Bill MacKenty

Real teachers, real games. The Games Developer Conference beckons!

I’m happy to report I’ll be speaking at the Games Developer Conference.  My session is entitled Real Teachers: Real Games.

It’s always such an honor to be invited to speak at events like this. I still feel sort of humbled and like “what the heck am I doing here?!”.  Looks like I’ll be speaking with Kurt Squire and David McDivitt. 

I’ll post up my slides shortly.  While some of my presentation will be typical (here’s what got me started), I plan on discussing my getting to Z project.  If I can swing it, I might even try a live demo.

I’m still using COTS games in my classroom - lately it’s been Age of Mythology, which has been moving in unexpected directions.  I’m seeing great teamwork, and perhaps more importantly, very careful strategic thinking.  I see groups of kids discussing, debating, and opining about various aspects of the game.  I should also note we are not playing against each other, we usually form a group of 4 or 5 students against the computer on the highest level of difficulty (we rarely win…yet).

The Sims 2 figures prominently in class as well - we only have 1 license, but there are often 3 or 4 kids huddled around the screen, pointing and giggling.  Our assistant principal came in,  and immediately accessed the potential.  She is a former consumer-science teacher, so when she saw all the cause and effect in the game, she seemed impressed.