Let's Make a Game Workshop
Let’s Make a Game Workshop Led by Chris ‘Wombat’ Crowell I am pleased to announce I will be leading an educational game design workshop at UNESCO’s MGIEP Transforming Education Conference for Humanity (http://mgiep.tech/). Making any game is hard, making an educational game is even more challenging. This workshop takes educators through a proven process of turning curriculum into engaging gameplay. PREMISE: Education is in the midst of a digital revolution. Modern students have grown up with the Internet and interactive digital media, and expect to control their information sources and activities in every aspect of their life. There is a paradigm shift in pedagogy underway, as schools at all levels are changing to give students more control, and to increase engagement with the curriculum. I am a veteran game designer who has spent the last several years working with educators to develop effective and engaging learning games. This experience has proven that game design principles are fundamental to creating captivating interactive experiences, and game development processes are key to successful projects. BACKGROUND: In 2014 I was a participant in the White House Educational Game Jam, where numerous small teams created working prototypes of education games. Since then I have been part of other educational game projects where these principles and processes have been essential to success. I ran this workshop at the Games In Education symposium in August at University At Albany, with 7 small teams successfully creating paper prototypes that they were able to take back their schools for further development. WORKSHOP: In the 60 minutes of this condensed ‘game jam’ workshop, I will lead small teams through these proven stages of creating a game based learning experience based on the curriculum of their choice. This workshop is for teachers who are highly motivated, but hesitant or unskilled at creating games based on their curriculum. WORKSHOP FLOW: During the whole process we will discuss the choices and make the changes needed to evolve the concepts into an engaging play experience that deepens the understanding of the curriculum. Stages are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Form a team based on a common curriculum strand Deconstruct the curriculum to focus on selected elements Brainstorm and concept interesting gameplay that uses those elements Create a rough paper prototype with rules and play pieces
TAKEAWAYS: Participants will come away with: * Understanding of fundamentals of game design, and how they can help empower pedagogy. * Hands on experience in deconstructing a curriculum to find the activities that can form the core of a cohesive educational game. * Greater confidence in starting game creation projects in the classroom that they can use.
Form a team based on a common curriculum strand Deconstruct the curriculum to focus on selected elements Brainstorm and concept interesting gameplay that uses those elements Create a rough paper prototype with rules and play pieces
TAKEAWAYS: Participants will come away with: * Understanding of fundamentals of game design, and how they can help empower pedagogy. * Hands on experience in deconstructing a curriculum to find the activities that can form the core of a cohesive educational game. * Greater confidence in starting game creation projects in the classroom that they can use.
