Games for Learning

In advance of some upcoming interviews Steve has scheduled here over the next month or so, I wanted to go a little further with an introduction and request for some help.

The Learning Games Network is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage the development of--and facilitate the use of--games as effective learning tools. Much of our focus is on computer games, because of kids' inclinations these days and because of the ease of distribution through the web and online play. But non-digital games can be equally profound as learning tools, as evidenced, for example, by Brenda Brathwaite's recent creation, Train. http://sourcesandmethods.blogspot.com/2009/06/brenda-brathwaite-is-...

LGN is pursuing its mission both by developing our own learning-game tools (we are working under a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to build an online platform/gaming world where students can use online games to study language -- http://www.glsconference.org/2009/program/event/187 ), and by building a thriving network community that includes developers and producers of games, educators and researchers on learning methods, and the students/players/learners themselves.

We invite you to become a part of that network and join the discussion, provide us your insight, and help us ask the questions that will expand the availability and usability of games as learning tools. www.learninggamesnetwork.org

We also ask your help as we launch a new facet of our initiative, the LGN Design Corps. The Design Corps is intended to be a nationwide community of students (middle school through undergraduate college) who can contribute to the development of learning games by testing and providing feedback on learning games that are in development and also participate in online webinar discussions with game designers and producers to get insight into the development process. In addition, members will have access to a designers' Summit we are planning for next summer and a game "Hack-a-Thon" just before the Game Developers Conference next spring.

I've attached Design Corps info sheets geared to both educators and students, as well as an application that we are asking students to fill out briefly, with a first-round deadline of Friday, September 25th. We would love for you to share the opportunity with any bright, creative, enthusiastic students that you think would be interested in the opportunity.

Finally, as an administrative detail, I had checked with Steve about the propriety of a post such as this, and he said it would be fine. In fact, he had been scheduling an interview with one of our Board members, James Paul Gee of the National Academy of Education, and he has now added another with two of our Founding Directors for Thursday evening, October 8th.

Nonetheless, if I've stretched the bounds of that propriety, put this in the wrong place, or mis-categorized it, my apologies, and I'll try to adjust.

Thanks for reading, and I'd be happy to field additional questions as best I can.