Why Games? Why Now? Game Design in Schools 2014 and Beyond was the last pre-booked sessions I attended, and it was presented by Al Doyle.
Since I didn’t have much time when I was booking into sessions, I suspect I possibly didn’t read the session description properly. Based on the name, I had anticipated some discussions on when and why to use games to foster learning and how to design a game that supports the learning goals of the subject. When I got to the session however it was blatantly obvious that this was not what I was going to get. The presenter talked a great deal about playing games, demonstrated some games that he and that his students had made, none of which I saw educational value in.
We were provided with a handout that has loads of links to sites where you can create your own games, so I guess this was a positive. For me the session was otherwise irrelevant and I left one third through the presentation.
CatComputerTeacher 