Summer is here and that can only mean one thing:
It’s time to don our tallest top hats and take the stage for some industry conference speaking engagements. The next month is jam-packed with opportunities to see our faces and hear our thoughts on the latest and greatest in educational game development. Read on for a curated list of talks across five different industry shows, covering topics like digital robotics, remote learning, workforce training, developing games around existing IP, and more. We hope to see you out there!
OnRamp Education & Workforce Innovation Conference | June 17
Gaming, the Key to Modern Workforce Learning
Presenters: Jennifer Javornik (Filament Games); Lyndon Perry (Creative Systems and Consulting)
In this talk, Filament VP of Sales Jennifer Javornik will join forces with Creative Systems and Consulting’s Lyndon Perry to discuss the core role that game-based learning will play in the future of workforce development. If you’ve ever wondered how educational game development methodologies can be applied to industrial equipment training, this talk is for you.
▶ Register here.
Serious Play Conference | June 23-25
PANEL: Using Digital Games in Higher Education (Note: this panel will also take place at the Connected Learning Summit)
Presenters: Eric Brown (Director – Alice, Carnegie Mellon University); Cheryl Bodnar (Associate Professor of Experiential Engineering Education (ExEEd), Rowan University); and Sarah M. Cavanaugh (Assistant Professor & Small Animal Medical Skills Program Coordinator, Ross University); Dan Norton (Chief Creative Officer, Filament Games)
In this session, we’ll take an actionable, evidence-backed look at how their institutions are leveraging the unique affordances of digital games as instructional tools. From helping students learn and practice the fundamental principles of programming in a block-based coding environment, to using games to teach key chemical safety and risk management skills to engineering students, and even equipping veterinary students with the tools needed to digitally simulate cardiac auscultation for canine and equine patients, join us for a closer look at how universities across the country are using digital games to explore the relationship between learning and play, building experiences that successfully communicate vital learning outcomes.
TALK: Digital Robotics and the Future of Remote Learning
Presenter: Brandon Pittser (VP of Marketing, Filament Games)
Amidst the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic, K12 robotics clubs and programs face a huge challenge: making robotics and engineering learning accessible to remote learners. In this presentation, Filament Games’ Brandon Pittser will explore how digital robotics represents an innovative new form of project-based learning, making hands-on STEAM learning accessible to students across classroom, at-home, and hybrid learning environments. He’ll discuss the potential of digital robotics to facilitate self-motivated experimentation, imparting key future-facing skills like critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication among learners – all from the comfort of their computer screens.
▶ Register here.
ISTELive 2021 | June 26-30
TALK: How Do We Engage Remote Students in Robotics Learning? Make It Virtual
Presenter: Jennifer Javornik (VP of Sales, Filament Games)
This presentation will illustrate a potential solution to this dilemma: making robotics virtual, thereby accessible for learners across in-person, at-home, and hybrid learning environments. We’ll hone in on how virtual robotics programs can enable at-home engineering learning, and in doing so, also increase accessibility to populations who wouldn’t traditionally have access to robotics programs.
▶ Register here.
Connected Learning Summit | July 7-30
PANEL: Adapting PBS Kids’ Hero Elementary to Educational Games
Presenters: Dan Norton (Filament Games); Charlie Mackin (Twin Cities PBS); Amanda Dittami (Twin Cities PBS)
Creating educational digital games that complement a television property presents a number of interesting challenges. Especially when they’re supposed to be teaching science, while talking about superpowers. In this session, discover how Twin Cities PBS and Filament Games teamed up to co-develop a suite of educational games that integrate and align to pre-existing characters and world-building from PBS KIDS’ Hero Elementary animated series. We’ll begin our presentation with a discussion of transmedia educational game design strategies, before sharing relevant examples of how our teams successfully adapted themes from the STEM-focused superhero series into meaningful game mechanics.
PANEL: Using Digital Games in Higher Education (Note: this panel will also take place at the Serious Play Conference)
Presenters: Eric Brown (Director – Alice, Carnegie Mellon University); Cheryl Bodnar (Associate Professor of Experiential Engineering Education (ExEEd), Rowan University); and Sarah M. Cavanaugh (Assistant Professor & Small Animal Medical Skills Program Coordinator, Ross University); Dan Norton (Chief Creative Officer, Filament Games)
In this session, we’ll take an actionable, evidence-backed look at how their institutions are leveraging the unique affordances of digital games as instructional tools. From helping students learn and practice the fundamental principles of programming in a block-based coding environment, to using games to teach key chemical safety and risk management skills to engineering students, and even equipping veterinary students with the tools needed to digitally simulate cardiac auscultation for canine and equine patients, join us for a closer look at how universities across the country are using digital games to explore the relationship between learning and play, building experiences that successfully communicate vital learning outcomes.
▶ Register here.
WRCCS Conference | July 27-28
Digital Robotics and the Future of STEM Learning
Presenter: Dan White (CEO, Filament Games)
In this presentation, Filament Games CEO Dan White will explore how digital robotics represents an innovative new form of project-based learning, making hands-on STEAM learning accessible to K12 students across classroom, at-home, and hybrid learning environments. He’ll discuss the potential of digital robotics to facilitate self-motivated experimentation, imparting key future-facing skills like critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication among learners, while simultaneously presenting a hands-on demo of our upcoming NSF-funded robotics game created in partnership with FIRST Robotics.
▶ Register here.