Games for Change at Student Tech Conference

by Ed Latham

Today in Orono, Maine over 800 students and teachers from around the state gathered to learn and share technical innovations and ideas in education. Olga LaPlante and I offered two sessions introducing lessons designed around using educational games published on the Games for Change organization.

The first of our sessions walked participants through a sample lesson that would begin a unit of study on energy policy. Participants were invited to use a sample simulation to play with different energy generation possibilities that all had potential to create stresses on the economic, environmental, and security aspects of the simulation city. Based on participant choices the game will provide a score and ranking. Students will then develop a brief energy policy based on the simulation and post their recommendation in a blog. The Resources and activity can be found at http://tinyurl.com/mltigames1

Our second session introduced a scenario that had local school board officials soliciting input from participants as to which game might be best to incorporate into the curriculum this next semester. Participants were asked to assume one of four different perspectives while they explored 3 different games. Each group of four students would then post their recommendation to the school board on a blog. The session resources and materials can all be found at http://tinyurl.com/mltigames2