It’s Here! SXSWedu Announces 2014 Playground Schedule

We’re absolutely thrilled to share the newly unveiled official schedule for the SXSWedu 2014 Playground, which we’re co-sponsoring with Xerox.

The SXSWedu Playground is an interactive learning space showcasing a range of themes from the maker movement and STEM to gaming, the arts, and beyond. We’ll be on hand at two “Display” areas to welcome and chat with attendees. At one, we’ll be joined by some of our GameUp partners for an up-close look at educational titles by developers like Filament Games, Tynker, E-Line Media, TeacherGamin, Intific, FableVision, Sesame Workshop, Classroom, Inc., Common Sense Media, NCTM, MIT Education Arcade, Learning Games Network, iCivics, Mangahigh, Museum of Science+Industry Chicago, Nobelprize.org®,  Thirteen, and University of Washington, among others. At the other, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the role of games in assessment as you connect with game-based learning researchers from Project Tomorrow, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, and Classroom, Inc.

Be sure to put these Playground talks on your festival itinerary too. Celia Alicata (Classroom, Inc.) and David Conover (Pflugerville ISD) cover Games, Critical Thinking, and Assessment. Delve into the latest research on the ways teachers use games to increase engagement and cultivate workplace skills: catch Ann McMullan (Project Tomorrow) and her workshop By the Numbers: New Research on Games and Learning. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Michael Levine hosts GBL: New Evidence and New Demand, Or Mostly Hype?, analyzing research and industry initiatives intended to drive instruction and assessment.

For some hands-on PD at the Playground, we’re recommending Students as Producers: Game Design and Coding for Kids, with Brian Alspach (E-Line Media) and Kevin Elgan (Tynker). Come explore two game-based tools designed to teach kids the basics of digital design, engineering, programming, and critical thinking while they make amazing stuff. Or, Shape the Future of Games for Learning with Gary Goldberger (FableVision) and Ellen Jameson (Filament Games). They’ll share an insider’s look at the process of game development and give you the chance to provide input. POPstar Andrea Keller (Irving ISD) offers strategies for leveraging the power of games to nurture success in early learners: don’t miss her session Beyond the Gameboard: Digital Gaming and the K-3 Classroom.

There’s big news outside of the Playground too. Thanks to your votes, we’ve landed a spot on the conference line-up! GameUp VP Allisyn Levy presents Listen Up! Speak Up! GameUp! A Games Data Discussion with Jessica Millstone (Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop), Julie Evans (Project Tomorrow), and Robert Torres (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). This dynamic panel discusses the ways games can ignite kids’ hunger for learning.

Hope to see you in Austin next month!