The document announces a Seattle Ed Tech Game Jam to take place on June 20, 2012. It discusses 5 key points about games and learning: that gaming culture encourages pushing boundaries while school structure discourages this; gamification uses rewards but not actual gameplay; assessment in games ignores their potential; game designers and gamers need to improve representation and inclusion; and educators using games should play and create games themselves to better understand gaming. The event will include a one hour game jam where participants brainstorm, prototype, test, and refine small board games in groups over four 15 minute phases.

1. Seattle Ed Tech
Game Jam
http://www.meetup.com/EdTechSeattle/
Framing and Game Plan
June 20, 2012
Mark Chen @mcdanger markdangerchen.net
Organizers: Amy Lin, Steven Siden, Lindsey Own

2. 5 Things about Games
and Learning
(since I have a captive audience...)

3. 1. Gaming is necessarily subversive.
Games are systems of constraints and goals.
Gaming is exploring these systems.
Expert gaming is pushing at the boundaries.
There is therefore tension in traditional school
structure and gaming culture.
(I'd love to see courses that reframe "cheating" as "hacking" and rewards it.)

4. 2. Gamification sucks.
uses reward system of games, not actual
gameplay
Sebastian Deterding's keynote from Games
Learning Society 2012:
http://codingconduct.cc/Paideia-as-Paidia

5. 3. Assessment in games is absurd.
Data analytics can be useful, but focusing
solely on it ignores gaming's biggest potential.
cf. Stevens, Stawicz, McCarthy's "In-game, In-room, In-
world" paper:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/chapters/026269364Xchap3.pdf
cf. James Paul Gee's keynote from this morning at Games
4 Change: http://new.livestream.com/g4c/jamespaulgee

6. 4. Game designers and gamers need
to do better.
regarding representation, inclusion, bullying,
etc.
cf. Feminist Frequency's recent Kickstarter campaign for video series on
Tropes vs. Women in Video Games:
http://www.themarysue.com/the-all-too-familiar-harassment-against-feminist-frequency-
and-what-the-gaming-community-can-do-about-it/
(But there's a tension between making games challenging
vs. inclusion, esp. in classroom contexts.)

7. 5. Educators who use games need to
play and make games.
A lot of why gamification and assessment is in tension with
gaming comes from misunderstanding of gaming.
Thus: Game Jam for Learning!

8. One Hour Game Jam!
Pick a playful theme. Small groups of 4 or 5.
Four 15 minute phases:
1. Brainstorm
2. First prototype of game completed
3. Test and iterate
4. Refine, create rulesheet, name, etc.
Debrief.
(We'll provide bits and pieces, dice, playing cards, paper, index cards, pencils, markers, etc.)