A Radford University professor and several students are working on a project that would pit students' love of video games against teachers' desire for them to learn and could make everyone happy.

Matt Dunleavy, an assistant professor in instructional technology, heads the Radford Outdoor Augmented Reality project.

Augmented reality is like a "physical video game creating outdoor learning" using handheld devices with built-in Global Positioning Systems, Dunleavy said.

The National Science Foundation awarded Dunleavy a $500,000 grant over the next three years to study the use of augmented reality in kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms.

Other research on the technology has been done by the armed services to simulate soldiers in battle.

For school use, students would use handheld devices to play the game. They could move around playgrounds or other spaces and interact with virtual people and objects that pop up on the device. The GPS software would trigger video, audio and text files that provide narrative, navigational and academic challenges to students, the ROAR Web site said.

The first game students at Radford are researching should be in production in November, Dunleavy said. The technology is new and expensive, which could limit its use. But ultimately, he said, the augmented reality games would support problem-solving and other Standards of Learning the state requires.

Dunleavy is partnering with Radford city schools for a demonstration in the next couple of weeks, he said.

Along with rolling out a game, Dunleavy and his students will research just how effective the program is in getting students to learn.

Their goal is to go beyond measuring student engagement in the game and to find out what students actually learn by playing, he said.

Christiansburg game to promote traffic safety

Students and fans at Christiansburg High School's Evan King Stadium plan to create a sea of white during a "white out" to promote seat-belt use and traffic safety, said Donnie Cromer, the school's resource officer.

Cromer started a chapter of Youth of Virginia Speak Out at the school this year. Traffic safety is club's focus. The group, which has about 20 members, is working to get 80 percent of the school's students to pledge to wear their seat belts by the end of the week.

The white out is part of a three-week campaign. Statistics show that people ages 15 to 20 account for 13 percent of traffic deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Anna L. Mallory covers events and issues affecting Montgomery County schools and beyond. If you have information you'd like featured, e-mail anna.mallory@roanoke.com. You also can visit Chalk Dust, the New River Valley's education news source, at blogs.roanoke.com/chalkdust.