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7th Annual Games for Change Festival - May 24 - 27, 2010
Posted by Mark Smith on 03-24-10Visit the Festival website here.
Games for Change is delighted and honored to announce this year’s keynote on May 25th:
The first-ever U.S. Chief Technology Officer: Aneesh Chopra!
We’re also honored to have with us again:
The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (Ret.) for the festival keynote, Wednesday, May 26th
Other featured speakers include:
Clay Shirky, Internet expert and author of Here Comes Everybody
Nick Bilton, Specialist at The New York Times R&D Lab & author of the forthcoming book, I Live In The Future And Here’s How It Works
Katie Salen, Executive Director of NYC’s innovative “game school” Quest to Learn
Neal Baer, 5-time Emmy-nominated executive producer of Law and Order
Dr. James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies, Arizona State University
Army Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton
Micah Sifry, Co-founder TechPresident.com and Personal Democracy Forum
Kurt Squire, Associate Professor of Educational Communications and Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Constance Steinkuehler, Assistant Professor in the Educational Communication & Technology program in the Curriculum & Instruction Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Omar Wasow, Ph.D. candidate in African American studies and Government at Harvard University.
Clive Thompson, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, Wired, and Fast Company.
Ze Frank, internet humorist.
Among many others.
Overview
This May, the only festival dedicated to the exciting new movement of Digital Games for Social Change will explore real-world impact, the latest games, and a variety of funding strategies. Hosted in New York City by Parsons The New School for Design and The Games for Learning Institute at NYU, the 7th annual Games for Change Festival will take place May 24 - 27, 2010.
97% of teenagers are playing games - perhaps the most potent medium of our time for learning and civic engagement. The Annual G4C Festival brings together the world’s leading foundations, NGOs, game-makers, academics, and journalists to explore how best to harness this incredibly powerful medium to engage young people and the general public in the critical issues of our day. Now in its seventh year, the Annual Games for Change Festival is the biggest game event in New York City, and has events around the world.
Called “the Sundance of video games” for “socially-responsible game-makers” we’re promoting a new genre of video game - games to change the world - for the better. Join us!
The festival includes four exciting days of panels, keynotes and brainstorming sessions, as well as funders’ meetings, press briefings, and the usual excellent networking opportunities. This year also features the always-popular Game Expo and reception where attendees can play these new games first-hand.
Check out the festival site here.
New Features
The Power of Design: Youth Making Social Issue Games
Games for Change is excited to premiere this day-long workshop on game design programs for youth on Monday, May 24th. Young people are intensely curious about how games are made, and now with the availability of several game creation tools, they are becoming not just consumers, but game makers. Game making incorporates a wide range of technical and artistic skills, and is an exceptional way to engage learners in complex systems thinking. We created this workshop especially for teachers, after school program leaders, and mentors who want to leverage the enthusiasm for games to create an innovative learning experience that incorporates many of the skills youth need to thrive in today’s world. Some of the key questions we will tackle include: Why is game creation good for learning? How do you structure a successful program that optimally uses game design for learning? What works for what age groups? What kind of teacher/staff prep is required? Can youth game development help improve skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)? How can social issues be integrated into the game design program? The workshop will feature creators of exemplary game design programs, a close look at some of the amazing game design software now available, and indispensable advice for setting up your own youth game design program.
This workshop is made possible by the generous support of the AMD Foundation.
Also debuting at the 2010 festival is a bonus day What Makes Games (Really) Good for Learning on Thursday, May 27th sponsored by the Games for Learning Institute at New York University which will focus on various aspects of games for learning, including:
- The design process and team composition for educational games
- Research methods for studying games in learning contexts
- Design patterns for effective educational games
- Assessment, in-game and out-of-game
- Integration of games into traditional and non-traditional curricula
And don’t forget the pre-festival workshop for newbies on May 24th.
Let the Games Begin: 101 Workshop on Making Social Issue Games - This workshop is a soup-to-nuts tutorial on the fundamentals of social issue games. Appealing to both those who are new to designing learning games but passionate about social issues, and those already underway in game production, the workshop will feature leading experts on game design, fundraising, evaluation, youth participation, distribution, and press strategies.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
We are thankful for the generous support of our Festival sponsors, the Knight Foundation, the AMD Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as Parsons The New School for Design.