The Symposium features speakers that are leaders nationwide in the area of using video games to enhance educational goals. They represent experience with award winning games that are household names, as well as real experience in application to the classroom.
2010 Speakers Include (stay tuned for updates!)
Brock Dubbels, Teacher and Teacher Educator, The Center for Cognitive Sciences, the University of Minnesota; and Founder, vgAlt
Many attendees of the 2009 Games in Education symposium will remember Brock's motivating
presentation on "The Jekyll and Hyde Effect: Play, Games, and Learning in the Clasroom/ Professional Identities Torn Asunder?".
Brock has been working as a teacher and teacher educator since 1999. As a researcher, Brock is
affiliated with the Center for Cognitive Sciences at the University of Minnesota, and
specializes in reading comprehension, engagement, and exploring new technologies for assessment,
delivering content, and investigating ways people approach learning.
Brock is a former Fulbright Scholar, as well as a recipient of a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. He is currently in his 4th year teaching Videogames as Learning Tools at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and is expanding the curriculum to become a 20-credit certificate for teacher professional development on the integration of games and play. He is also the principal learning architect of a game designed for work force development to train nursing assistants. Brock recently started his own company called vgAlt which focuses on school district learning and assessment consultation and video game development.
Peggy Sheehy, Instructional Technology Facilitator and Media Specialist, Suffern Middle School, and Founder, MetaVersEd Consulting Ltd
Very active in her district teacher technology training program, Peggy is a passionate
enthusiast for the meaningful infusion of technology in education. In 2006, Peggy established
Ramapo Central's educational presence in Teen Second Life: "Ramapo Islands," and put Suffern
Middle School on the map as the first middle school to use the virtual world for education.
After great success with the first group of 400 8th grade students, Ramapo Islands now hosts
nearly 1000 students and their teachers and supports all curriculum areas.
Peggy has presented her work with students in Teen Second Life at the Tech Expo, NYSCATE, NECC, EdNet, and the Tech Forum NY 2007. She attended the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose where she made a strong case for the blending of the technology industry and education. As a true pioneer in teaching in virtual worlds, she is sought out for advice, curriculum direction and professional development for those that would follow in the footsteps of Ramapo Central. Her vision encompasses a globally collaborative 3-D virtual world campus where learning is student-centered, product-based, playful, and creative.
Michael Tomaino, Game Design Teacher at Mildred Elley College and Project Lead of Kids Software Platinum Arts
Sandbox Free 3D Game Maker
Michael Tomaino has been working with various game engines for over ten years and has a BA in Psychology with an emphasis in
Child Psychology from Siena College. He was the project lead of the multiple award winning Doom 3 Coop Mod Last Man
Standing and received the best Doom 3 Mod Of The Year Award at the GDC held IGF awards ceremony.
During his breaks working on the Mod, Michael found that he really enjoyed playing with the neighborhood kids and that
something was missing in his life. This lead him into the field of Childcare as a site director of a before and afterschoool program
at Lincoln Elementary School in Scotia. He recieved the Percentage Growth Award for over doubling the enrollment, reaching
maximum program capacity. To help the kids explore their imaginations and create stories, he used his game design experience
to create a program for them that would allow them to easily manipulate 3D worlds. This was the birth of Platinum Arts Sandbox,
a free 3D Game Maker and World creation program available at http://Sandboxgamemaker.com The software is now being used
in many schools and colleges throughout the world. In addition to continously developing Sandbox, Michael Tomaino now
teaches Game Design at Mildred Elley College, founded and teaches Game Design at the After School Program at Catholic High in
Troy, and teaches at summer kids camps for game design including at Mildred Elley and Ballston Spa. Through these opportunties
he has been able to witness the incredible excitement and joy of his students enjoying Sandbox. In addition, he greatly enjoys
babysitting for local families and their little friends.
Lucas Gillispie, Instructional Technology Coordinator, Pender County Schools, North Carolina, and Author of the Edurealms.com Blog
Instructional Technology Coordinator, Pender County Schools, North Carolina, and Author of the
Edurealms.com Blog
Lucas has been an educator for over ten years in the state of North Carolina, having taught high school Biology before taking his
current position as his district's instructional technology coordinator two years ago. There he works with teachers to assist them
with incorporating new technologies into the classroom and promotes online professional development through social
networking and virtual worlds like Second Life. Recently, he earned a Master of Science in Instructional Technology from the
University of North Carolina Wilmington, completing his thesis work on the effects of a 3D video game on middle school students'
achievement and attitude in mathematics. He has been a gamer as long as he can recall, but was introduced to MMORPG's by a
student in 1999. Since then, he has been the leader of the Harbingers of Light guild, a guild consisting primarily of students,
teachers, and other individuals from around the world.
Lucas is passionate about sharing his experiences with gaming and students in the online world. His presentations at GLS 2008, NCTIES and for the NCDLA on video games and education have been well-received as he seeks to inform educators about today's student-gamer and the games they play. Lucas is a proponent of MMORPG's and the potential of the genre for education.
Carla Engelbrecht-Fisher, Children's Technology Developer & Doctoral Candidate, Teachers College, Columbia University
Children's Technology Developer & Doctoral Candidate, Teachers College, Columbia University
Carla works as a children's technology developer, game designer, educational researcher, and author. She is also a doctoral
candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she studies technology and its relationship with human cognition and
development, particularly as it applies to children and games. Through the course of her career, she has worked for Highlights for
Children, PBS KIDS Interactive, Sesame Workshop, and a host of other children's media groups to produce and consult on
interactive content that includes a wide variety of games and educational Web sites. Carla also holds a master's degree in media
studies from the New School University and has, on occasion, been known to make balloon animals and hats
Catherine V. Parsons, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, & Pupil Personnel Services Pine Plains Central School District
Needing income to pay for a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education, Catherine (Victoria) Parsons accepted two jobs. The first was as a “K-2” teacher in a non-public, non-traditional, open and non-graded “K-8” building. To supplement that income, she also responded to an advertisement that said, “education related”. In that position as the office and research assistant to Dr. Grant P. Wiggins the real education about education began. Her exposure to the worlds of professional development and alternative education were the start of a journey into working with adults in education. Throughout her successful classroom experience in both public and non-public settings, she found herself called upon to lead colleagues in learning experiences, especially in relation to the ubiquitous use of instructional technology. This was the bridge to a career in curriculum, instruction and professional development.
After completion of her Administrative Certification, she took on the role of regional professional development specialist and worked to successfully lead cadres of educators through the process of aligning educational goals with societal needs. Her past role as a professional development specialist in upstate, NY brought her to work with over 8000 educators and 49,000 students, and additionally sustain similar support to 35 non-public schools. Her programming as a P – 12 curriculum specialist focused on supporting the effective and efficient use of technology aligned with the teaching and learning process. Her classroom teaching experience with students P – 12 allows her to support educators with direct knowledge of their experiences and classroom needs. Her work in professional development has been strongly accepted internationally as compassionate and effective. She is active regionally, statewide and nationally in multiple professional organizations.
She currently holds the position of Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Pupil Personnel Services at the Pine Plains Central School District in Dutchess County, NY. This role provides an opportunity to build strong and effective relationships through communities of practice that consider the specific needs of every child. This role as a leader offers true opportunity to support each member of the district community, both adults and children, to reach their potential as learners. She is honored to be trusted with such a responsibility and will for not one moment take the tasks presented lightly as she works and learns alongside educators she has long admired from her other role.
Jen Goodall, Service Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics
Assistant Dean for U Albany
Jennifer Goodall received her undergraduate and masters degrees in Classics at Tufts University while working on the Perseus Project. Her research focused on women in antiquity. She then completed her Ph.D. in Information Science at the University at Albany with a specialization in Information Technology and Learning. Her dissertation examined trust and power issues surrounding information sharing among homeless providers in New York City. She has been teaching undergraduates at the University of Albany since 2004 and has noticed a decline in women students in her classes. She has been Assistant Dean of the Department of Informatics since 2007 where she helps manage the doctoral program in Information Science and leads the CCIWIT initiative. She also works with the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) as an Extension Services Consultant.
Nick Webb, Senior Scientist, Institute for informatics, Logic and Secruity Studies (ILS) at U Albany
Nick Webb is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Informatics, Logics and Security Studies, at the University at Albany, SUNY, USA. Previously he was a Research Fellow in the Natural Language Processing Group at the University of Sheffield, UK, and a Research Officer at the University of Essex, UK, where he also obtained a B.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence and an M.Sc. in Computational Linguistics. His research encompasses a range of language processing problems, including Information Extraction, Question Answering and Dialogue Systems. His Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield concerned empirical dialogue analysis, using statistical techniques to build models for dialogue act recognition. He is currently the principal investigator of the NSF-funded Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH) initiative for Social Robotics in the Capital Region.
Jan Plass, Co-Director for Games For Learning Institute
Jan L. Plass is a Professor of Educational Communication and Technology in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University, where he co-directs the NYU Games for Learning Institute. He is the founding director of the CREATE Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technology in Education. His research is at the intersection of cognitive science, learning sciences, and design, and seeks to enhance the design of visual environments. His current focus is on cognitive and emotional aspects of information design and interaction design of simulations and educational games for mathematics and science education and second language acquisition. He has received funding for his research from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and, most recently, from Microsoft Research and the Motorola Foundation.
Kelly Schermerhorn, Model Schools Coordinator, Questar III
Kelly provides leadership, training and technical support in the implementation of instructional technologies in Questar III and its component school districts. Specifically, she supports initiatives involving the integration of instructional technology into all classrooms K-12 that support New York State learning standards and assessments within Questar III and its component school districts.
Schermerhorn earned a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Old Westbury and a Master’s from SUNY Albany in Curriculum Development/Instructional Technology and volunteers in her community as a Firefighter and EMT.
Katherine Jetter, Director of Education, WMHT
Colleen Macklin, Digital Artist, Interaction Designer and Chair, Communication Design and Technology, Parsons