Summary:

Xbox 'Field Trips' is a first-of-its-kind learning module that reframes video games as educational tools, empowering kids to experience learning in a new and engaging way - through play.  The immersive experience takes the shape of audio podcasts to listen to whilst gaming, with each one helping to foster important soft skills.

The Challenge:

For some children conventional schooling can be challenging, but we know that gaming can play a vital role in their development. For years there have been outdated preconceptions that gaming is ‘just a form of entertainment’, however, studies show that it can help foster important life skills. Xbox knew that gaming could play an active role in education, however there was still a lot of scepticism to its benefits from parents and teachers. We needed a way to bring to life the benefits of gaming, and the demonstrate that learning that could be harnessed through playing some of Xbox’s biggest gaming titles.

Insight:

For the first time ever, Xbox wasn’t speaking to their core gamer audience. Instead, they were talking to parents and teachers - people who have maybe never picked up a controller in their life. These are the people who are most sceptical about the virtues of gaming. Xbox needed a campaign that could prove to parents and teachers that their kids can gain important life skills and learning from unexpected places. Xbox is one of the largest, un-tapped educational resources, and the only way to prove this was by doing, not just saying.

Our Idea and Brand Platform:

Working with a team of experts including teachers, child psychologists, and games narrative designers we deep-dived into Xbox’s biggest gaming titles to unearth where education could be harnessed – and subsequently uncovered learning in the most unexpected places. We designed an immersive experience that takes the shape of audio podcasts kids can listen to whilst gaming. Each one takes them on a bespoke learning journey into games to help foster important soft skills. Along each 'Field Trip', they also absorbed curriculum-based learning that relates to the theme of the game.

Results:

Xbox formed a ground-breaking partnership with UKIE and the Digital Playhouse, a trade body that uses play-based learning to engage the next generation of pupils and teachers with the computing curriculum. The partnership enabled 'Field Trips' to become a permanent fixture within the education ecosystem, and accessible to over 200,000+ pupils in 2,000 schools. 

The inclusion in the classroom was vital in changing the perceptions of gaming. Parents and teachers alike began to see the benefits that gaming can bring, whilst kids were able to learn in new, fun, and engaging ways.