Fresh Water Cleveland-Games Done Legit Brings Gaming to Classroom

Date of Article: 04/27/2016

Videogames have long been derided as brain-melting time wasters, a label Chris Hatala has spent a good portion of his career refuting.

Hatala is founder of GDL Entertainment, Ltd. (Games Done Legit), an event-planning company that integrates video games into wedding receptions, corporate teambuilding programs and other non-traditional spaces. Educational programming is GDL’s latest stereotype-busting venture, particularly in reaching children through gaming and coding.

Over the last year, a GDL program at Horizon Education Centers has school-age kids harnessing games as both a learning tool and character builder. Children attending the center are divided into groups, then work together to solve problems relayed through math or shape recognition games. A puzzle game calledDragonBox, for example, teaches kids simple concepts related to algebraic equations.

“They’re doing algebra by the end of the session,” says Hatala. “This is hard education.”

Read the full story at: http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/innovationnews/GamesLegit042716.aspx