About Mission US

Mission US is an award-winning educational media project that immerses young people in transformational moments from U.S. history.

Developed for use by middle school students in the classroom and beyond, Mission US is a deeply-researched, award-winning educational media project with proven positive impact on history learning. Interactive narrative games immerse players in rich, historical settings and empower them to make choices that illuminate how ordinary people experienced the past. Educator’s guides provide a wealth of resources and activities that show the broader social, political, and economic context of events and perspectives in the games.

Mission US is committed to teaching complicated and sensitive topics in American history. We recommend that teachers/parents preview game content to make sure it is appropriate for their students/children.

Why use Mission US?

Mission US is part of an expanding body of “serious games” that immerse users in historical and contemporary problems in ways that encourage perspective-taking, discussion, and weighing of multiple kinds of evidence. Hallmarks of Mission US include:

  • Proven effectiveness
  • Deeply and collaboratively researched
  • Ethical and age-appropriate design
  • Enables inclusive social studies curriculum
  • Accessible and easy to use (in classroom and out)

Learn more about why more than four million students and 130,000 teachers have used Mission US to date.

Creating Mission US

  • Ethical Design Principles

    We strive to design and develop the Mission US games and curricular materials in a way that positively impacts all learners, guided by five key ethical design principles.

  • Our Goals & About the Missions

    Mission US aims to get students to care about history by seeing it through the eyes of peers from the past. Learn more about each of the missions developed to date.

  • Process and Development

    WNET collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to create Mission US. Many months of planning, research, review, and testing with diverse groups of teachers and students go into the development and creation of each mission and its companion educational materials.

Proven Impact

  • Research and Outcomes

    Multiple research studies have found that using Mission US leads to measurable gains in students’ historical knowledge and skills. The games and supporting resources have earned consistent praise and positive feedback from teachers.

  • Awards and Praise

    Winner of the Games for Change Award for Most Significant Impact, Japan Prize for Educational Media, and multiple Parents’ Choice and International Serious Play Awards, Mission US continues to earn honors and praise from educators, parents, students, and critics.

Our Team

  • Partners and Funders

    Mission US is created by four key partners with deep experience in the creation and evaluation of educational media, and made possible by the support of our generous funders.

  • Advisors

    Advisors with a range of expertise in historical scholarship, education, educational technology, child and adolescent development, social justice pedagogy, and other relevant fields have provided invaluable guidance on the development of Mission US.

  • Production Credits

    Each mission is the result of a collaboration among countless historians, researchers, writers, artists, developers, designers, actors, producers, and more.

News

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