Category Archives: gaming

Webinars that don’t suck: the Monster Manual game

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Bryan Alexander

How can we make videoconferencing a rewarding experience?  How do we create webinars that don’t suck? Last week I tried a new group exercise which actually turned out well, and I wanted to share it to see what others make … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, teaching, videoconferencing | 9 Comments

Launching my new class on gaming, design, and education

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Bryan Alexander

Tonight starts the first class of my new seminar on gaming, design, and education.  Georgetown University’s Learning, Design, and Technology program is the seminar’s home. In this post I’d like to introduce the class.  I’d love to hear your thoughts, … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, teaching | 21 Comments

Coronavirus and the world: how futurists have been working on this kind of thing for years

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Bryan Alexander

I’m sometimes asked what futures work is good for.  Some folks complain that it doesn’t always provide solid predictions of what’s next.  Others think it’s just fantasies and a waste of time in pratical reality. One standard response from the … Continue reading →

Posted in coronavirus, futures, gaming, professional development, scenarios | 2 Comments

Books on gaming in education

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Bryan Alexander

Over the years I’ve had a lot of success teaching James Paul Gee’s seminal book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy.  Students have reliably found it accessible, useful, and, sometimes, provocative. But as I look … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, teaching | 2 Comments

The Adams game: an exercise for educators in 2018

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Bryan Alexander

I’d like to propose a game or exercise.  It can be played in person or online, including in comments added to this very blog post. It starts with this famous 1780 quotation from John to Abigail Adams: I must study Politicks and … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, research topics | 24 Comments

What if the United States decided to cancel all student debt?

Posted on February 13, 2018 by Bryan Alexander

What would happen if the United States decided to cancel all student debt? A Bard College economics research team (Scott Fullwiler, Stephanie Kelton, Catherine Ruetschlin, and Marshall Steinbaum) decided to explore what such a bold near-term future could look like … Continue reading →

Posted in future of education, gaming | 16 Comments

Enter the shark tank, or when academic cultures collide

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Bryan Alexander

An American university’s leadership team had an inspired idea: organizing a faculty retreat along the lines of the Shark Tank tv show.  Things did not go well. What can we learn about this, beyond appreciating the comic aspects, of which … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming | Tagged | 5 Comments

Gaming the future of education: a student project

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Bryan Alexander

Can we improve our thinking about the future by creating and playing games? I think so.  The creative and imaginative potentials of gaming are well known, and I have have some history applying games to education’s future.  I first sought … Continue reading →

Posted in future of education, gaming | 3 Comments

What do Americans think of computing gaming and gamers? Major differences revealed in new Pew study

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Bryan Alexander

Who plays computer games, and what does it mean?  Pew Research has a new study of American attitudes with some fascinating results.  This is important stuff for anyone interested in gaming and education.  A major takeaway is that Americans are quite … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming | 6 Comments

Teens using tech: the latest from Pew Research

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Bryan Alexander

The always essential Pew Research Center updates us on their ongoing research into how American teens use technology.  As always, this is useful stuff, especially for anyone in education. Let me pull out details that struck me. Hardware: a mix … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, technology | 3 Comments