"Games in Education" Meetup

Join us Wednesday November 20th at 6:30 for a panel discussion on how games are being used in educational settings to provide content, skills and problem-solving opportunities. Cost is $5 and includes refreshments.

UCSC Department Chair of Computer Science Jim Whitehead will share what the research says about using games to develop critical thinking; Joe Allington of the MakersFactory will demonstrate how to use MinecraftEdu as a curriculum tool; and Yann Nicolas of Westlake Elementary will discuss how board games build team-based collaborative skills and strategic thinking in his program.

Whether you're a classroom teacher, after-school enrichment program provider, home school parent, administrator, researcher, or gamer, join us for an enlightened evening discussing how games are changing the future of education.

About the speakers:

Jim Whitehead (http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~ejw/)is Professor and Chair of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he performs research in the fields of software evolution, software bug prediction, and automated generation of computer game levels.

"I was an active participant in successful efforts to create a new undergraduate major, the BS in Computer Science: Computer Game Design. As of June 15, 2006, this new major was officially approved by UC Santa Cruz and is very interdisciplinary, including several courses from the Arts Division on campus. It is a rigorous Computer Science degree, providing a solid, strong background in computer science, with additional courses that teach the elements of computer game design. A three course capstone design sequence permits students to work in teams for a year to develop a substantial computer game."

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As Project Manager of MakersEd, Joe Allington (http://makersfactory.com/the-makers/about-us/) works to design and build a support system for educators looking to use Minecraft in classrooms and after-school enrichment programs, a system that includes teacher training, lesson plan creation, and IT support. Joe began working as a technician and teacher at MakersFactory in February 2012, and graduated from UC Santa Cruz in Spring 2013 with a degree in Computer Science: Computer Game Design. Joe's work at MakersFactory also includes 2D and 3D CAD design, as well as the development of curriculum to teach Java coding through Minecraft mod-making.

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Yann Nicolas (http://www.mrnclass.com/bio/) is an educator and technologist born and raised in Brittany, France to a family of teachers and currently teaching fourth grade at Westlake Elementary School.

“In terms of video gaming, I’ve been playing since I was about 8 years old, starting in the days of the ZX-81, Commodore 64 through the Amiga 500 and Atari 520ST and to the “modern” era of PC gaming. I have also loved playing AD&D and other “pen and paper” role playing games since my early teens and more recently graduated to euro-style board gaming in the past 15 years.

I started the Westlake Tabletop Society (http://www.mrnclass.com/wts/) because I believe in the social experience of playing board games around a table and interacting with friends and family at every level. That aspect, combined with the incredible strategy and critical thinking that comes with playing these games led to a natural need to combine it with teaching. Though I am still struggling with adapting some of these games to an entire classroom environment, I have been successful in using games like Dixit to create interesting storytelling lessons where students work together in teams to tell stories. In addition, I’m exploring how games like Pandemic or Mice & Mystics could help provide team-based cooperation and learning opportunities for the classroom.

I strongly believe that intellectual curiosity is the basis of all learning. When a student is fully engaged in the process he or she will make a personal connection with the information being taught, and then apply that knowledge to a variety of experiences.”