Our country's drop-out rate is appalling and our students are performing well below those in many other countries. Many kids are distracted from schooling by the constant allure of their cell phones, video games, television, and the Internet so how can schools compete? Maybe instead of trying to distract kids from all this technology, we would be best served by using gaming principles and game designing itself to get kids re-engaged. My guest on this week's show, Nikki Nava, is the CEO of Zulama (http://zulama.com/), a game based learning platform that she developed with faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center to give schools a way to teach critical programming, art, and design skills at the middle and high school levels. In our fascinating conversation, you'll hear why learning how to make their own games may be a way to excite children about education and teach them those soft skills of collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving that they need for career success. Nikki also shares resources that parents can use at home to introduce game design to their children. You can visit the Zulama (http://zulama.com/)website to hear from educators and students about why the program works and learn more about how to get your school connected. If you want to learn more about what the leaders in education, technology, and gaming have to say or watch the work that kids are producing, check out Zulama's You Tube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/ZulamaLLC).