Xbox has announced a series of educational podcasts aimed to boost young people’s learning through gaming.
The company has partnered with Digital Schoolhouse — delivered by the U.K. games industry trade body Ukie — to release ‘”Beyond Xbox: Field Trips,” which are several educational audio teaching journeys aimed to improve children’s focus, creativity and problem-solving skills through playing Xbox games.
“We’re very excited to be supporting such an original and unique program, using games to develop the skills of young people,” Director of Digital Schoolhouse and Head of Education at Ukie Shahneila Saeed said in a statement.
“I can’t wait to see how these audio learning journeys are implemented in our Digital Schoolhouse network over the coming months, and the impact that they will have,” she continued.
“There is increasing evidence to suggest that play is one of the most powerful ways to learn,” Ollie Bray, coauthor of the European Games in Schools Handbook and was involved in the development of the program, added.
“These interactive ‘Field Trips’ allow young people to immerse themselves in both popular and culturally relevant video games while developing important skills and exploring a variety of learning outcomes,” Bray continued. “The project provides a unique take on experimental learning.”
In total, there are seven different titles with audio learning journeys that can be accessed via Xbox Game Pass: “Grounded,” “Sea of Thieves.” “Minecraft,” “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” “PowerWash Simulator,” “Age of Empires IV” and “Cities: Skylines.”
Each journey prompts players to undertake a series of challenges to help develop important soft skills.
Each audio-learning journey is available on Spotify. They can also be accessed as visual guides on Xbox.com to cater to different learning styles and make them more accessible.
The “Beyond Xbox: Field Trips” campaign video showcases three families from across the U.K. using the learning experiences while playing some of Xbox’s most popular titles.
