Resources: Instructional Gaming

The links on this page will open new browser windows. Close the new windows to return to this page.

The field of instructional gaming is still growing and forming. There are a vast quantity of resources available for people interested in understanding good game design, and even more for people interested in becoming good game players, but resources for people interested in specifically implementing instructional gaming in their classrooms, virtual or otherwise, are a work in progress. Below is a brief list of some resources:

Publications

Web Resources

Gamer Resources

Conferences

The last two years have brought dozens of academic, government, and industry conferences focused on the academic study of games, a substantial portion of which are dedicated to games and learning. Noteworthy U.S. industry conferences include:

Although the latter was founded in the United States , there are or have been similar conferences in Europe, Japan, and Australia. Academically, there are at least a dozen relevant conferences every year including:

The Games and Learning research centers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas-Austin, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are becoming more established, and are formalizing into degree programs at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral level (for more on such developments within academia, see Carlson, 2003, and Schiesel, 2005).

 

Guest Lecturers

Dan Norton is a co-founder and designer for Filament Games, an educational games company.

Kurt Squire is an Assistant Professor with the Educational Communications and Technology Division of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.