2008 Press Releases
April 21, 2008
Free Internet Game from Cable in the Classroom Offers Users Chance to Run Their Own Presidential Campaigns; Provides Multimedia Educational Tool for Schools
Washington, D.C. – As more Americans turn their attention to the race for the White House and the Pennsylvania primary next week, an online learning game – new and improved for 2008 – lets players call the political shots in presidential campaigning. The 2008 eLECTIONS: Your Adventure in Politics game was released this week by Cable in the Classroom (CIC).
The 3-D, high-speed broadband adventure uses interactive tools allowing kids and adults to experience a self-directed run for the U.S. Presidency. The game, originally launched by CIC in 2004 and refreshed for 2008, is designed to educate people about the political process and the power of one vote.
As one teacher from Ohio noted in 2004, “During the last week, I heard my students in the classroom debating the major issues of this election…They participated in the eLECTIONS simulation preferring to compete against each other to fight for the honor of being the next President of the United States. It was one of those educational moments of opportunity in which students are actively engaged and seeking knowledge.”
The 2008 game includes 30 new video clips from the three cable network partners, CNN Student News, History™ and C-SPAN, the newest cable network to join the eLECTIONS partnership. This new trove of video content adds more multimedia context, election primers and political history.
“eLECTIONS is an excellent resource for teachers and students who are trying to understand the events and decisions that shape voter contests,” said Joanne Wheeler, vice president of education at C-SPAN. “The game clearly identifies the role each state plays in the nominating process, and we are thrilled to contribute video from C-SPAN’s coverage of classic campaign primary experiences such as Dixville Notch, New Hampshire where they still vote by hand with paper ballots,” added Wheeler.
Players must define a platform, identify key issues, determine in which events to participate, decide how to spend campaign dollars, choose key states in which to campaign, and hold fundraisers. Each spin of the wheel takes the player further along the campaign trail.
Every decision a player makes has a different consequence, carrying the candidate to a new spot on the road to the White House or the path to defeat. Watch how strategic decisions play out in polling numbers, fundraising ups and downs and the critical electoral count. Players react to news events, poll results, and negative campaign ads – while gaining a better understanding of the challenges and pitfalls confronting their candidates.
“In addition to being fun, eLECTIONS shows how broadband technology – with its capacity to deliver video, audio, excellent interactivity, design and content – can support active, meaningful and memorable learning,” said Doug Levin, senior education policy director at CIC, the cable industry’s education foundation.
The new version of eLECTIONS includes the ability for players to save and export results, allowing for students to play the game from any internet connection. “The availability of this broadband game in classrooms as well as to students at home or from any connected computer embraces the reality that children are learning about American history in a myriad of ways – in and out of the classroom,” commented Dr. Libby O’Connell, senior vice president and chief historian for History™
To start your campaign journey visit: www.ciconline.org/eLECTIONS
Designed specifically for students and teachers – but available to all who want to play – the 2008 version of eLECTIONS was refreshed to include:
§ A new game board with improved graphics
§ An optional third-party “Bull Moose” player
§ George Washington as game “host” with voice
§ Deeper sidebar content
§ Players can now save game results to resume play later and they can print game choices
§ Options for school-based competitions for number of games played
§ Tracking analytics for future professional evaluation
§ Supplemental education materials:
o Game is mapped to State Educational standards
o New Learning Guides
o Vote Notes - to highlight the major themes emphasized in the content of eLECTIONS
o eLECTIONS curriculum
“The one-or-two player game is both entertaining and educational – with emphasis on delivering a fun learning experience. Kids can play against parents, students with teachers, users of all ages with a friend or against a computer-generated opponent,” added Levin.
Sidebars to the game, -- featuring CNN Student News segments, History™ documentary footage and C-SPAN event coverage -- allow users to browse text, graphic, audio and video content to expand upon the game experience and improve their competency in the game. The sidebars offer insights from real presidential candidates via archived news and documentary footage from previous elections, 20 years worth of campaign advertisements, a look at political conventions and political parties, a focus on the electoral college, insights on how America votes, and attack politics and mudslinging.
“The upcoming election represents a unique teachable moment in the context of current events, and the eLECTIONS game capitalizes on that moment by using video and interactivity to teach students about the electoral process,” said Donna Krache, executive producer of CNN Student News. “It is an exciting – and free – tool for teachers of current events, government, history and more.”
Cable in the Classroom (CIC), the cable industry's education foundation, works to expand and enhance learning for children and youth. Created in 1989 to help schools take advantage of educational cable programming and technology, CIC has become a leading national advocate for media literacy education and for the use of technology and media for learning, as well as a valuable resource of educational cable content and services for policymakers, educators and industry leaders.
For more information about Cable in the Classroom please visit: www.ciconline.org.