92% of two-year olds play games!

10,000 hours of gaming …

… by the age of 21

Can games teach

us to save the

real world?

“The opposite of play

isn’twork –

it’s depression.”

10 Positive Emotions

5. Curiosity

4. Excitement

3. Awe & Wonder

2. Contentment

1. Creativity

10. Joy

9. Relief

8. Love

7. Surprise

6. Pride

10 Positive Emotions

5. Curiosity

4. Excitement

3. Awe & Wonder

2. Contentment

1. Creativity

10. Joy

9. Relief

8. Love

7. Surprise

6. Pride

EUSTRESSpositive stress

Game designer nominated for

Nobel Peace Prize by 2023

1 Billion Gamers

187

35

110

105 31180

142

16

17

38

10

18

(play EVOKE trailer)

In 10 weeks, we enrolled 19,893 students in

>130 countries

(play Find the Future trailer)

Can games teach

us to save the

real world?

10 practical ways to bring

gamer superpowers to the

classroom

Jane McGonigal, PhD

@avantgame

GET THESE SLIDES: slides@avantgame.com

1. Get inspired by gameful schools

• Quest to Learn: http://Q2l.org

• RIT student achievement system: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=145734

• Indiana University Gaming the Classroom project: http://gamingtheclassroom.wordpress.com/

2. Tap into HASTAC competitions

• Mozilla’s Open Badges infrastructure https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges

• Learning Lab winners http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/3/winners.php?comp=ll

• Winners Hubhttp://hastac.org/competitions

3. Play worldchanging games• FoldIthttp://fold.it• Galaxy Zoo http://galaxyzoo.org• Canaries in a Coalmine

http://www.inacoalmine.com/canaries/tryit.php• EVOKE http://urgentevoke.com• Find the Future http://game.nypl.org• World Without Oil http://worldwithoutoil.org

4. Teach digital game design

• Gamestar Mechanic http://gamestarmechanic.com/

• Game Maker http://www.yoyogames.com/make

• Game creation resources http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

5. Make a school or town ARG!

• Alternate Reality Game design for kids http://www.slideshare.net/avantgame/make-an-alternate-reality-game

6. Join Gameful get help

• Gameful: a secret HQ for anyone who wants to change the world with games http://gameful.org

7. Celebrate superpower development

• 3D spatial• hand-eye coordination (surgeons!)• history• reading• teamwork• problem-solving (trial and error)• knowledge sharing (wikis, forums, youtube demos and

walkthroughs)

8. Play world-building games• Minecrafthttp://minecraft.net• Minecraft in the classroom http://minecraftteacher.net/• Little Big Planet http://littlebigplanet.com• Little Big Classroom

http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2011/03/lbp-classroom.html

• LBP Teacher packs http://www.1up.com/news/littlebigplanet-teach-math-science

9. Accommodate diverse player styles

• Girls are more motivated by cooperative gaming, boys typically gravitate to competitive gaming

• Everyone responds well to “personal bests” competition

• Multiplayer co-op and social gaming has the broadest appeal

• Girls may initially face higher cognitive load with 3D gaming and interfaces

• Some players prefer exploring vs. creating

10. Tap into theparticipatory teaching culture

• Games & Learning Society http://gameslearningsociety.org

• Videogames and Learning: Teaching and Participatory Culture in the Digital Age http://amzn.to/tIYE4f

http://amzn.to/sKMl7Ehttp://amzn.to/sKMl7E

Inspire others….