The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences will host “Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation” on Thursday, May 27, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at 251 Mercer Street as part of the 7th Annual Games for Change Festival.
New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences will host “Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation” on Thursday, May 27, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. at 251 Mercer Street [at Mercer and West 4th Streets], Room 109 [enter on Gould Plaza at West 4th and Greene Streets]) as part of the 7th Annual Games for Change Festival.
The day is organized by the Games for Learning Institute (G4LI), a joint research endeavor of Microsoft Research and a consortium of universities. G4LI studies the educational use of digital games and investigates their socio-cultural, cognitive, and emotional impact.
The day’s sessions will include: “When Can Computer Games Be Useful for Instruction?,” “How to Take Advantage of the Medium to Support Active Learning,” and “Action Video Game Playing as a Learning Tool,” among other presentations. G4LI is developing design patterns for effective educational games that industry partners can draw on to assure high quality when designing their own games for learning. Its current focus is on games that teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to middle-school students.
G4LI Co-Director Jan Plass, a professor in NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, said: “The Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation Day at the G4C Festival is significant because it brings together researchers and designers from across the country to discuss not only the specifics of game design for learning, considering game mechanics, audiences, and learning goals, but also methods to study games and assess learning as well as important learner variables, such as engagement or self-regulation.”
The event is part of the 7th Annual Games for Change Festival (May 24-27) at Parsons The New School for Design May 24-26.
To register and for a complete schedule of all festival sessions, which feature U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, “Law and Order: SVU Executive Producer Neal Baer, digital pioneer Alan Kay and others, click here. go to: . The festival includes four days of panels, keynotes, and brainstorming sessions, as well as press briefings, and an expo and reception where attendees can have the direct experience of playing pioneering social impact games. For more information, call 212.998.3411.
Reporters wishing to attend the May 27 session or the Games for Change Festival must RSVP to Michelle Byrd at mbyrd@michellebyrd.net.
The Annual Games for Change Festival brings together the world’s leading foundations, non-governmental organizations, game-makers, academics, and journalists to explore how best to harness the powerful medium of computer and video games to help address the most critical issues of our day, from poverty, climate change, global conflicts, to human rights. This year’s sponsors include the Knight Foundation, the AMD Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Parsons The New School for Design. The last day of the festival, Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation is sponsored by Microsoft, Motorola and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
About Games for Change (G4C)
Founded in 2004, Games for Change is a non-profit organization which seeks to harness the extraordinary power of video games to address the most pressing issues of our day, including poverty, education, human rights, global conflict and climate change. G4C acts as a voice for the transformative power of games, bringing together organizations and individuals from the nonprofit sector, government, journalism, academia, industry and the arts, to grow the sector and provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and resources. Through this work, Games for Change promotes new kinds of games that engage contemporary social issues in meaningful ways to foster a more just, equitable and tolerant society.
The Games for Learning Institute
The G4LI is a joint research endeavor of Microsoft Research and a consortium of universities. The partners include: Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Chile’s Pontifical Catholic University, and Teachers College as well as NYU. The Institute’s aim is to identify which qualities of computer games engage students and develop relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process.
