Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, said, “you might learn something playing a game; you will always learn something making a game.”
There is a growing movement among progressive and revolutionary educators to recognize the value of using games in education. While classroom ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘Bingo’ have long been used as review and rewards, games are starting to be applied in more varied ways. Digital and cardboard games for learning are important because they are engaging for students, they allow for individualization, and they inspire kids to dig into course content. The goal of The Sycamore School is to recognize the importance of being actively engaged in one’s own learning and to shift students to producers of ideas and understanding, rather than merely consumers of content.
Games are fantastic tools in classrooms; however, teachers often deprive students of their most active and engaging facet - game creation. Rather than presenting a game as a fully formed product for students to experience, we can and should include students in the design of games. We will discuss how to shift to students as producers, giving them autonomy and mastery over the subject matter. We hope to inspire you to have your students modify pre-existing games as a way to explore, learn, and demonstrate understanding. In this session, we will provide an opportunity to play, discuss, and begin to modify a game. This session, Mod it! Students as Game Creators via off-the-shelf Games, will highlight the process and benefits of game modding and suggest some new and interesting games to try.
