Games and Learning

This week’s 11^th Annual Games for Changes Festival in New York City may be the largest festival yet.

With a partner in New York’s legendary Tribeca Film Festival and the likes of Jane McGonigal, award-winning game designer and rock-star speaker; Noah Falstein, Chief Game Designer for Google and Jenova Chen, another award-winning game designer and Creative Director of Thatgamecompany, the Festival is sure to attract large crowds this year.

There are plenty of #GBL sessions at this year’s Festival, including a specific “games for learning and assessment strategies” focus day on Thursday, April 24.  The gamesandlearning.org crew will be tracking the sessions and providing live updates – be sure to follow us on Twitter for all the latest.

But if you are lucky enough to be in New York this week for the Festival, we wanted to give you a bit of a guide to Games for Change.

G4C For Newbies

For those who are just starting out in the games and learning space, Games for Change offers plenty of opportunities to network and learn the basics.  Here are just a few:

Game Design Workshops
Learn design fundamentals, basic programming and a verb-centered design approach in these three game design workshops. Note that pre-registration is required.
Tuesday, April 22 9:00AM – 11:30AM
NYU Kimmel Center, Rosenthal Pavilion

G4C Speed Networking
You know what they say… “early bird gets the worm”. If you’re looking to connect with the top experts at the Festival, here’s your chance.  Be sure to pre-register as space is limited.
Tuesday, April 22 9:00AM – 11:30AM
NYU Kimmel Center, Shorin Performance Studio, Room 802

Meet the Experts
Free 20 minute consultations with gaming experts.
Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, April 24 9:00AM – 11:30AM
The Uncommons Game Cafe

Games for Change in the Year 2024
If you are just starting out, you may not want to miss this talk with Jane McGonigal who will lay out her predictions for what games will look like ten years from now.  This is guaranteed to be a standing-room only session.
Tuesday, April 22 12:15PM – 12:45PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Evolving Games for Change
Who is likely to have a sense of the rapidly evolving digital world of games? Google, that’s who. Google’s chief game designer Noah Falstein takes the stage right after McGonigal.
Tuesday, April 22 12:45PM – 1:15PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Well Played Series
How do you know if you’re developing a “good” game vs. a “bad” game?  On Tuesday USC’s Tracy Fullerton  will analyze the gameplay experience and decipher what impact games can have. Playmatic’s Nick Fortugno offers a similar session on Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 22 1:45PM – 2:15PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts
or
Wednesday, April 23 1:30PM-2:00PM
Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Investment

State of the Indie + State of the Industry
The title says it all.  Entertainment Software Association SVP Erik Huey and game designer Zach Gage will give a state of the industry schpiel that investors and game developers may not want to miss.
Tuesday, April 22 2:15PM – 2:45PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

#GBL @ G4C

GlassLab / Collaborating for Change
Our friends at GlassLab will talk about their model of collaboration with the commercial games industry and leading experts in learning and assessment to develop quality educational games.  They will also be launching their new game being developed with NASA.
Tuesday, April 22 2:45PM – 3:15PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Games and the Future of Cognitive Enhancement
One of the areas of research that has seen huge leaps in recent years is our understanding of how people learn and how brains develop. Great, but how doe that help me make a better game? Mount Sinai neuroscientist Dr. Adam Gazzaley has some thoughts.
Tuessday, April 23 5:45PM – 6:15PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Fact or Fiction: Can Games Rapidly Develop World-Class Experts and Achieve Mastery for 95% of All Students?
Leading academic Zoran Popović will talk about why we’re still so far away from having games transform the world.
Wednesday, April 23 12:00PM – 12:30PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Thursday Morning Mini-Talks
This series of 10-minute talks is not to be missed! From defining what’s “educational” to a talk about the biggest math class, getting the parents’ perspective and discussing the Minecraft experience, this session should definitely be on your hit list.
Thursday, April 24 9:00AM – 11:30AM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Remaking Learning: Live from Pittsburg
Explore how gamers, technologists, artists, teachers and others come together to create learning experiences in and out of school.
Thursday, April 24 12:00PM – 1:00PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Turning Fantasy Into Reality: Building Games that Schools Need
A true gamesandlearning.org panel, with members of the Games and Learning Publishing Council Chris Curran and Constance Steinkuehler, this session will explore what it takes to have games be successful learning and assessment tools.  The panelists will also discuss how to get games into the K-12 marketplace.
Thursday, April 24 – 1:00PM – 2:00PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts

Co.lab’s Vertical Accelerator as a Model for Promoting Startups for Social Change
Hear about co.labs’ model for developing learning games and hear from members of the first cohort to see how the co.lab model worked for them.
Thursday, April 24 – 3:15PM – 3:45PM
NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts