SIG Spotlight: Game Education

Interview With Susan Gold

What is the focus of the Game Education SIG?

In a nutshell, the focus of the SIG is to help educators become better at what they do through discussion, networking and experience. Since the IGDA is a professional organization, it wasn’t our job to become an academic SIG stepping on the toes of the ACM, DiGRA and other academic organizations. The EdSIG is a place where educators can share and better their profession as teachers within the genre.

Games are unique in academia, employing collaborative practice and creative innovation not seen in many siloed institutions and disciplines. We have unique needs as educators as we have had to tread new ground creating paths to degrees that challenge staid institutions and normal conventions of the academy. I had envisioned our list would be an open dialogue with industry to serve as a reality check. We don’t have a lot of industry on the list, but those that are working with us have made our work so much easier to understand and implement. Building bridges and appeasing everyone is a difficult task, but the SIG’s goal and mission is focused on enhancing the education of future and current game developers.

Currently, the EdSIG is looking for a new chairperson as it is time for me to step down and focus on new challenges. We have accomplished much over the past four years, and I look forward to seeing what new blood will bring to the group. We will be holding elections in the near future. For anyone interested, it is a great time to step forward and be a part of the SIG’s future.

What are the SIG’s current initiatives and activities?

Our members experience the SIG primarily on the listserv, the Global Game Jam and often at conferences. The Education Summit at GDC has been successful for many years as an opportunity for professional development, interacting with peers and networking with the industry. Additionally, we have had tracks and session at many other conferences, such as GES, DiGRA and SIGGRAPH. I have had the honor to present the Curriculum Framework globally, and I encourage the SIG to have more interaction with educators all over the world.

The Global Game Jam has spun out of the EdSIG as it is an entity unto itself, serving more than education. However, the original goals of creating an event that embraced what we teach in the CF — prototyping, experimentation, iteration, collaboration and innovation — continue today to be the cornerstone of the framework.

Where does the SIG see game education going?

I hope that the EdSIG continues to function highly without me. I expect it will, because we have some really great volunteers with some exciting ideas. We revamp the CF every five years, so we need to present again in 2012. Although the framework is meant to be broad and embrace all degrees and types of institutions, I think that there are some areas that we can put down some standards like collaborative projects and teamwork, prototyping and iterative design, writing skills, and ability to stand up and make a point. I have put a highly qualified educator in charge of the next CF — Don Geyer, who has created an incredible undergraduate program at the University of Gotland in Sweden. Although he is going to lead this project, he will need assistance from educators and industry alike. My recommendations to Don were to seek out and highlight the outcome and objectives of game education. I also thought it would be helpful if the SIGs within the IGDA mentored areas of their expertise within the framework, i.e. Writers’ SIG would help with the Interactive Narrative section, Programmers’ SIG help with the Programming & Math section, etc. I really hope that idea takes off with the other SIGs.

What are your hopes for the SIG in the future?

My hope is that the SIG continues to be a place for open dialogue and growth within education. I believe we have something special within games that I have not seen in many disciplines other than film. I think that games can change the future of the world for the better. I can point to the White House approaching the industry for help in solving issues, such as Apps for Healthy Kids. But they are also talking to us about how to help solve the STE(A)M education (Science, Technology, Engineering, (Art) and Mathematic) issues in public schools. I am not talking about the dreaded edutainment, but in bringing students back to math, science and art in innovative ways. I can point to my friend Jane McGonigal and her talk at TED this year, where she tells us why we need to make and play more games. I honestly believe that through games, we evolve and grow as people. In playing and making games, we collaborate. The fostering of communication and the sharing of experience and ideas is what is at the core of what we teach in our genre and which hopefully will take us to new places and generate new ideas to solve old problems.

Is there anything the greater IGDA chapter community should know about the Game Education SIG?

We need the community to interact with educators locally and globally. Game education is taking off in all parts of the world; we had people participating in the GGJ from Qatar and Pakistan to Kentucky and North Dakota. Having the industry’s input in the curriculum is not only helpful, but needed. Join the IGDA CF revamp by e-mailing Don Geyer at dongeyer@gmail.com. Also, please reach out to your local schools. Give talks about what you do. Ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. A lot of those dreams go out the window if they don’t have the math skills and understand the meaning of hard work. We need you to encourage women, diversity and the importance of an education.