U.S. Department of Education, Ubisoft Welcome Gaming in Schools as Future of Learning

You'd think that the American educational system and video games would be at odds, but it looks like this isn't the case at all. Erik Martin of the U.S. Department of Education's Games for Learning program, will be holding a press conference where he'll highlight how the future of education has everything to do with gaming in schools. One of the big names at the press conference will be Ubisoft. Martin believes it's imperative that gaming becomes one with education because of the amount of students who own an X-Box or a PlayStation.

"If you look at the life of a student, a lot of students play on average about 10,000 hours of video games by the time they are graduating high school. That is almost the same amount they are spending in schools," Martin told Polygon. "You can imagine a lot of the time which of the two activities they might feel more engaged in or more relevant."

Martin will hold the educational gaming conference later this month. At the Games for Learning Summit in New York City, educational experts, students, teachers, game publishers and developers will all be in attendance. His plan is to tear down any walls between the gaming world and his world.

The biggest name at the conference will be Ubisoft. The gaming company will be talking about the rhythm-meets-education game Rocksmith, the health benefits of Just Dance and the historical context Assassin's Creed brings to subjects such as the Revolutionary War and World War I.

Richard Culatta, director of educational technology at the U.S. DOE, is also ready to combine gaming and school.

"I think the education community is ready to really use technology in innovative ways," Culatta told Polygon. "But I think we are largely dependent on the people who are building these tools and solutions to provide apps that meet educational needs."