1. Play-Based Learning: Physical, Virtual, and Edcational
Gail Matthews-DeNatale Associate Dean, GPP, Emmanuel College
Introductions
Your name
Institution
Role within the institution
What was it about this workshop that attracted your interest?

2. Central Questions What happens when we are at play? Why is it "fun"?
What do we learn through the experience of play?
How is one type of play different from another; and how do differing play experiences result in different types of learning?
How can we draw on physical play experiences to inform the creation of virtual play, and by extension to create opportunities for educational play?
Central Questions:
What happens when we are at play? Why is it "fun"?
What do we learn through the experience of play?
How is one type of play different from another; and how do differing play experiences result in different types of learning?
How can we draw on physical play experiences to inform the creation of virtual play, and by extension to create opportunities for educational play?

3. Physical Play
15 minutes - At each table there is a box of inexpensive play objects (e.g., origami, jump rope, Legos). First have them pick a toy to play with [individually? with a partner?] After 7 minutes, ask participants to stop and swap toys so that each team of two gets to play with two different toys.
10 minutes - Debrief at your tables.
What just happened here? How did you know you were "playing"? How would you characterize the two play experiences? How did they differ from one another? In what ways were they similar? What types of learning needs/scenarios would be particularly well suited for these toys? 3

4. What do the “Experts” Say?
Koster – Fun = Challenge at Edge of Ability
Osterweil – Four Freedoms of Play
Sutton-Smith – The Ambiguity of Play
Nat’l Institute of Play – Seven Types
Strong Museum – Six Elements of Play
Read more at Theoretical-Models-for-Play

5. National Institute of Play
Attunement
Body/Movement
Object Play
Social Play
Imaginative/Pretend
Storytelling/Narrative
*Transformative/Integrative
Read more at Theoretical-Models-for-Play

6. Strong Museum Anticipation Surprise Pleasure Understanding Strength
Poise
Read more at Theoretical-Models-for-Play

7. What is “Play”? Emergent collaboration and group process Open-ended
“Convergent” process for multimedia composition
Youth directed, Youth generated
Deep engagement and personal investment
Open-endedness, bricolage (for example, a phone used as the recording studio, a stick that is imagined to be a light saber -- freedom to use technologies in unanticipated and inventive ways - cite "Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production in a Digital Age" - Carnegie Foundation - Videos at
Collaboration (group process in which each member contributes -- the strengths of one benefit the others)
Experimentation (ad lib is the "pre writing" for script development)
Composition process that spans several media (f2f improv, text, video),
(Youth) student-directed and student-generated content
Imitation and fantasy (pretending -- doing something like iCarly, role playing)
Deep engagement and personal investment (flow). 
How can we infuse more of these features into the learning experiences we offer to our students?
Improvisation Risk-taking
Bricolage (Tinkering)
Imitation Fantasy
Experimentation Multiple drafts/iterations

8. Virtual Play (See Wiki Links)
Scrapblog
Wave
VoiceThread
Voki
SurveyMonkey
2-3 minutes - Demonstrate an example, modeling the type of experimentation we desire for the next portion of the workshop. “Play” the Smule leaf trombone and the ocarina iPhone apps and together with Barbara consider the things that can be learned playing with these apps.
23 minutes - Make sure that at least one person with a laptop is at each table. Have them go to a web page that includes a dozen or so web 2.0 apps. Select one and "play" with it ... not just experiment with using it, but DO something playful in the same way that you played with the toys in part one. Use the technology to play!
NOTE: Youth make transformative use of everyday objects for play all the time – think of an infant using kitchen pots and pans as musical instruments. Don’t be afraid to use the application for a different purpose than was originally intended.
(use navigation on the left to view applications)
10 minutes - How did you use these technologies to play (not just play with them)? What kind(s) of learning took place during that play experience?
Brainstorm and record on the overhead. When you teach your students, or when you consult with faculty about their teaching, what educational problems are most vexing, most pressing? Which aspects of learning are most challenging for the students at your school, in your discipline, in the courses that you teach?
As you go into break, consider how the play that you've just engaged in might be used to help address and transcend these challenges.
Jogtheweb
Flickr
Second Life
Chartle
Leaf Trombone
Gliffy
YouTube
Mapmyself
Jing
Comeeko
Myfloorplanner
Glog

9. Virtual Play Exercise
Working in pairs and using the links provided in the wiki, select one tool and "play" with it ... not just experiment with using it, but DO something playful in the same way that you played with the toys in part one.
Note: Each playgroup will need at least one web-enabled laptop – groups of 3-4 are okay if you don’t have enough computers.
2-3 minutes - Demonstrate an example, modeling the type of experimentation we desire for the next portion of the workshop. “Play” the Smule leaf trombone and the ocarina iPhone apps and together with Barbara consider the things that can be learned playing with these apps.
23 minutes - Make sure that at least one person with a laptop is at each table. Have them go to a web page that includes a dozen or so web 2.0 apps. Select one and "play" with it ... not just experiment with using it, but DO something playful in the same way that you played with the toys in part one. Use the technology to play!
NOTE: Youth make transformative use of everyday objects for play all the time – think of an infant using kitchen pots and pans as musical instruments. Don’t be afraid to use the application for a different purpose than was originally intended.
(use navigation on the left to view applications) 9

10. Virtual Play Debrief
How did you use these technologies to play (not just play with them)? What kind(s) of learning took place during that play experience?
10 minutes - How did you use these technologies to play (not just play with them)? What kind(s) of learning took place during that play experience? 10 10

11. Something to Think About
When you teach your students, or when you consult with faculty about their teaching, what educational problems are most vexing, most pressing? Which aspects of learning are most challenging for the students at your school, in your discipline, in the courses that you teach?
Brainstorm and record on the overhead. When you teach your students, or when you consult with faculty about their teaching, what educational problems are most vexing, most pressing? Which aspects of learning are most challenging for the students at your school, in your discipline, in the courses that you teach?
As you go into break, consider how the play that you've just engaged in might be used to help address and transcend these challenges. 11 11

12. Break

13. Vexing Learning Challenges
motivating the uninterested
larger classes
learning spaces & problem-based learning
time constraints
engaging yourself vs. fulfilling requirement
encouraging self-reflection
differing ability levels
combating pre-professionalism
inconsistent technology between classrooms
network problems
drawing the line between virtual and corporeal education
10 minutes - How did you use these technologies to play (not just play with them)? What kind(s) of learning took place during that play experience? 13 13

14. Educational Play Exercise
On each table is a sealed envelope that describes a higher education learning scenario. Your challenge is to select a 2.0 apps and create a play-based experience that meets your learning challenge. Be prepared to present your ideas to the whole group.
On each table there are four sealed envelopes. Each one includes one of the challenges that were brainstormed before the break. We'll also have extras on hand just in case the brainstorming fell flat.
30 mins - In groups of three (each needs to have at least one laptop), pick an envelope and open it. Your challenge is to use one of the 2.0 apps that you used for play to create a play-based experience that meets your learning challenge. Be prepared to present your ideas to the whole group.
Scenarios:
• You teach a chemistry course entitled “Energy and Global Warming.” Your students do lab experiments – for example, they obtain items from the local landfill to analyze the chemical components of waste. You want to improve the quality and depth of student observations and note-taking.
• You are teaching a course entitled “Cold War Culture.” You want your students to be able to view that era from the perspectives of people who lived it: US President Johnson, a US citizen, USSR General Secretary Brezhnev, and a USSR citizen.
• You are a philosophy teacher teaching a course entitled “Ethical and Legal Societal Issues of Information Technology.” You want your students to grapple with the ethical considerations involved in downloading music and/or altering digital images created by other artists.
15 minutes – tables share back with the whole group on what they developed, challenges, discoveries, etc. 14

15. Educational Play Debrief
How did you use play to “solve” your learning challenge? What were the discoveries and challenges along the way? 15 15

16. Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up16 16

17. Gail Matthews-DeNatale matthewsdenataleg@emmanuel.edu
Thanks
Gail Matthews-DeNatale