[game_edu] Games for Change Festival

[Alex Quinn]

Register now for the 7th Annual Games for Change Festival, NYC, May 24  
- 27, 2010,  before the rates go up after May 13th!

Games for Change is delighted and honored to announce this year's  
keynotes:

The first-ever U.S. Chief Technology Officer: Aneesh Chopra (May 25th)

The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the U.S.  
Supreme Court (Ret.) (May 26th)
Other featured speakers include:

Clay Shirky, Internet expert and author of Here Comes Everybody

Nick Bilton, Specialist at The New York Times R&D Lab & author of the  
forthcoming book, I Live In The Future And Here's How It Works

Katie Salen, Executive Director of NYC's innovative "game school"  
Quest To Learn

Neal Baer, 5-time Emmy nominated executive producer of Law and Order

Dr. James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy  
Studies, Arizona State University

Army Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton

Laird Malamed, SVP of Production, Guitar Hero

Alan Kay, pioneering computer scientist

Sara DeWitt, Senior Director, PBS KIDS Interactive,

Stephen Duncombe, author of Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics  
in an Age of Fantasy

Micah Sifry, co-founder TechPresident.com and Personal Democracy Forum

Kurt Squire, Associate Professor of Educational Communications and  
Technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Constance Steinkuehler, Assistant Professor in the Educational  
Communication & Technology program in the Curriculum & Instruction  
Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Omar Wasow, Ph.D. candidate in African American studies and Government  
at Harvard University

Clive Thompson, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine,  
Wired, and Fast Company

Ze Frank, internet humorist

Among many others

Special Events (You may register for these events separately or in  
combination with the entire festival):

The Power of Design: Youth Making Social Issue Games - Monday May 24th
Games for Change is excited to premiere this day-long workshop on game  
design programs for youth. Young people are intensely curious about  
how games are made, and now with the availability of several game  
creation tools, they are becoming not just consumers, but game makers.  
Game making incorporates a wide range of technical and artistic  
skills, and is an exceptional way to engage learners in complex  
systems thinking. We created this workshop especially for teachers,  
after school program leaders, and mentors who want to leverage the  
enthusiasm for games to create an innovative learning experience that  
incorporates many of the skills youth need to thrive in today's world.  
Some of the key questions we will tackle include: Why is game creation  
good for learning? How do you structure a successful program that  
optimally uses game design for learning? What works for what age  
groups? What kind of teacher/staff prep is required? Can youth game  
development help improve skills in science, technology, engineering  
and math (STEM)? How can social issues be integrated into the game  
design program? The workshop will feature creators of exemplary game  
design programs, a close look at some of the amazing game design  
software now available, and indispensable advice for setting up your  
own youth game design program.

This workshop is made possible by the generous support of the AMD  
Foundation.

To register for this event purchase a ticket to the "Youth Game Design  
Workshop."

Let the Games Begin: 101.5 Workshop on Making Social Issue Games -  
Monday May 24th
Building on our ultra-successful 101 workshops in the past two years,  
Games for Change presents our one-of-a-kind 101.5 Workshop for non- 
profits seeking to publish social issue games. Based on feedback from  
past workshops, we've adapted the 101.5 Workshop to serve both newbies  
and organizations that have already started making games. We're  
bringing fresh content and voices to provide orientation, knowledge of  
latest trends, and engagement in games that are further along. Leading  
experts will offer practical advice on essential topics such as  
publishing paradigms, game design, business models, fundraising,  
assessment, and press strategies, and case studies from the field will  
provide insight into real-world implementation.

To register for this event purchase a ticket to the "101 Workshop."

Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation at NYU - Thursday  
May 27th
Sponsored by the Games for Learning Institute at New York University,  
this new day will focus on various aspects of games for learning,  
including:

- The design process and team composition for educational games

- Research methods for studying games in learning contexts

- Design patterns for effective educational games

- Assessment, in-game and out-of-game

- Integration of games into traditional and non-traditional curricula

To register for this event purchase a ticket for the "NYU Day."

Overview

The Games for Change Festival is the only festival dedicated to the  
exciting new movement of Digital Games for Social Change exploring  
real-world impact, the latest games, and a variety of funding  
strategies. Hosted in New York City by Parsons The New School for  
Design and The Games for Learning Institute at NYU, the 7th annual  
Games for Change Festival will take place May 24 - 27, 2010.

The festival includes four exciting days of panels, keynotes and  
brainstorming sessions, press briefings, and the usual excellent  
networking opportunities. This year also features the always-popular  
Game Expo and reception where attendees can play these new games first- 
hand.

We are thankful for the generous support of our Festival sponsors, the  
Knight Foundation, the AMD Foundation, the New York City Department of  
Cultural Affairs, as well as Parsons The New School for Design and the  
Games for Learning Institute.

We look forward to see you all there!

Check out the festival website at www.gamesforchange.org/festival

--------------------------
Alex Quinn,
Executive Director, Games for Change
alex at gamesforchange.org
www.gamesforchange.org