The ED GAMES EXPO: An Annual Showcase of Government Supported Educational Learning Games and Technologies
Information about the next ED Games Expo: Due to the ongoing pandemic, we do not know when the 8th Annual ED Games Expo will occur. Please check this website and follow @IESResearch on Twitter for updates.
Since 2013, the ED Games Expo has been the Department of Education's annual public showcase and celebration of educational learning games as well as innovative forms of learning technologies for children and students in education and special education. Held at locations in Washington, DC, each year, the Expo is free and open to the public.
Watch video trailers from the 2019 and 2020 ED Games Expos here:
At the Expo, attendees can discover and demo more than 150 learning games and technologies, while meeting face-to-face with the developers. The games and technologies cover a range of topics, such as early learning, science, engineering, making, math, reading, social studies, English learning, social skills and to support students with or at risk for disabilities. The Expo features an array of cutting-edge technologies for individual students — such as virtual reality, augmented reality, maker tools, and automated tutors — and role-playing and simulations for groups to participate at the same time.
All of the games and technologies at the ED Games Expo were developed with support from more than 30 programs across many agencies in the Federal government. This includes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs at the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Agriculture. It also includes ED research programs at IES, the Office of Special Education Programs, the Office of Innovation and Improvement, and the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, and through programs at the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, NASA, USAID,the Wilson Center, and others.
The Expo is an event where parents can being their children to play and then ask the experts "How did you create this learning game?" and "What do I need to study in school to become a game developer?" The Expo is also a networking and informational event, where developers and members of the public can meet and talk to representatives from more than 30 government offices and with researcher and stakeholders from the education technology community. And during the week of the Expo, Washington, DC-area schools can sign up for a developer to visit to demonstrate their learning games in a class and to speak to students about careers as technology developers and entrepreneurs.
News and Resources from Past ED Games Expos
- 2020 — Click here to download the "Guide to Educational Learning Games and Technologies," a document that provides details and video demonstrations on the technologies that were exhibited at the 2020 ED Games Expo
- 2020 — ED Homeroom: Recapping ED Games Expo Week 2020
- 2019 — Click here to watch a series of short presentations by developers on How The Game Was Made made at the 2019 ED Games Expo at the Kennedy Center
- 2019 — Education Week Market Brief: Expo Highlights the Rise of VR, AR in Educational Game Design, But Will Educators Want It?
- 2018 — EdSurge: What We Learn From the Edtech Games the Government Plays
- 2016 — ED Homeroom: SBIR Women Developers Got Game
- 2016 — ED Homeroom: ED Games Day Comes to Washington, DC
- 2015 — EDSurge: Why the Government is All About Fun, Games, and Funding Games
- 2013 — InsideED: IES SBIR Tech-Expo Showcases New Education Learning Products
Follow the Expo on twitter at @IESResearch, @SBIRgov, and #EDGamesExpo. Please contact Edward.Metz@ed.gov for more information on the ED Games Expo.
