Topic: Anything can be a Game!

Date: Friday, April 23, 2021

Time: 9:00 -11:00 AM

Location: Zoom link sent with confirmation

Cost: 

ATD CI Member - $59

Non ATD CI Member - $89

Presenters: 

Dr. Cris Wildermuth, Associate Professor at Drake University 

Dr. Cris Wildermuth is an Associate Professor at Drake University, where she directs the Master of Science in Leadership and Talent Development (MSLD). Dr. Wildermuth is passionate about creating engaging learning activities, especially instructional games and simulations. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Wildermuth has traveled extensively, facilitating leadership development programs in Europe and Latin America. In her free time, Dr. Wildermuth loves uncovering new technology tools online, writing her book, and dreaming up new instructional games with her daughter Maggie.

Maggie Wildermuth, student at Drake University  

Marguerite (Maggie) Wildermuth is a senior at Drake University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Neuroscience. Maggie hopes to become a clinical psychologist specializing in Deaf and hard of hearing clients. Having grown up surrounded by trainers and instructional designers (both parents worked in the training field) Maggie became fascinated by gamification; her superpower is to transform anything into a game. In her free time, Maggie enjoys writing, reading, and playing with furry family members Buffy, Bambi, and Friskey.

Session Summary

Human beings are "built to play and built through play" (Brown & Vaughan, 2010, p. 5). Playing stirs our imagination and keeps us engaged. Bringing playfulness into our training rooms (virtual or live) not only makes learning more enjoyable; but also helps us focus on the learning activity (Howard-Jones, Mason, & Jones, 2016). The presenters are passionate about gamifying learning and will share their techniques for transforming activities into games. Ideas include tracking performance, using gamified elements (i.e., game boards, dice, etc.), and adapting existing games for learning. At the age of COVID, the presenters will also share simple ways of bringing face-to-face activities into a virtual environment.

Session Objectives

After the session, attendees will be able to: 

* List the basic components of a game.

* Using "themes" to facilitate gamification.

* Adapt existing games to learning purposes.

* Use a simple formula to create simulations.

* Move games and simulations online

ATD Capability Model 

• Developing Professional Capability