Learning Games Network (LGN)

“Video games are, for some, an unlikely way to reinvigorate public engagement in both science and civic life,” says Constance Steinkuehler, GLS co-director and an associate professor of education. “It’s not surprising for those who actually play them, of course.” The group recently moved from its beginnings as part of the Morgridge Institute for Research to WID and the Learning Games Network (LGN), a private nonprofit that develops and distributes games inspired from the educational sciences. A spin-off of UW–Madison and MIT based in Cambridge, Mass., LGN opened a studio in Madison to house its new staff and support the partnership. Located just across the street from the Discovery building, the group’s new space keeps its researchers, game developers, graphic designers and students closely connected to WID, private industry and non-profits, say Squire and Steinkuehler.