[game_edu] What have the Romans ever given us?

[Mike Reddy]

Will keep this short, so there is a greater chance of feedback.

After my pro-education rant "Oh the Cowman and the Farmer should be Friends" at Games:EDU09 (part of the UK's Develop Conference in Brighton) where I questioned the value of Skillset in accrediting courses with only an Industry viewpoint, I have been musing over what might be wrong with the interface between the IGDA, TIGA, Skillset, etc, and Academia. In the wider context, my guess is that this may just be growing pains over dealing with this new medium and intellectual analysis; I wonder if lecturers in the 1930s were wringing their hands over film makers "just wanting to make money making movies" rather than wanting to understand Film? However, it has raised some personal concerns over whether IGDA's EduSIG, Develop's Games:EDU and even GDC's Education Summit are just too marginalised and tokenistic, things that kind of go on at the same time but not the really important stuff that proper developers want to talk about.

Hands up who, at education strands, has had the big hitters attending presentations, rather than just more educationalists or Industry Liaison Officers, who are paid to be there? Does anyone have experience of a genuine two way dialogue between Industry Professionals and Academics on an equal footing, rather than one telling the other what should be taught, while the other picks at crumbs of second hand evidence, rather than being actively aware of the process of game development? No judgement of either here, but I feel a bit like my nose is against the glass window, looking in.
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Dr. Mike Reddy, Future Technology, Games Development and A.I., Division of Computing, Newport Business School, University of Wales, Newport, Allt-yr-yn Campus, PO Box 180 Newport South Wales NP20 5XR
Tel/Ffôn: +44 (0)1633 432452 Fax/Ffacs: +44 (0)1633 432307 Mobile/Symudol: +44 (0)7971 170 199
Email/Ebost: mike.reddy @ newport.ac.uk (remove spaces/dilëwch y bylchau)