Baldwin 5th grade students participated in testing the online
browser-based Serious Game StudenTopia based on KickinKitchen.TV
characters
Next week, KidsCOOK
Productions, the kids entertainment media organization, and Muzzy Lane Software, the leading
Massachusetts-based Serious Games company, will be introducing the Games for
Health community to their new interactive adventure game StudenTopia.
KidsCOOK Productions,
with the support of USDA's NIFA Small Business Innovation Research grant, is
developing a digital curriculum and StudenTopia teaches middle schoolers
about nutrition and health related concepts. Students from Maria L. Baldwin School in
Cambridge, MA, were asked to help with the Serious Game testing.
HERE IS THE FULL PRESS RELEASE
Adventure
Game for Tweens to Promote Healthy Eating Will Be Unveiled At Games For Health
Conference
KidsCOOK Productions and Muzzy Lane Software’s StudenTopia to be
shown at the conference which takes place at the Back Bay Events Center June
26-28
Boston, MA
(PRWEB) June 19, 2013 - Next Thursday, June 27, 2013, KidsCOOK
Productions, a premier kids entertainment media organization, and Muzzy Lane Software,
a leading Massachusetts-based Serious Games company, will be introducing the
Games for Health community to their interactive adventure game, StudenTopia.
“We
introduce healthy options for the players and the game rewards them when they
make good choices”, says Muzzy Lane’s Jeremy Monken, lead designer for StudenTopia.
“The achievements they earn in the game reinforce the healthy eating habits
that can be applied in the real world.” During the first usability testing of
StudenTopia at the Maria L. Baldwin School in Cambridge, MA, KidsCOOK
Productions and Muzzy Lane received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Both
KidsCOOK Productions and Muzzy Lane are enthusiastic about the opportunity to
showcase StudenTopia at one of the leading conferences for health
innovation. They expect that feedback from knowledgeable Games for Health
attendees can be used to improve the game itself and have an impact on the
young people who play StudenTopia.
KickinNutrition.TV’s
recipe is simple: one part in-school health curriculum, with dashes of
entertainment, music, cooking instruction and celebrities and one part
web-based game. It delivers a peer-taught digital curriculum on the topics of
nutrition, cooking, healthy eating, personal fitness, and character development
to promote lifestyle behavior changes for health promotion and obesity
prevention. Designed by former Executive Producer of Sesame Street
International Natasha Lance Rogoff with collaboration
from nutrition expert, Dr. Paula Quatromoni from Boston University,
KickinNutrition.TV utilizes the rising trend of digital platforms and social
media among youth to make learning about health approachable and FUN! The
curriculum consists of a set of six lesson plans for use in the classroom, the
on-line interactive adventure game StudenTopia, and web-based extension
activities that continue to engage students in the real world.
About Kidscook Productions
KidsCOOK Productions (KCP) is a premier multimedia entertainment company founded in 2005 that specializes in the production of quality television and digital programming for children with a focus on preventing childhood obesity. KCP works closely with national NGOs, government organizations and schools that are committed to nutrition education and to preventing childhood obesity. KidsCOOK Productions is the producer of KickinKitchen.TV, the groundbreaking TV and Web series for kids (ages 8-15 yrs.). The sitcom-style, musical series mashes together cooking, comedy and interactivity. KickinKitchen.TV aims to revolutionize food and health culture by providing the tools, laughter, community and inspiration to engage youths in making healthier choices.
KickinKitchen.TV is a totally fresh recipe for cooking entertainment! The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded KidsCOOK Productions a Phase ll $450K Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to build out KickinNutrition.TV, the 3D virtual game StudenTopia and film additional segments with celebrities to promote health and wellness. KidsCOOK Productions will be testing KickinNutrition.TV in Massachusetts’s public schools in the Fall/Winter 2013-2014 school year, in partnership with Boston University. A 2011 Mass-Challenge Finalist, KidsCOOK Productions works with volunteer consultant groups at Harvard Business School and an advisory board that includes Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard School of Public Health. Episodes of KickinKitchen.TV aired in 13,000 NYC taxicabs and on TV (Channel 25-NYC Life), in partnership with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in 2012 and 2013.
About Muzzy Lane Software
Muzzy Lane Software, Inc. is a world leader in for-profit serious games. The company designs, develops, and deploys multiplayer 3D games for Education, Corporate Training, and Healthcare. Muzzy Lane is an expert at leveraging the gaming medium to help its clients achieve their learning, training or health care goals. The Company’s proprietary game engine allows learning games to be written once and delivered on multiple platforms including Mac, Windows, Web, iPad, and Android devices while its cloud-based games service provides content distribution, LMS integration for single-sign-on and assessment, and hosting for multiplayer games. In addition to its own self-published series, Making History: making-history.com, Muzzy Lane has developed serious game projects for The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Cengage Learning, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), McGraw-Hill Education, The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Middlebury Interactive Languages, Pearson Education, and The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
For more
information, please visit http://muzzylane.com/
About Games For Health
Games for Health is the leading professional community in the field of health games, bringing together the best minds in game development and health care to advance game technologies that improve health and the delivery of health care. Our mission is to foster awareness of, education about, and development of games that make a positive impact on the health of communities and health care. The Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge, and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the lead conference sponsor and a major supporter of the Games for Health Project.
About Boston University
Boston University College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College is an institution of higher education, which fosters critical and innovative thinking to best serve the health care needs of society through academics, research, and clinical practice. Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 30,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. Boston University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Nutrition, accredited by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
For more
information and to learn about degree programs in nutrition, occupational
therapy, physical therapy, speech, language and hearing sciences, athletic
training, health science, human physiology, behavior and health, visit http://www.bu.edu/sargent/
About USDA’s National
Institute Of Food And Agriculture
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers USDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), which makes competitively awarded grants to qualified small businesses to support high quality, advanced concepts research related to important scientific problems and opportunities in agriculture that could lead to significant public benefit if successful. The program strengthens the role of small businesses in meeting federal research and development needs and promotes technological innovations in the private sector through federal funding and leadership.