Take this out once we set the timing Schedule –Circle slide up at the beginning waiting period –0:00 to 0:01Moderator’s Opening[1 minute] –0:01 to 0:16Slides 1-5 (Gail)[15 minutes] –0:16 to 0:21Q&A [5 minutes] –0:21 to 0:31Slides 9-11 (Barbara)[10 minutes] –0:31 to 0:41Slide 12 (Gail){10 minutes} –0:41 to 0:49Slide 13 (Interactive/Q&A)[8 minutes] –0:49 to 0:54Slides (Barbara)[5 minutes] –0:54 to 0:59Slide 16(Conclusions)[5 minutes] –0:59 to 0:60Moderator’s Closing[1 minute] 1

The Role of Play in Learning with Technology ELI Webinar 5/4/09 2

Gail Matthews- DeNatale Associate Director, Academic Technology, Simmons College Barbara Draude Assistant Vice President for Academic and Instructional Technologies Middle Tennessee State University 3

Objectives Discuss theories of “playful learning” Share examples of faculty-developed, play-based learning experiences Provide advice and guiding questions for the development of play-based learning experiences on your campus Link to additional resources on play- based learning 4

Let’s Play! 5 Poll

What’s Going on While at Play? 6 Open-ended Youth directed, Youth generated Improvisation Risk-taking Emergent collaboration and group process Bricolage (Tinkering) Deep engagement and personal investment Experimentation Multiple drafts/iterations Imitation Fantasy “Convergent” process for multimedia composition

What do the “Experts” Say? 7 Brown – Exploration, Building, Role Play Osterweil – Four Freedoms of Play Sutton-Smith – The Ambiguity of Play Nat’l Institute of Play – Seven Patterns Strong Museum – Six Elements of Play Read more at Theoretical-Models-for-Play

Question Break 8

PRACTICE AND LOW STAKES ASSESSMENT – activities to review content and knowledge-based information, as with computer games, students can “level up” when ready 9 Dr. Carolyn Hopper, English (Study Skills) “Play builds on a student’s intent to learn, strengthens synaptic connections and allows students to learn from their mistakes without the stakes being too high” MTSU Faculty Examples

DATA MANIPULATION – activities to provide opportunities to apply content to situations 10 Dr. Don Roy, Marketing Play “blends content learning with process learning”, playing this simulation gives the students the “chance to apply principles to give them a feel for marketing”. MTSU Faculty Examples

ROLE PLAY, SIMULATIONS, IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENTS – activities to provide opportunities to apply content to “real-life” situations and allow for higher order problem-solving and analysis applications 11 Dr. Scott Seipel, Computer Information Systems (Authored a multiplayer online decision making game called The OPEC Game) When playing the game “the students are engaged, involved and really feel it”; “by the end of the semester, the students will beg to play the game”

Dr. Mary Jane Tracy Honors Program Simmons College Author of the educational game entitled "Greenwich Village, 1913, Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman" Designing for play-based learning 12 Hear the full interview at Designing+for+Play-Based+Learning

What About You? 13 Use the chat to share examples of playful learning at your own institutions

Guiding Questions for successful play-based learning experiences What learning objectives are you trying to accomplish? What timing and resources constraints do you face? What resources do you have available to “play the game”? What support do you have available to help you in the design and implementation? 14

Resources

Final Comments and Questions 16

Thanks Gail Matthews-DeNatale Barbara Draude 17