P09 BYOL: Play to Learn—Designing Effective Learning Games
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Tuesday, March 21
International South
Learning games are a hot trend—but why? What makes them work, and how in the world do you go about designing one?
In this workshop, you will explore a variety of games to identify what makes them playable, and then you’ll design your own learning games using a step-by-step approach. You will build a prototype of your game and actually play it—learning how to play test and how to iterate to improve the game’s playability and efficacy as a learning tool. You will leave the workshop with a coherent road map to help you design future games (whether those are online or table-top games). You will also take with you a list of resources to help you further your learning and skill development as a game designer.
In this session, you will learn:
- How to use an evaluation checklist to assess a wide array of games for the quality and effectiveness of your game design and your potential applicability to a learning game design
- How to recognize and define 15 common game elements and 10 common game dynamics in the development of learning games
- How to create simple prototypes for learning games
- How to use a play testing process to do rapid iteration of a game design
Audience:
Novice to
advanced designers, developers, and anyone else who wants to learn how to
incorporate effective games into their learning initiatives.
Participant technology requirements:
Participants
should bring a laptop or tablet. If participants are unable to bring a device,
there will be an opportunity to share and work in teams.
Karl Kapp
Professor
Commonwealth University
Karl Kapp, EdD, is a professor of instructional technology at Commonwealth University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania who teaches instructional game design, gamification, and online learning design. He keeps busy internationally consulting, training, coaching, and counseling established companies, academic institutions, and startups. He co-founded L&D Mentoring Academy, which helps midcareer learning professionals move to the next level. Karl has authored many books and created several LinkedIn Learning courses. In 2019, he received the ATD Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award. His YouTube series, "The Unauthorized, Unofficial History of Learning Game," is his current passion project.
