2020 Games for Change Virtual Festival has ended

Create Your Own Event

2020 Games for Change Virtual Festival

11:00am EDT

Educational VR Games: Lessons Learned

Schell Games has been working hard to innovate in the VR space, releasing over a dozen different VR games. Some of these have been educational experiences, and in this talk, Jesse Schell will present two different experiences, ‘Deep Time Detectives’ created for the Smithsonian, and ‘History Maker VR’ which allows students to create performance animations of historical figures. Jesse will present lessons learned, with a focus on small design details that made a big difference.

Speakers

Jesse Schell

CEO, Schell Games

Jesse Schell is the CEO of Schell Games, a team of one hundred people who strive to make truly great games, both for the purposes of entertainment and education, including award-winning VR games such as I Expect You To Die, HoloLAB Champions, and Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay. Jesse... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2020 11:00am - 11:20am EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

11:20am EDT

Gamestorming Curricula

This session presents UNESCO MGIEP's online educational course, developed around the game Bury Me, My Love. Leveraging the narrative of the game, the course seeks to build knowledge of youth in the domain of ‘global citizenship’ revolving around themes of ‘migration’ and ‘refugees’. Additionally, using interactive digital pedagogy, it seeks to build competencies of ‘critical inquiry’, ‘empathy’ and ‘compassion’. It will discuss the design methodology and efficacy of using such a game-based approach to learning.

Speakers

Nandini Chatterjee Singh

Senior Program Officer, UNESCO MGIEP

Nandini Chatterjee Singh is a cognitive neuroscientist and currently Senior Project Office at UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, in New Delhi, India. Nandini’s research is focused on learning, in the context of literacy, emotion... Read More →

Matt Farber

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado

Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an assistant professor of Technology, Innovation and Pedagogy (TIP) program at University of Northern Colorado. He is the cofounder of the TIP Creativity Lab, an Edutopia blogger, and author of several articles, chapters, and books on games and learning... Read More →

Robin Sharma

Gaming Curriculum Developer, UNESCO MGIEP

Robin works as the implementer of the Gaming Programme at UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. Here, he focuses on supporting research and developing curricular products for integration of digital game-based learning for building social... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2020 11:20am - 11:40am EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

11:50am EDT

You Are Here: Using Game Design to Empower Underserved Youth

Imagine never seeing anyone like you in the curriculum you’re taught or games you play. From inner-city to rural communities, this is a reality for too many youth. Game design can be a powerful tool in engaging underserved students in shaping their narrative. Using real-world examples - from Caribbean islands to Native American reservations - this session explores how game design can help students find new approaches to how their stories are told and amplified.

Speakers

Maria Burns Ortiz

CEO and Co-Founder, 7 Generation Games

Maria Burns Ortiz is co-founder and CEO of 7 Generation Games, which makes immersive educational video games and interactive apps aimed at closing the math gap in underserved communities. Taking 7 Generation Games from concept to award-winning company, she oversees all creative aspects... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2020 11:50am - 12:10pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

12:10pm EDT

Upskilling and Reskilling in the Fashion Supply Chain

Ms. Krasley will discuss the work she and her team do to ensure that female garment factory workers are trained to stay relevant as automation lessens opportunities for jobs over time. Ms. Krasley will share findings from Shimmy's pilots in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and New York City and will provide insights from her team's process to create an interface that's fun, affirming, simple, and designed for workers who have never used computers or smart phones before.

Speakers

Sarah Krasley

CEO, Shimmy

Sarah Krasley is a social impact entrepreneur focused on a fair future of work for fashion supply chain workers. As CEO of Shimmy, Ms. Krasley leads the company in its efforts to upskill and reskill the 75 million workers in the supply chain who are in danger of losing their jobs... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2020 12:10pm - 12:30pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

12:30pm EDT

What Teens Tell Us About the Role of Games During COVID-19

Tech-savvy kids and teens are showing incredible resilience during social distancing as they lean on online play and friends for human connection and mental well-being. Roblox’s recent survey of teens found that they continue spending quality time with existing friends via games and chat apps, making new ones and enjoying improved relationships. In this fireside chat, industry luminary Katie Salen Tekinbaş and Roblox’s Digital Civility leader Laura Higgins discuss the new data on play during COVID-19.

Moderators

Katie Salen Tekinbaş

Professor, Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine

Katie Salen Tekinbaş is a Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California at Irvine, a member of the Connected Learning Lab, and Chief Designer and co-founder of Connected Camps. Her work focuses on meeting kids where they are at in order to design engaging... Read More →

Speakers

Laura Higgins

Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility, Roblox

Laura Higgins is Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility at Roblox with more than two decades of experience building proven safeguarding, online safety and civility programs. Roblox’s groundbreaking digital civility initiative is focused on providing the community with... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2020 12:30pm - 1:00pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

5:30pm EDT

Rabbids Coding, Learn Programming With the Rabbids!

Presentation of Rabbids Coding, a free game to introduce notions of programming with the Rabbids.
Eject the Rabbids from the space station, sending them through washing machines!
Discover how and why the game has been conceived.

Moderators

Anthony Kozak

Senior Generalist Developer, Ubisoft Montréal

Programming Teacher, and Game Developer at Ubisoft, Anthony has been involved in educational and social projects for several years now. He has been creating online platforms to finance educational projects and to help various audiences to learn how to code via their browser. He is... Read More →

Speakers

Olivier Palmieri

Game Director, Ubisoft Montreal

Game Director at Ubisoft Montreal, Olivier Palmieri is also the official trainer of the Rational Design Methods in the company. Expert in Gameplay, Game Design & Level Design, and Virtual Reality, he provided training programs in game design methods and levels for more than 600 Ubisoft... Read More →

Mickaël Newton

CSR Manager, Ubisoft HQ

Mickaël Newton is a CSR manager at Ubisoft. He focuses on pushing our teams to adapt educational and accessibility aspects in our games that push them beyond entertainment. By leveraging our games and connecting them to philanthropic initiatives, we can enrich our players and pop... Read More →

Wednesday July 15, 2020 5:30pm - 5:50pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

12:00pm EDT

MetaVerse: Multi-Player VR and the Internet's Next Evolution

The last decade has seen a major paradigm shift in the way humans interact with each other through social media. The next decade will see an even more dramatic shift to a new version of the Internet and social media that links us to a globally shared virtual space, the Metaverse. 17-year old entrepreneur and VR developer Winston Matthews will provide an early look at his soon to be launched multi-player VR game.

Speakers

Winston Matthews

Founder & CEO, Winston Matthews LLC

17-year old Winston Matthews is a VR game developer, entrepreneur, and recipient of The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth award for mathematical problem-solving. In 2016, age 13, Winston Matthews became the youngest Silicon Valley VR developer for VWA where he earned licensing... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 12:00pm - 12:20pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

12:20pm EDT

Exploring Indigenous History in When Rivers Were Trails

This presentation explains how the educational video game, When Rivers Were Trails, fills in the missing elements of American history by introducing an Indigenous perspective to the narrative. Traveling across the northern United States, the players meet with many others on your journey, hunt for food, forage for berries, canoe beaver and rock infested waters, and fish. If you do not care for your wellbeing, then you may join your ancestors sooner than you think!

Speakers

Nichlas Emmons

Program Officer, Indian Land Tenure Foundation

Indian Land Tenure Foundation since 2014. In this role, he manages the foundation’s education programs, including the Lessons of Our Land curriculum, the development of the video game When Rivers Were Trails, the Treaty Signers Project, the Tribal Land Staff National Conference... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 12:20pm - 12:40pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

12:40pm EDT

Listening and Staying Agile During COVID-19

Since Covid19 presents barriers to traditional learning, students, teachers, and parents need new kinds of resources to address the challenges of learning from home and create new possibilities. Attendees will gain insight into how iThrive Games pivoted to address distance learning, reimagine learning, and deploy rapid development cycles. We will discuss the opportunities and challenges of designing from the ground up for new learning environments. Attendees also will gain early access to these game-based tools.

Speakers

Susan Rivers

Executive Director & Chief Scientist, iThrive Games Foundation

Susan E. Rivers, PhD, is Executive Director and Chief Scientist of iThrive Games Foundation. She believes that game design and play are powerful tools for learning, forging connections with others, supporting authentic social and emotional development, and making the world a better... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 12:40pm - 1:00pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

3:40pm EDT

Learning to Be Better Digital Citizens

In 2020, we can't avoid being online, and it has been especially true during the pandemic. As we try to fight toxicity from within our esports communities, we've come to realize that it is a battle that we should also try to fix at the source. Just like school is getting us ready to be good citizens, we should have ways to learn how to become better digital citizens.

Speakers

Stephanie Harvey

Director of Esports Franchise Development and Outreach, Counter Logic Gaming

A x5 world champion in competitive CS:GO, and longtime female pro-gaming icon, Stephanie "missharvey" Harvey is now CLG’s Director of Esports Franchise Development and Outreach. Formerly a game designer for Ubisoft Montreal, Stephanie dedicates much of her time raising awareness... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 3:40pm - 4:00pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

6:00pm EDT

Making Video Games for Autistic People: A Studio's Experience

Luden.io is making educational video games. By 2018, we've received numerous requests from educators working with autistic children and adults, asking to make a game that would benefit their learners. We've come a long way, met many wonderful teachers and their students. Working with them, we've developed several interesting game-based project. This talk is a story about how games can be helpful for autism learning

Speakers

Georgii Kurgan

Product Manager, Luden.io

Working in the video games industry since 2001. Former games journalist, Georgii has also worked at major game dev companies such as ZeptoLab and CD Projekt Red. For the past 2 years Georgii is working at Luden.io, making educational video games. His current project is called Rewire.Education... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 6:00pm - 6:10pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

6:10pm EDT

Financial Inclusion: It's Not About the Money!

Our relationship with money is a complex one, from cultural norms to our family values, to deep psychological issues about self worth and how value is created. Traditional approaches to financial education can be text dense, fraught with jargon, and often focuses on the how and what not they why. Livin' It Up teaches these concepts in a subtle, entertaining and accessible way. It allows players to deepen their understanding of money and themselves.

Speakers

Glenn Gillis

CEO, Sea Monster

Glenn is the co-founder and CEO of Sea Monster. He has a Business Science degree from the University of Cape Town, and has been a senior executive, consultant and entrepreneur with growing, knowledge intensive businesses for over 25 years. Prior to Sea Monster that Glenn was the general... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 6:10pm - 6:20pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

6:20pm EDT

CureQuest: A Digital Game for New Drug Discovery

CureQuest is an educational adventure game about Clinical Translational Therapeutics, the process of discovery and development of new medical treatments, drugs, devices, and therapies. The game is being developed with the goal of raising awareness and improving collaboration in the "bench to bedside" process. In addition to the impact of the game when completed, the development process itself presents a novel case study in integrating the interdisciplinary fields of game development and “team science”.

Speakers

Mei Si

Associate Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Mei Si is an associate professor in the Cognitive Science Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). She is also part of the Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Program at RPI. Mei Si received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 6:20pm - 6:30pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

6:30pm EDT

«When We Disappear» – A Story-Driven & History-Based Game

«When We Disappear» is a story-driven and history-based game set in 1943 when a young girl escapes the torments of WW2. Switzerland-based Inlusio Interactive has brought together storytellers, game developers, historians and education experts to develop a puzzle platformer about the darkest chapter of Europe to encourage players to think about our common past and the shared responsibility for our future. This session demonstrates the potential of story-driven and history-based games for a social impact.

Speakers

Robin Burgauer

Producer, Inlusio Interactive

Robin Burgauer has produced cinema films and interactive projects for many years and uses storytelling principles from the film industry to create emotional and engaging formats and to push the boundaries of digital storytelling. He is the co-founder of Inlusio Interactive and produces... Read More →

Robbert van Rooden

Producer, Inlusio Interactive

Robbert van Rooden is a producer of games and interactive media. For over 15 years he has been bringing together design, development and storytelling with a focus on UX and game design. He is the co-founder of Inlusio Interactive which produces purpose-driven projects with unique... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 6:30pm - 6:40pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk

6:40pm EDT

SpacEscape: Learning Science on Your Mobile Device

SpacEscape is a problem-solving mobile game, which provides middle school students an opportunity to learn about space science while practicing their problem-solving skills. To create the mobile game for Android devices, a team of 12 members worked together for six months on the design, development and testing. We will share the game design, development and testing process in this presentation. The audience can also play the game during the talk.

Speakers

Sa Liu

Assistant Professor, Interactive Media, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Dr. Sa Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Interactive Media program at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. She teaches Data Visualization, Game Engines, Front-end Web Design/Dev, and Mobile Experience Design/Dev. Her co-developed game PIVOT won the Best In Show in 2014... Read More →

Thursday July 16, 2020 6:40pm - 6:50pm EDT
Mainstage

Games for Learning, Talk