[game_edu] What have the Romans ever given us?

[Ian Schreiber]

>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?


Yes, mostly in cases where the same person is doing both (i.e. a past or present industry professional who is now teaching). That person can easily have a dialogue with themselves, and with anyone else on either side.

If you don't have any of those, students are probably your next best option:

* Some schools have an industry internship as a graduation requirement. When students go off to industry and then come back, they will let you know firsthand how things are done, and what skills they found useful and what they felt they were lacking.

* Keep in touch with your recent graduates who get jobs in industry. Bring them back to campus every now and then to speak to the current students. Pick their brains a bit in terms of how they would change their education if they had a time machine, knowing what they know now. These are people who have seen the inside of the industry and also the inside of your school; don't underestimate their value.

Another alternative is to encourage faculty to spend their Sabbatical year working for industry, which will get you the same kinds of benefits, with the bonus that they will come back for good, unlike graduating students. (Double bonus: after a year of crunch time in the industry, they will probably be GLAD to be back ;-)

- Ian


      
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