Portal 2 is not only a terrific game, it can also be used as an educational tool to help inspire kids to learn more about math and science. That's the hope, anyway, for Valve. Today, the company announced it has launched a new website called Teach With Portals.
Valve states on the website that they want to partner with teachers and schools to help students learn more about various subjects. It adds, "We’ve created Teach With Portals as a destination for this partnership, providing free content and game design tools, as well as an interactive community for exchanging lessons and experiences."
The site adds:
In the Portal world, students interact with physically simulated objects (cubes, catapults, lasers, etc.). The interaction tends to be free-form and experimental and as students encounter new tools and challenges they may develop an intuitive understanding of physical principles such as mass and weight, acceleration, momentum, gravity, and energy. The games also put a premium on critical thinking, spatial reasoning, problem solving, iteration and collaboration skills, and encourage overall inquiry into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) learning.
The program offers schools a way to offer free copies of Portal 2, along with the Portal 2 Puzzle Editor, that can be used in the classroom. The site also offers a number of lesson plans that can be followed to teach kids about a number of math and physics ideas, from gravity to volume and more. The program will require that schools and teachers register for Valve's Steam for Schools service, which will download the game and the puzzle editor.
Source: Teach With Portals | Image via Valve
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