Overview

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. Stay tuned for the 2009 Program!

2009 Program

Schedule TBA. The 2009 Symposium will take place on August 5th and 6th!

Panelists and Workshop Presenters

Brock R. Dubbels, Educator and Technologist
Brock has been with Games in Education since 2007 and is back again this year to offer his insights into using games in the classroom

Brock has worked since 1999 as a professional in education and instructional design. His specialties include reading comprehension, embodied cognition, digital literacies, game design , and play. From these perspectives, he designs face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid learning environments, exploring new technologies for assessment, delivering content, creating engagement with learners, and investigating ways people approach learning. He has worked as a Fulbright Scholar at the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology; at Xerox PARC loving the people, those sunsets, rolling hills, and oaks; and as a ski bum at Alta and later as a raft guide for the Yellowstone Raft Company. He is currently a research associate at the Center for Cognitive Science at the University of Minnesota, where he works with educators in reading, teaches gaming course work, and learns research through game design for the Minneapolis Public Schools and the University of Minnesota. He is also the founder and principal learning architect at www.vgalt.com.

Peggy Sheehy, Instructional Technology Facilitator and Media Specialist, Suffern Middle School, and Founder, MetaVersEd Consulting Ltd
Very active in her district’s 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.

Lucas Gillispie, 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. His current work includes a project to use World of Warcraft in an after-school program with at-risk students in his district

Andrea Lauer Rice, CEO & Founder, Lauer Learning
“Creating my own company that specializes in multimedia learning that comes alive for kids is such a natural progression of my work and life. Lauer Learning was the logical next step and brings all of my areas of expertise and interest together to do something I love and create something I truly believe in.”

Prior to launching Lauer Learning, Andrea worked in market intelligence and market management at IBM. During that time, she worked in Learning Services for several years and authored a white paper entitled, "The Evolution of e-learning to Include Gaming and Simulations" which enabled her to observe the educational gaming market over the course of several years. She also collaborated with colleagues to define "the ideal interactive e-business experience of the future" for the next generation which allowed her to research in-depth as the digital habits of Generation Y emerged.

Scot Osterweil, Creative Director, Education Arcade
Scot is the creative director of The Education Arcade and currently directs a number of games about math, literacy, science, history, and language learning, including Labyrinth and iCue. Before coming to MIT, Scot was the Senior Designer at TERC, where he designed Zoombinis Island Odyssey, winner of the 2003 Bologna New Media Prize, and the latest game in the Zoombinis line of products (Riverdeep/TLC). Scot is the creator of the Zoombinis, and with Chris Hancock he co-designed the multi-award winning Logical Journey of the Zoombinis, and its first sequel, Zoombinis Mountain Rescue. Scot is the also the designer of the TERCworks games Switchback, and Yoiks!, the latter also with Chris Hancock. Other software design work includes InspireData (Inspriration Software), its predecessors Tabletop and Tabletop Jr., and The Nature of Science. At TERC he participated in research projects on the role of computer games in learning, and the use of video in data collection. Previously, Scot worked in television production and theater.

Elizabeth King, Doctoral Candidate in Curriculum & Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Elizabeth (Beth) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Curriculum and Instruction majoring in educational communications and technology under advisor, Dr. Constance Steinkuehler. She currently works with The After School Online Gaming Lab For Guys studying the literacies involved in the gaming practices of adolescent boys. Previously, she worked with the Tech Savvy Girls project studying the trajectory of middle school girls’ IT skills development while playing computer games.

Beth has nearly 20 years of experience in adult and youth education focusing broadly on business education, career development and workplace learning and holds BA degrees in both social studies and secondary education, as well as an MA degree in business education. In addition to working in continuing and outreach education, she’s worked as a high school business education/computer teacher, career and technical education coordinator, district technology coordinator, and has experience teaching in both rural and inner–city settings. Her current research interests span secondary and post–secondary education and include the 21st century workplace, business practices around entrepreneurship and innovation, school reform initiatives (especially concerning alternative and charter schools), play and informal learning and more broadly, middle class and blue collar/working class issues.

Bill Shribman, Executive Producer, Kids' Projects, WGBH
Bill oversees all WGBH kids' projects, including those in development, for both the Web and interactive television. He devised and produced the internationally recognized Zoom and Between the Lions Web sites and is a content producer and games designer for the Arthur site. He also devised and produced the new site at FFFBI.com -- the Fin, Fur and Feather Bureau of Investigation.

His team's work has been featured at a number of international conferences, including the World Kids' Summit. It has also received numerous accolades, including New Media INVISION awards (gold and silver); MIMC gold; the Flagstaff, Arizona, Worldfest silver award; the Eddie Award; and the first Prix Jeunesse awarded to a Web site. The Zoom site was a silver-prize winner in the first Japan Prize to be awarded to a Web site.

Prior to joining WGBH, Bill created interactive kids' content for Disney Blast, Addison Wesley Longman, RealNetworks, Mattel, Big Blue Dot, and Headbone Interactive, where he wrote and produced Headbone.com.

Carla Engelbrecht-Fisher, Children's Technology Developer & Doctoral Candidate, Teachers College, Columbia University
Carla is an educational product developer and 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. She is also a research fellow with Sesame Workshop through the Teachers College Rose Fellowship. Through her work with companies such as Highlights for Children and PBS KIDS Interactive, she has produced and consulted on the creation of dozens of educational games and web sites for children. Carla also holds a MA in Media Studies from the New School University.

More to be announced! Stay Tuned!