, just-in-time, and on-demand learning.” In addition, NCALTA will focus on what the organization calls Interactive Digital Environments for Advanced Learning Technologies (IDEAL Tech), which includes but is not limited to:

“North Carolina has a rare blend of leading learning institutions, game development studios, new media companies, and companies dedicated to creating learning programs,” commented Jerry Heneghan, president and co-founder of NCALTA. “NCALTA will leverage these resources to establish North Carolina as the world’s foremost hub for creating Advanced Learning Technologies, a burgeoning source of high-paying jobs and transformational learning tools.”