Lauer Learning CEO Participates in Annual 'Games in Education' Symposium

Andrea Lauer Rice Leads Forum on the Value of Games in History and Social Studies Education

TROY, N.Y - August 9, 2009 - Lauer Learning founder and CEO joined well-known national education and gaming experts at the recent Third Annual Games in Education Symposium. The symposium focused on the educational benefits of using games to connect with kids of all ages to make learning accessible and inspiring. Andrea Lauer Rice explored the importance of conveying historical, social and political issues and events to students through games.

Each year the symposium brings together an array of speakers that are nationwide leaders in the use of video games with educational goals. The event also provides teachers the unique opportunity to actually play the games onsite.

Lauer Rice was excited to be asked to present at the conference for the third year. “The very first year I was invited to speak at this conference I was so thrilled to see that the agenda had time devoted to allowing teachers to actually play the games we were all talking about. I saw teachers, who had clearly never played video games, competing with each other in Wii bowling and solving brain teasers on Nintendo DS. This year, they were playing Guitar Hero in the back room. I love that this conference allows them to experience the games for themselves and provides great recommendations and examples for educational games to use in the classroom.”

This year the symposium expanded their content to include early childhood and elementary level learning initiatives, along with their recognized focus on middle and high school education. Sponsors include the Hudson Valley Community College, 1st Playable Productions and WMHT Public Radio.

Lauer Rice and Rik Panganiban, assistant director of Global Kids, led a discussion panel on topics dealing with 'Relating Social Issues and Historical Events through Games'. Their combined presentation explored how innovative multimedia products can effectively convey serious historical, social and political issues and events in a meaningful way.

“Using games and multimedia to relate historical, cultural and political information to kids is a truly effective way for teachers and parents to bring important knowledge to young people,” according to Lauer Rice. “It is always an honor to work with the experts who are the foundation of the 'Games in Education' Symposium. As trend setters in the field of multimedia education, they bring the most current thinking to the forefront.”

Lauer Learning, headquartered in Roswell, Ga, is a multimedia educational company that creates innovative ways to teach children about history, foreign languages and culture. The goal behind the products is to expose kids of all ages to unique educational experiences that invigorate young people's interests in history and culture.

Global Kids, located in New York City, is an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and inspire urban youth to become successful students, global citizens and community leaders by engaging them in academically rigorous, socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences.