SimCity to be used for educational purposes through new STEM initiative

EA has started an initiative called SimCityEDU, in which educators can use SimCity for educational purposes.

The hope is that through games, more universities can attract research, technology and game development students.

The initiative was started due to a government report which stated that the US had only one-third of the graduates needed to fill the demand for workers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Working with GlassLab, a SimCityEDU website will be launched to serve as an online resource and community for teachers who wish to make games part of the learning process.

SimCityEDU initiatives were kicked off in Washington, DC, with a White House meeting and a panel at the US Conference of Mayors, the MacArthur Foundation, and other education experts from the White House, yesterday.

You can find out more on the initiative through EA.

SimCity releases on March 8, with a beta starting next week.