Today I attended Trade Day at Gen Con for the first time. There were a lot of interesting presentations which focused on the intersection of education and gaming. The first morning session discussed ways that games may be used in non-meaningful ways in education, and how to make the game element meaningful by ensuring that it relates directly to learning objectives, and that students have had the rationale for the game\u2019s inclusion explained to them explicitly. It mentioned gamification of a whole course, vs. gamifying individual activities or lessons.<\/p>\n
The next sessions focused on role play. One interesting thing that came out of this session was that students often feel hesitation to put their own views on the line, and so having them role play a particular historical figure in a book club discussion of the reading can give them confidence. The session also highlighted the need for rules and constraints \u2013 the speaker called it the \u201cNetflix dilemma,\u201d in which one spends more time browsing for things to watch than one spends actually watching. Students will often engage more with \u201ccharacter creation\u201d than they would if it was presented to them as \u201cresearch.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had lunch with a librarian and a professor who turned out to share some common interests across not just education and gaming but also religion, sci-fi, and other things.<\/p>\n
The first session I went to after lunch was focused on academic research about gaming and education. Different roles for gaming were mentioned \u2013 one can use a game to convey content or skills themselves, but one can also use a game simply as a way to make learning which follows game play seem more interesting and worthwhile. One can start with games and look for ways to use them educationally, or one can start with educational aims and look for ways to use games to accomplish them. There was also discussion of how the games we use or hope to use for education differ from the experience that draws gamers to Gen Con \u2013 even if it is the same game with the same rules, the experience may be completely different.<\/p>\n
The next session was the most directly relevant in specific, practical ways. A professor shared two gamified syllabuses from a university introduction to speaking course. The inspiration to try this came from his involvement in a game club, in which newcomers were very eager to learn the rules and find out how to earn points and ultimately win, and the stark contrast between that and the typical lack of student interest in the very similar information provided in a syllabus.<\/p>\n
I then had an hour break, when I checked e-mail and stopped by Will Call to pick up some event tickets that I had ordered late.<\/p>\n
The final session was an alpha test of a game designed to teach students about the kind of archaeological and paleontological research that is covered in the introduction to world history textbooks, the first chapter on human prehistory.<\/p>\n
I was very impressed with the attendance, both the numbers and the level of engagement. There are a lot of educators who are enthusiastic about gaming (and not just for professional\/educational purposes), and a lot of gamers who are enthusiastic about education.<\/p>\n
I am eager to try out some of the ideas I\u2019ve had (more on those on another occasion), and perhaps on some future occasion to\u00a0lead a session at Gen Con myself!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
On a related note, Inside Higher Ed<\/a> shared this video, envisaging a world in which teaching was prioritized rather than sports \u2013 and in the same way sports are:<\/p>\n