[game_edu] Getting information about game education to those interested in it

[Grant Shonkwiler]

Hey Everyone,
I don't know if I have introduced myself yet but I am Grant Shonkwiler I am
a Game Programmer and Designer at Megatouch Games in Philly. I also am one
of the moderators at GameCareerGuide.com, as well as having written for them
a few times, and we always love having more industry professionals come and
give advice. So come on over and play :)

Grant

On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Andrew Armstrong <andrew at aarmstrong.org>wrote:


>  Sounds good, the issue wasn't at the top of the suggestions since there

> are some accreditations already going on (such as Skillset in the UK doing

> some), just was a suggestion it was something the IGDA would one day

> certainly be fit to do. :D

>

> Andrew

>

>

> S. Gold wrote:

>

> Last year we had an ad hoc committee put together and we discussed the idea

> of an IGDA approval/accreditation. Upon completion of their report, the

> answer was overwhelming not at this time. Meaning this is a subject we need

> to approach in the future, possibly put together a more formal committee to

> work in tandem with the next (2011) Curriculum Framework project.

>

> Susan

>

>

> On 7/9/09 11:19 AM, "Andrew Armstrong" <andrew at aarmstrong.org> wrote:

>

>  Just a point, I'm getting feedback and ideas for revamping the Students

> SIG, and a few people have brought up the IGDA and accreditation for

> courses. I did mention this was more and Education SIG area, and possibly

> worth thinking about in the long term.

>

> Since the Students SIG doesn't even exist yet, really, I honestly agree

> that the IGDA website is utterly unknown for those who are choosing where to

> go. If it gets off the ground (with worldwide information made available),

> the site as a whole could be pushed to those advice institutions who run

> career websites, perhaps.

>

> (Advice for your career after you have a degree is something else though,

> and entirely suited to the IGDA site).

>

> Anyway, neat idea, it didn't really end though - I presume this is

> something the Education SIG is now going to do?

>

> Andrew

>

> Lewis Pulsipher wrote:

>

> Some time ago there was a discussion here about how to help potential video

> game students make good choices about their education.

>

> The problem is not so much to create that information, as to make it

> available where those folks might actually find it.  Unfortunately, the IGDA

> Web site is not likely to be a high traffic method of distribution; a great

> many wannabe students don’t seem to be aware of the IGDA at all.  Further,

> the minority of game students who actually come to IGDA looking for

> information is the group who least need what IGDA might tell them.

>

> So I prefer to use GameCareerGuide.  At 200,000 page views a month, it

> probably gets a lot more traffic from potential students than do IGDA

> education sites.  My latest take on what students need to do is at:

>

>

> http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/757/industry_hopefuls_prepare_.php

>

> You may know that the company that runs Gamasutra/GameCareerGuide etc. laid

> off some people some time ago, including the editor of GCG.  Jill Duffy did

> a good job of answering student questions about game schools, but now no one

> on staff has time to do that job.   This is an opportunity, then, for

> educators to take a more active part by contributing to GCG.   If you

> disagree with my article, or have more to say (I know I have), then write

> something and send it to Gamasutra (cnutt[usual symbol here]gamasutra.com<

> http://gamasutra.com> , the C stands for Christian).

>

> Using this venue avoids another problem which was becoming obvious during

> the discussion on this listserv, that any IGDA-approved recommendations

> would be quite unlikely to “tell it like it is”, that is, would be something

> like lowest-common-denominator (in this case, that most of us teach

> game-related topics).

>

> But more than just students need information.  Three other groups need

> information:

>

> Administrators who have no idea what a game creation program entails.

>

> Those who may teach in a new game creation program.

>

> Parents and councilors/advisors of those students.  (Because in many cases

> it’s the parents who ultimately decide what their children do---both a

> matter of financial resources and of the initiative to find out what’s

> what!)

>

> How do they get this information?

>

> Administrators will likely get it from people (teachers) at their school

> who are interested in the new curriculum, most likely.  Very few will have

> the time/interest to search out the information themselves.

>

> Teachers may go to IGDA to get the information.  They may also read sites

> such as GameCareerGuide and Sloperama.

>

> Parents?  Maybe from the Web, but where?  I really have no idea, I’m

> afraid.  Are there sites for parents whose children are about to start

> college?  That’s where the information would need to be.

>

> What would they want to know?  Administrators want to know software and

> facilities costs, level of student interest, likelihood of students getting

> jobs, difficulty of finding teachers. Teachers want to know what they should

> do.  IGDA already has one set of advice, the recommended curriculum topics.

> Parents want to know the likelihood of their children getting jobs, not just

> in the video game industry but more generally, if they decide to do

> something else.  What useful things will the student learn (many parents

> aren't going to regard "making video games" as very useful!)?

>

> So if IGDA produced this kind of information and distributed it, some

> people would enefit.  The interested teachers at the school could provide

> the "Info for administrators" to the administrators; they might also need a

> brief "what is IGDA" so that the administrators will realize that the source

> is probably reliable.

>

> Lew Pulsipher

>

>

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> --

> Susan Gold

> Skype: tahoegold

>

> "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

> Oscar Wilde

>

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