A researcher from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia worked with a team of international scientists to launch a science-based, educational game called Science Island. Working around the clock, James Marshall partnered with Amazon Web Services to launch the game for free while many children remain in lockdown around the world.
Much of the game’s content originated following questions sent in by Ugandan school kids via social media platforms while under social distancing restrictions. Scientists and Swinburne students provided answers in the form of interactive activities found within Science Island.
A new, free online game inspired by student questions examines the world of science for children in ... [+]
Scientists from across the globe came together to help create the game. The title is now hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and currently available in beta.
Original creator Marshall worked on the game for almost eight years when the coronavirus (COVID-19) hit and the world entered lockdown. He and his team kicked creation into overdrive to make Science Island available for families as soon as possible to help educate children during lockdown.
“We had planned to launch Science Island at the end of 2020,” Marshall says. “Given the COVID-19 outbreak and the number of children in social isolation, we partnered with Amazon to launch a beta version immediately.”
Marshall adds the concept of Science Island came to him in 2012 after he formed a partnership to build the Kasese Humanist Primary School, a science-based educational center in Uganda.
“I had this idea that Swinburne students could take a design-led approach to creating cool content and fun activities to inspire children all over the world.”
The new educational game "Science Island" originated from a project to educate Ugandan students.
To develop the game further, Marshall enlisted the help of world-leading scientists from institutions including NASA, MIT, University of Cambridge and Swinburne. Some 650 final-year design students at Swinburne worked in collaboration with those international scientists to create the content.
The project serves up the results of more than 100,000 hours of research and development. Science Island contains more than 20 hours of animated video, games, books, quizzes, songs and experiments.
