2024.11.16. Games + Education Collider

11/16, Saturday. This is the 2nd time I went to this games in education event held at Pacific Science Center. Last year (2023/11/15) was only in the evening. The goal is to share knowledge of how to teach using games. The expo is on the lower floor, where you can see many interesting games aimed for from toddlers to adults, and talked to the designers. I like this event last time. A lot more content this year. Educational and fun. I wish more people would come.

Keynote speaker Tammie Schrader, science coordinator for the Washington Education Service District 101. She's an excellent speaker: loud, clear, funny. A few panels throughout the day. Sometimes 2 classrooms were holding workshops at the same time. The classrooms here have terrible sound proof. Noisy like hell.

During one of the panels, I jotted down a few websites (missed most):

• Unity Game Engine, a sponser of this event
• Teach AI
• AI competency framework for students
• The annual ED Games Expo | Washington, DC
• Microsoft 21st Century Learning Design
• 3 AR tools: Adobe Aero, Lens Studio, Procreate 3D

In the afternoon, I took a 3-hr workshop, lead by 4 teachers from Center for Leadership and Innovation of St. Thomas School in Medina, South Bellevue, a very wealthy neighorhood. Each one talked about one game class and its process and takeaway: a cardboard maze for kindergardeners, a narrative card game using Someone Has Died, building a box with raspberry-pi, servos and blinking lights. I forgot what's the 4th. I'm very impressed what they have done, and kids' demos. I asked one of them who can come to their school. I was told that anyone can apply, but they'll interview the kids and the parents. The last section, I and 2 other guys tried to use Twine, an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories, to outline a narrative game.

Between the sessions, I went down to checkout the games. I'm especially taken by this game Brailliance to learn Braille. Talked to its designer, and saw him using a Braille keyboard. He's not blind.