THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!

“Much can be learned in play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances demand it.”  John Amos Comenius (1649)

Join us on Thursday (3/19), one day before the conference starts, for Ideas at Play, a workshop to help you utilize games to promote learning in your classroom.

There are two tracks available:

1. For participants that are brand new to games as learning tools.
2. For participants that attended last year’s Ideas at Play or have prior experience using games as learning tools.

During the morning, attendees will experience a series of tried-and-tested low-tech games that involve moving our bodies and using props to effectively teach innovation and entrepreneurship in the college classroom. Games shared will foster communication, creativity, team-building, leadership, big-picture problem solving, opportunity recognition and more, all in a low-risk setting. Relevant literature on the benefits of applying games and their results on student learning will also be shared.

Attendees with experience will be introduced to sophisticated games that can be used as building blocks to other games, leading to culminating, often surprising outcomes.

In the afternoon, attendees will learn tips and strategies for creating games from experienced game makers. You will then have the opportunity to jump right in and design your own game and run and refine it with workshop leaders and attendees.

You will leave the workshop with a booklet of games, your very own game to run in your classroom, information on how to facilitate games and sources for existing games that can be changed and modified to suit your purposes. Captivate students with activities that will stick with them long past the class assignment is due.

Workshop leads:

• Cheryl Bodnar, University of Pittsburgh
• Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, Epicenter
• Victoria Matthew, VentureWell
• Joe Tranquillo, Bucknell University
• Pete Vigeant, Camp Mastermind
• Bryan Vitale, The Completely Surrounded