[conf] Games in Education Conference
On Tuesday, August 19, I spoke at the second annual Games in Education Symposium organized by 1st Playable Productions, at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium in Schenectady, NY. The two days of presentations and workshops allowed middle and high school teachers to explore how games and online play can and are being incorporated into the classroom.
I participated in a panel entitled "Playing Pretend", sharing some of the Global Kids' experience and expertise in using virtual worlds for learning. I discussed the different ways in which virtual worlds can be used for education, both in face-to-face programming and distance learning. I then asked the audience what tools they have in their own classrooms to teach about science. Many replied with a quick response of "textbooks" and a few mentioned they had a fossil or two that is accessible in their classroom. I then asked where they would go on a field trip during the paleontology unit if they could take their students anywhere in the world. You could see their eyes light up as they thought of the possibilities of where they could go.The group watched the newly-released video on I Dig Tanzania, the virtual summer camp that took teens in New York and Chicago on a virtual fossil hunt alongside Paleontologists doing fieldwork in Tanzania. This project seemed to really resonate with the educators that were present as a way to applicably incorporate virtual worlds and games into their curriculum. It was my aim for them to see that virtual worlds, such as Second Life, make learning a truly participatory experience rather than an a mere observation.
I enjoyed learning about other ways educators and practitioners are using games in the classroom to develop 21st century skills. One could feel the excitement and energy from the teachers in attendance as they began to think outside the box of how to incorporate technology into the classroom. Yet at the same time, I could also recognize both the apprehension and eagerness to bridge the gap between monogamous standardized teaching and testing and bring education into the 21st century. As word and ideas spread from one educator to the next, I am eager to see the broad and innovative uses of games in education with each annual symposium.
