All U.S. High Schools Get Half-Price Access to ICONS Educational Simulations
Dozens of simulations in the ICONS Education catalog are available at a 50% discount to any U.S. school or program serving students ages 13-18, now through December 31, 2026
ICONS Education, a division of the ICONS Project at the University of Maryland, is giving every high school in the United States access to its full catalog of online educational simulations for half price through the end of the 2026. This discount covers more than two dozen human-to-human role-play simulations teaching skills such as written communication, decision making under pressure, negotiation, persuasion, and research on complex problems facing the world today. Teachers at any public or private school, homeschool program, or military/diplomatic school abroad serving students ages 13-18 may run as many simulations as they choose between now and December 31, 2026, at a cost of $175 per session.
“As not just director of an education platform but also a father who homeschooled his high schooler for a year, I know it takes a lot to keep students engaged when learning complex material,” said Dr. Robert D. Lamb, Director of the ICONS Project at the University of Maryland, College Park. “After a successful pilot with high schools in Maryland, we wanted to expand the offer to the rest of the country so all American high school students can have the same opportunity to learn how to navigate some of the hardest problems our country faces.”
ICONS has been designing and delivering online role-play simulations to students in more than 50 countries for over 40 years, from middle schools to graduate studies and all ages between. Its simulations immerse students in the roles of leaders, countries, officials, organizations, and other stakeholders navigating real-world policy challenges, complex crises, and interagency or international negotiations.
The results, according to educators who have used ICONS for years, are difficult to replicate through conventional instruction.
“There is always a moment when I’m using a simulation that I find all my students buzzing about a topic they would otherwise not have had such an interest in,” said Dustin Jeter, a Maryland social studies teacher who has run ICONS simulations for more than ten years. “We can talk about all the considerations of foreign policy, but there is something about having students try to find solutions to complex problems that makes ICONS such a great tool. I would encourage instructors to give it a chance—they’ll be hooked!”
“I hear students gasp in the classroom and ask how we're going to solve this new crisis,” added Thomas Guarrieri, Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. “It creates an analogy to what students will be seeing after they graduate.”
All simulations run on ICONSnet, ICONS’s purpose-built web platform that is accessible from any standard web browser on a desktop or laptop computer (not mobile devices). The platform gives students controlled communication channels, negotiation tools, multimedia resources, and a proposal center—everything needed to conduct a full simulation without any additional software. It tracks all student decisions and written communications, and gives teachers a transcript and other tools that allow them to monitor and document student participation.
Research on experiential learning consistently demonstrates that simulations produce gains in critical thinking, written argument, and cross-cultural perspective-taking.
“The best learning comes from doing,” said Brigid Starkey, Teaching Professor in Political Science at the University of Maryland–Baltimore County.
Starkey has used ICONS simulations in her college teaching over many years. She notes that the program’s self-contained modules integrate readily into courses across multiple disciplines and levels.
“From dialing back a nuclear crisis in the Koreas to attempting to rescue an Ambassador in New Delhi, simulating political events is an exciting way to put theory into practice,” said Starkey. “Student evaluations always point to the ICONS exercise as the favorite part of a class.”
ICONS simulations align naturally with many classes already running in public high schools, including world history, social studies, government and politics, human geography, and economics as well as a number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and honors classes. They support student achievement of several Common Core ELA standards and standards set by the National Council for the Social Studies.
The simulations can be run synchronously—with everyone engaging at the same time during a defined period—or asynchronously using messaging tools that enable students and teachers to participate on their own time. Each simulation comes with a complete facilitator guide, student research materials, a full suite of communication tools (direct and group messaging, news, and social media), and technical support from the ICONS team.
ICONS simulations normally cost either $16 per student or a flat rate of $350 for up to 50 students. By making its full catalog available to high schools classes at half the usual rates, ICONS is giving school districts access to advanced educational tools that would otherwise be unavailable as budgets are tightening across the country—lowering a financial barrier that has historically limited experiential learning programs to better-resourced districts.
Any public high school teacher or administrator interested in learning more may request a flyer with the discount code, or may contact the ICONS team for more information. Simulation content may be previewed by requesting free scenario excerpts for any of the 25 simulations. The full simulation catalog, selection guide, excerpt request form, and registration page can be found at icons.umd.edu/education/catalog or by contacting the ICONS team directly at icons@umd.edu.
Published on Wed, Aug 12, 2026 - 2:32PM