#PlayLearn December round-up

Playful Learning Conference

After two years of absence (for obvious reasons) Playful Learning will be back on 6-8th July 2022, in Leicester. The audacious plan is to run three years of conference in one (and also an online-only version). Call for sessions is now open – time to release those pent-up creative juices!

The Call for Sessions for PL20 in 2022 is now open!

Playful Learning conference banner

Member News

Logo for RISE at Manchester Met
  • John Lean and Mark Peace are delivering a seminar for the Manchester Games Studies Network on 19th January, focusing on their work on Man Met’s new co-curricular Rise programme. During this seminar, they’ll explore how its design is influenced by games and play, specifically Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This seminar will offer a playful interpretation of the use of video games in higher education, focusing on the idea of games as metaphors, and will inspire discussion on how we can encourage students to play more with their learning journeys. Sign up on Eventbrite.
  • Have you created/modded a game (or curated a list of games) specifically for research skills / academic skills / critical thinking in Higher Education? If so, Daisy Abbot wants to hear all about it! She is doing some analysis of research games and working towards creating a range of pedagogical patterns that suit games for higher order thinking skills – make sure your work is part of it! Email D.Abbott@gsa.ac.uk Thanks!
  • Speaking of research games, if you have been playing the Creative Thinking Quest (or sharing it with your students) it would be great if you could also fill in the survey – Daisy has only had 5 responses so far so why not give her an early Christmas present in the form of precious precious data! You’ll also be helping to improve the tool for its next version. Play now.
  • Nicola Whitton has had a brilliant response to her survey on adult playfulness, but would still like more, particularly from men, teachers, and anyone not located in Europe or North America. If you can spare 5 mins please help. Please take the survey and share with your networks.

Let’s Play

Last month we offered you a GeoGuessr challenge – congratulations to the top 3 scorers, Martyn, Kat and Pip!

Screenshot of scoreboard showing players scoring in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

For your December challenge, we invite you to try creating a Christmas Wishlist for a favourite character. Here are some (easy?) ones to get you started:

1. https://tinyurl.com/guesscharacter1
2. https://tinyurl.com/guesscharacter2
3. https://tinyurl.com/guesscharacter3

Pile of presents

Have a go at creating your own – please share with Katie (reply to the email) who will add it to this list for everyone to guess!



#PlayLearn November roundup

Dates for your Diary:

We had previously advised you to save the date on Nov 26th 2021 for a regional event. We have taken the decision to postpone this until the spring as we do not feel the time is right yet for in-person events.

Playful Learning conference logo

But one thing definitely going ahead in-person is the Playful Learning 2020 Conference (yes, the much delayed 2020 conference!) on 6th – 8th July 2022 at the University of Leicester. See the conference website for more information.

Call for Playtesters:

Screenshot of an interactive activity titled 'Starting Your Journey...' with a photo of a path heading into some mysterious woods

Do you design research or creative projects? Daisy has created a Choose Your Own Adventure which guides players through the different stages of project design and helps to improve rigour. It is particularly suitable for students or ECRs in Higher Education, but you may find something there for everyone!

You can play it here: https://daisyabbottitchio.itch.io/creative-thinking-quest and please consider contributing to the research study to help Daisy improve the quest.

Playful Writing?

Logo for the Journal of Play in Adulthood

Thinking of publishing your work on Playful Learning, check out the Journal of Play in Adulthood and contact the editor, our own Andrew Walsh if interested. While you’re there you can browse through a new double special issue looking at the Playful Academic and Playful Designs.

If you missed the deadline to be included in this round-up, never fear! Contact Playful Learning on Twitter and we can include you next time!

INTEGRITY #PlayLearn21 Day 5

Guest Blogger: Julia Reeve

julia reeve photo

Hello and welcome to the final #PlayLearn21 blog. I have fond memories of the 2019 conference, where you could find me playing with Lego under a tree or doing some mindful cutting and sticking. The online iteration has offered a diverse range of activities, from the thought-provoking to the downright silly: here’s my take on the Day 5 task…

The #Integrity task was all about those times when despite our best efforts, we fail to be as inclusive as we could be: judging by the number of responses on the padlet, this is something that struck a chord with many of us. Reading the example about cultural references, where Kermit the frog was unknown to learners, reminded me of a similar faux pas (not a very inclusive term, I know) when I referred to James Bond in a session with international students who looked at me blankly…

Getting inclusivity wrong is difficult to avoid, but the alternative is that we stay with the safe and less playful option: what impressed me about the examples given was the way that everyone was passionate about being as inclusive as possible and highly sensitive to the diverse needs of learners. In order to be aware of ‘failures’ we need to be highly tuned in to matters of inclusivity, and I found these examples inspiring rather than painful (well mostly).

A few key themes jumped out at me, which could be a starting point for a Manifesto for Inclusivity…

Assumptions

Several of the #failbetter examples mentioned assumptions or preconceptions about learners: these ranged from the general, aspects such as language, access to technology and disability to the very specific, for example assumptions about drinking alcohol.

Sometimes I’ve made the mistake of assuming that playful learning is inherently inclusive, when of course that’s not the case. Just like any type of learning, playful activities or games can exclude individuals for all the many reasons given: things like prior knowledge, learning differences or maybe not everyone likes playing (unbelievable but true). I agree with this padlet contributor: “I think its easy to impose your view of why they should play, or write off students as ‘non-playful”. So, how do we balance fun and play in learning with inclusivity and avoid “over-inclusivity paralysis”?

Optionality

The theme of optionality came through strongly as one way of balancing inclusivity considerations with playful pedagogy. Offering choice in activities, the lessons learnt from not offering more options and the clarity with which options are communicated all featured. Word games could exclude some learners including those with dyslexia, movement-based activities could exclude those with mobility difficulties and we may not all be in the same time zone. Being mindful about multiple points of view would appear to be key: “The more needs, and perspectives we consider, the better our output will be” (a tip for the forthcoming manifesto!). How can we have greater awareness of learner perspectives?

Actively seeking feedback

Several padlet contributors wrote about the role that feedback from learners played in making them aware of ways that they could make their playful teaching more inclusive. Feedback resulted in changes such as making Kahoot questions shorter and reducing the volume of music, signposting and explaining multiple options for engagement with content and many more. Having an ongoing dialogue with learners about their experiences appears to be vital in considering inclusion. So what else helps?

Vulnerability and transparency

I was touched by how honest the #failbetter accounts were: these experiences are painful, and I certainly find it hard to think back to those cringe-worthy moments. Some of the examples talked about ‘owning up’ to mistakes openly as a way to demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity. Whether it is thanking someone who has pointed out your error, being honest when things go wrong with technology (I’ve certainly had to use that one recently) or asking students for help, being vulnerable and open demonstrates that we are human and we care.

Final thoughts

Your reflections on those horrible, #failbetter moments have offered me some great ideas to change my practice: often those difficult, emotional experiences can offer important learning, so thanks for your generosity in sharing these.

We may have experienced something like this in the past that still informs our practice, or the memory may be fresh and still smarting: whatever our failing better story, reflecting on and sharing these incidents makes us all more sensitive and inclusive educators.

Of course, this is a never-ending process: just as we feel we have overcome one learning barrier, another appears in front of us. To finish, I’ll share a recent #failbetter experience of my own. In a LEGO Serious Play session I asked learners to choose a brick based on colour: afterwards I learned that one of the group was colour blind and that the task had been completely meaningless to them. Thankfully they helpfully offered their own alternative task based on texture instead. So I learnt something 🙂

Thanks for a fabulous conference, and look forward to seeing you all in person in July 2022!

Julia

RIGOUR #PlayLearn21 Day 4

Guest Blogger: Alex Moseley

Tree image superimposed with various play related words

It was time to get serious on day 4 of #PlayLearn21. A day of #Rigour. A day of collaborative writing. A day of Churprise*!

Playful Learning, as a young field of study without borders or a strong parent discipline (all metaphors intended) benefits and suffers from the same problems as any new or hybrid discipline. We don’t have a defined set of methods, approaches and tools; we don’t have a history of traditions or tacit understandings. Additionally, we suffer from the general outside view that play and games are childish, frivolous, silly, non-serious, only about fun, etc.

On the positive side, we have a clearer sense of shared values (in evidence this week, despite the mix of existing and new members who’ve joined the conference) than many more established disciplines, and we can and do draw on methods, approaches and tools from a range of other disciplines without fear of being ‘out of line’. We can also invent new ways of doing things.

The feeling pervades, though, that we have to qualify our work. Defend it. Insist that it is serious, even if it might be fun at times. That we as playful practitioners/researchers, and our work, have rigour.

My own sense is that we need to develop an inclusive confidence in what we do. That over time – through practice, reflection, sharing, talking, failing, learning etc. – we become more confident in our own field, and in our own rigour.

I arrived at the live games session at lunchtime to find an in depth discussion already underway: around ‘rigour’ and how relevant it was to practice on the ground, with colleagues and managers, and within HE structures. It became so interesting that we carried it on for half an hour, before drawing a reluctant end and starting the intended game sessions. 

We spent a lot of that discussion focussing on quality (as a measure of internal ‘rigour’) and particularly student assessment – referring to the experience points and levels in Lee Sheldon’s ‘Multiplayer Classroom’ (2011) (which Scott Nicholson [2013] has tried to mixed effect), and the concept of ‘ungrading’ which shifts the focus of learning from product to the process itself. 

Meanwhile, work on the crowd-sourced / collaborative Encycloplaydia was well underway. After a slow start on Wednesday evening (UK time) with a few tentative single word additions, a few more detailed entries appeared, and then contributors gained in confidence as the day went on. A pattern I’ve often found in asynchronous activities, but also here I felt it was related to building confidence in our own practice – and what we collectively decide represents ‘rigour’.

A few favourites of mine from the still-growing set:


Balloons – so full of tension and surprise.

*Churprise – ‘a portmanteau word, containing elements of both challenge and surprise’ invented by attendees at the Playful Learning Conference 2019 (Ferguson et al, 2020).

Grok – You understand something so thoroughly that you become one with it and perform the action without thinking about it. 

Playfulness – “a state of mind, an internal predisposition that is composed of creativity, curiosity, sense of humor, pleasure, and spontaneity.” (Guitard, Ferland, & Dutil, 2005, p 19). Open to, and seeing the opportunity for, play.

Sew – A needle pulling thread (Hammerstein II, 1959).


I sensed over the day, and over this week as a whole, that we are starting to gain some confidence in our field. That playful learning, as an emerging/hybrid discipline, is strengthening its nerve and its voice.

Let’s keep talking, doing, reflecting, sharing, talking, empathising, failing, learning and getting stronger together.

MISCHIEF #PlayLearn21 Day 3

Guest Blogger: Elliott Spaeth (he/him)

Hi, I’m Elliott and I’m a neurodivergent, disabled, trans guy. My job is teaching other lecturers how to teach in an inclusive way. I love video games, cats, cooking, and YA fiction.

In the words of Helen Williams, “Getting up to #Mischief this morning was challenging and exhausting and fun.” The exhaustion isn’t surprising given that Helen walked 4km (or possibly even 8km) just to start being mischievous.

In my experience, mischief can be both energising and exhausting, even when hours of physical exercise aren’t involved. But what triggers this strange dualism? I would say the joy and fear of deviating from people’s expectations has a big part to play.

It is the outlook of the Mischief Maker and of those around them that impacts any ensuing energy and/or exhaustion.

For me, mischief is most fun when I am surrounded by people who will delight in my antics. The sheer joy of surprising people in a positive way can feel like flying. Conversely, I find maintaining my natural playful, mischievous nature exhausting when those around me disapprove. Perhaps this is because I identify more with the “lawful” or “neutral” character traits than the “chaotic” trait (within the moral alignment system used in Dungeons & Dragons, a tabletop roleplaying game. For the chaotic among us, it might be that evoking disapproval in others brings the same joy I get when others are pleased with me.

Dungeons & Dragons dice 2. By Lydia. CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/lydiashiningbrightly/3423990219

As a neurodivergent person (I’m autistic and ADHD), my life has often felt like I’m trying to maintain mischief while being strongly encouraged to conform at all costs. For those who are interested in this idea, I recommend looking into literature around “camouflaging” or “masking” in autistic (or otherwise neurodivergent) people.

Staying mischievous can feel like a bold, dangerous act, especially when conformity is presented as the only acceptable choice. But in reality, conforming feels like it dulls a part of my soul. A little spark goes out. I saw sparks in the eyes of those I met at my first Playful Learning Conference in 2019.

So my parting message to you is…

…As long as it’s safe to do so (because sometimes it may not be), stay mischievous, and keep your spark.

Elliott (follow me on Twitter at @ElliottSpaeth).

INNOVATION #PlayLearn21 Day 2

Guest Blogger: Rachelle O’Brien

Ahoy! I’m Rachelle, your guest blogger for today. I’m delighted to be blogging about innovation and hope I can do justice to some of the brilliant ideas we’ve seen generated in the last 24 hours.

Image

I expect I am relatively unknown in the playful community. I came to my first playful learning conference in 2019 for one day, because that’s all I had funding for and for a while, I just stood around being awkward and feeling lost. It didn’t take long until I found a space that I could fit into. I ended up spending the day exploring other spaces, and especially enjoying those spaces that were not planned and just kind of happened. This is what I’m really interested in, those spaces in between, the liminal spaces. We could think of them as the gap behind the sofa where the treasure lives (money), or the writing that was never written between the lines of instructions, where we can build interpretation.

Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve spent a lot of my time developing Escape Rooms for use in educational contexts which is considered by some to be innovative. It has been great fun creating and developing these playful activities and watching students, academics, family, friends (and everybody else who has had a go) work through them. But what most people don’t realise is that I’m not so bothered about the Escape Room bit. For me, the Escape Room is the vehicle that enables me to find those little pockets of innovation around the edges. The bits that really test my skills because information is interpreted differently to how its intended and I have to be playful, live, so that the game doesn’t fall apart for the players! The conversations and process and teams of people who have never met before and then suddenly pull together to unpick and understand something which in most cases is abstract and how, irrespective of how abstract it is, they manage to work through it.

My favourite part of these activities is creating spaces for playfulness in what would probably not-traditionally be considered in this way. This is innovation to me. Those spaces in between where new stuff occurs. Which happens all of the time, if only you know how to find it…. I guess you could say that I am an space conductor*.

*I realise this isn’t a thing so am inventing it. It means somebody who create spaces where innovation can happen.

So, on to the task!

The challenge on Tuesday ‘Technology will save us’ was to invent a Learning Technology. We had points for those who suggested a problem which needed a solution as well as points for those who answered with a solution.

So far in the activity feed we have seen requests for help with practical innovations such as a mask that works with hearing aids and ways to stop socks escaping the laundry basket. Requests relating to productivity; including replicating somebody with a remote solution and turning a workspace into a spacecraft cockpit (accordions, swivel chairs and tinfoil apparently). We also had Darkbot complaining about being too lazy to fulfil their ambitions as the ultimate mood hoover. We also have helpful suggestions of cheating to help with playing Monopoly empire and beating teenagers at the game.

Innovation is all around us

Reflecting on the activity feed during the innovation task, a number of things struck me.

Firstly, things need time to develop. I initially took a look as soon as the task was announced and although there were posts and requests for help, there weren’t conversations at that point. I think this is an important point that John also reflected on in the blog from day 1 about the affordances of asynchronous activities and how conversations transform. To me, it seems like conversations slow down and spread out. Making them much more far reaching.

Although the task required an ‘innovation’ be developed, there were far more innovations during these conversations. Reviewing what happened retrospectively really paints a picture of how things unfolded, developed and shifted. In all of these cases, yes, innovative ideas were being presented but there was more than just that. Innovation was happening in the in-between spaces. For example, the creation of robot accordion players and a master plan for the spacecraft cockpit.

Even though these ideas were pitched as ‘innovations’ that are problems to be solved, people were perfectly willing to provide solutions, in some cases working collectively. It made me wonder how much of this is because the stimulus itself is aspirational and playfulness is implicit – does this give permission to play?

It got me to further thinking. How many meetings about meetings could we avoid if we adopt similar strategies? And if we took this approach, would we find a golden thread or would it be chaos? Does it matter either way?

In summary, innovation is happening everywhere, continually. Sometimes all you need is a stimulus, a space and an audience willing to consider it.

What was your experience of the innovation task? Did you find a solution to your problem?

COLLEGIALITY #PlayLearn21 Day 1

Guest Blogger: John Lean

Hi everyone! I’m John and it’s my pleasure to write the first of the Playful Learning blog entries to reflect on what’s been going on at our 2021 online conference.

A holiday snap of John and his son.
John and his colleague in their happy place’ last week.

Late last night I returned from my own ‘happy place’ (Eskdale in the Lake District) after a too-short holiday with my partner and son, and logged on to the site to check in on what’s been happening. Since then I’ve been following developments on the site obsessively; it’s been nice to have something to replace the football 😒.

Some of you might remember me as the referee for the conference game in 2019, so you’ll know that I’m ever so slightly obsessed with the various ceremonies we invent around competition (my current one is the little robot car that brought out the ball during the Euros). What you might not know was that the game was (partly) an elaborate experiment in forcing people to make friends with each other. Making friends is a vital part of ‘real world’ conferences, but how do we build a sense of community and collegiality when we’re working online? For obvious reasons, this question has been preoccupying many of us for the past year or so; perhaps Playful Learning can provide some new, playful ways of building online collegiality!

The challenge put to delegates on Monday was to collaborate on creating a beautiful thing, specifically with someone new who they hadn’t met before. So far we’ve seen short stories, collages, songs, films and Lego models in the activity feed, and what all of these have in common is that they demonstrate the ways in which participants have broken the ice and started to create together!

A montage of aquatic images.
A collaborative montage of underwater images from Nic, Lee, Gosia, Jo and Stephen.

Having something playful to do built that immediate sense of collegiality, rather than being dumped in the same Zoom chat and being expected to just learn everyone’s names. At the same time, the asynchronous nature of the activity meant that people could contribute at different times, and there was always something new to see as products gradually came together. Here are some very scrappy reflective thoughts on how that process worked…

  • Some people are more comfortable playing than others, and in this activity I noticed that these people naturally became unofficial ‘playmakers‘ for others. All it takes is for someone to put themselves out there, and less experienced/confident people can join in. In this context that’s vital, but more generally I think that activities like this can be deliberately designed to play to the known strengths of participants as a starting point.
  • I’m really interested in the ways in which playful practice subverts and transforms existing ways of doing things, even when these are playful in the first place. As a university lecturer in my mid-30s I’m not entirely sure if I understand TikTok (or if I even should), but I could see a clear lineage from TikTok sea shanties to our own What do you do with a boring classroom, not just in terms of format but in terms of how the piece came together in lovely pirate-y layers that built upon previous iterations. This was a perfect model of collegiality developing in real time, in that you could literally hear the contribution that each individual was making. It also proved a good starting point for chat at the launch event; people could lay claim to their own weird noises!
  • I appreciated that I was able to see people’s work-in-progress by being nosey and clicking links (editing this blogpost makes me a journalist, right?). This was effectively people ‘showing their sketch’; not focusing on perfecting the product but on the process of getting there. Importantly, through sharing these collaborative links newcomers could see projects that were already underway before contributing themselves, effectively seeing how they might fit into a task. Again, this build the sense of collegiality because the focus shifted away from individuals having to formally introduce themselves, and towards people just getting stuck in.
  • Finally, it seems silly but the word ‘beautiful’ does an awful lot of work in that instruction, especially around this idea of focusing on process not product. Sometimes it can be difficult to build collegiality in a short space of time because new people seem more talented or experienced than you (if, for example, they own more accordions), and you worry that your contribution won’t live up to expectations. By making the focus of the task collaboration, that word ‘beautiful’ has let delegates contribute in different ways towards a whole piece that is beautiful precisely because it’s the product of collaboration. Whether your contribution is big or small, you can get involved without worrying, because beauty is guaranteed by definition!
Photo of a white Lego model
A beautiful Lego landscape from Liza!

Now if you don’t mind I’m off to stare at some sunsets and cry about my new definition of the word ‘beauty’*. See you for more playful shenanigans tomorrow, folks!

*the football

John

Playful Learning Online Conference – Leaderboard

[Home] [Activity] [Players] [Live Tasks][Code of Conduct]

PositionAvatarUsernamePointsRank
1Daan van Loon102Badger
2Lee101Badger
3Daisy Abbott100Badger
4Helen Williams90Badger
5Scott Nicholson81Chinchilla
6Rebecca Ferguson81Chinchilla
7Katie Piatt80Chinchilla
8Jo (非凡)77Lemming
9Gosia76Lemming
10Alex Moseley50Vole
11Stephen Dann47Squirrel
12Roger Saunders45Squirrel
13Juliette Culver40Squirrel
14John Lean37Hamster
15Nic Whitton29Gerbil
16Rosie Jones28Gerbil
17Darkbot26Gerbil
18Stylianos25Gerbil
19Helen Ghodbane24Gerbil
20Kate Grafton23Gerbil
21James Charnock23Gerbil
22FieryRed122Gerbil
23Bernice Beukes19Dormouse
24Liza Penn-Thomas18Dormouse
25Rachelle O'Brien18Dormouse
26Mita Williams18Dormouse
27Kristen15Dormouse
28Kathryn Drumm15Dormouse
29Sally Brown13Dormouse
30Samar gad13Dormouse
31Sarah Honeychurch13Dormouse
32T. Keith Edmunds11Dormouse
33Cheri MacLeod11Dormouse
34Kerrie11Dormouse
35George Robinson10Dormouse
36Simon Grey10Dormouse
37Pen Holland10Dormouse
38Ruth Ng10Dormouse
39Johann Dunn10Dormouse
40Sandie Elsom10Dormouse
41Maarten Koeners8Shrew
42Mia Pledger8Shrew
43Lisa Forbes8Shrew
44Darren Green8Shrew
45Geri Huzar8Shrew
46Mary Leung8Shrew
47Julie Mulvey8Shrew
48Elaine Norton8Shrew
49Billie Coxhead8Shrew
50Susannah Quinsee8Shrew
51Elliott Spaeth8Shrew
52Maritha Pritchard7Shrew
53CovertChinchilla7Shrew
54Mathias Poulsen6Shrew
55Shabnam Sukhdev6Shrew
56Graziano Maino6Shrew
57Emily Coyte6Shrew
58Julia Reeve6Shrew
59Martyn6Shrew
60Emma Whitt6Shrew
61Sara Green6Shrew
62Emma Bentley6Shrew
63Ine Agresta6Shrew
64Helen Beetham6Shrew
65Emma Duke-Williams6Shrew
66Julie de Witt6Shrew
67Marie Meskell6Shrew
68Nicola5Shrew
69Andrew Walsh5Shrew
70Laura Barnett5Shrew
71Marie Smith5Shrew
72Kerstin Hoang5Shrew
73Pip Divall5Shrew
74Maha Bali4Shrew
75Chris Morrison4Shrew
76Pip Divall3Shrew
77Walter Patterson3Shrew
78Stephanie (Charlie) Farley3Shrew
79Jackie Oliver3Shrew
80Matt Coward-Gibbs3Shrew
81Kieran "The Bold" Mathieson3Shrew
82Len Scrogan3Shrew
83Joy James3Shrew
84Tim Hinchcliffe3Shrew
85Irene McGinn3Shrew
86Laura Barclay3Shrew
87Emma Flint3Shrew
88Nihra3Shrew
89Gil3Shrew
90Aimee Blackledge3Shrew
91Suzi Wells3Shrew
92Helen Williams3Shrew
93Amanda Whitehead3Shrew
94Louise Clarke3Shrew
95Pauline3Shrew
96eLearningTechie3Shrew
97Peter Whitton3Shrew
98Justin3Shrew
99Emil3Shrew
100Alison James2Shrew
101El Spaeth2Shrew
102Darren Edwards2Shrew
103Playful Learning Conference1Shrew
104Adriana Cardinot1Shrew
105Katie Piatt1Shrew
106Brooke Howland1Shrew
107Andrew Hoang1Shrew
108Jenny Levine1Shrew
109Karen Hickinbotham1Shrew
110Connie Wong1Shrew
111Caroline1Shrew
112Wendy Murphy1Shrew
113Jill Shacklock1Shrew
114monicawilliams1Shrew
115Maria O'Hara1Shrew
116Kari Morley1Shrew
117Laura Alfano1Shrew
118David Thomas1Shrew
119Danielle1Shrew
120Dr. Joanne Ricevuto1Shrew
121Hong Shaddy1Shrew
122Katalin Hanniker1Shrew
123Jess1Shrew
124Edmedical1Shrew
125Sazzle1Shrew
126Sam Nolan1Shrew
127Neil Withnell1Shrew
128Lauren Kelley1Shrew
129Jenny Tetlow1Shrew
130Ching-Li1Shrew
131John Patrick McKeown1Shrew
132Sharon M. Peck1Shrew
133Miriam O Donoghue1Shrew
134George Robinson1Shrew
135Chris Gillies1Shrew
136Viki Veale1Shrew
137Kat Schrier1Shrew
138Brenda Lecklider1Shrew
139Andrew Wilson1Shrew
140Linda Moses-Allison1Shrew
141Wendy Jo Bartkus1Shrew
142Colleen Packer1Shrew
143Deena Godwin1Shrew
144Stephan Caspar1Shrew
145Onlineslot1Shrew
146Alison James1Shrew
147Emily1Shrew
148Liz Johnson1Shrew
149Malcolm E.1Shrew
150Situsslots1Shrew
151jov.bob1Shrew
152Sam Bell1Shrew
153Jessica Ritchie1Shrew
154Siobhán Morgan1Shrew
155Huma1Shrew
156Giskin Day1Shrew
157Susanne1Shrew
158Claire Brett1Shrew
159Roskorbola1Shrew
160Kitty suddick1Shrew
161Teti1Shrew
162Bomedical1Shrew
163Susan1Shrew
164Katharine1Shrew
165Anne-Marie Greenhill1Shrew
166Sarah H1Shrew
167Mélanie Jolivet-Bâlon1Shrew
168nicola@whittons.com1Shrew
169Claire Ashworth1Shrew
170Ralphjesty1Shrew
171Merissa Karr1Shrew
172Minnnieseo1Shrew
173seopackage1Shrew
174Radiourifm1Shrew
175DennisFoele1Shrew
176WarrenTof1Shrew
177Andrea Dalton1Shrew
178WilliamDwelf1Shrew
179MyCreditDom1Shrew
180PatrickFaish1Shrew
181Amanda Hardy1Shrew
182SherylremN1Shrew
183Securityma1Shrew
184HenryMon1Shrew
185JamesSiz1Shrew
186Eriidnjudi1Shrew
187Keith2jat1Shrew
188MarvinAmure1Shrew
189Richjudidn1Shrew
190Eduardotef1Shrew
191ShawnMig1Shrew
192Misbetting1Shrew
193https://www.emailsupport.us/comcast-email-support1Shrew
194Mr furniture1Shrew
195Gustavobex1Shrew
196Maritnasal1Shrew
197monica1Shrew
198Loy Schwartz1Shrew
199Matthewfeefe1Shrew
200https://www.howdoisetup.com/hp-printer-setup1Shrew
201Elijahvoike1Shrew
202Sbobetasia1Shrew
203Tsignprint1Shrew
204Andy Bedford1Shrew
205LuannHOP1Shrew
206LarryAdoth1Shrew
207Jamelbor1Shrew
208Symassage1Shrew
209Romassage1Shrew
210Barryneert1Shrew
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212M.J. D'Elia1Shrew
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Playful Learning Online Conference 2021

[Home][Code of Conduct]

This page is an archive of the Playful Learning Online Conference 2021.

Conference Programme: [Download a visual overview]

Tasks:

MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL (with a new friend) #Collegiality (10 points)

Welcome to the first #PlayLearn21 challenge. There are 10 shiny points on offer for everyone who completes this task between 4pm on Sunday and 4pm on Monday.

  • Find someone on the site you’ve not met before (or more people if you prefer), create something beautiful together. Your something can be anything: a poem, a photograph, a mime, a sculpture, a new product, dance routine, a three-hour video about bees, whatever you like, and the more creative the better.
  • Come up with a way of sharing your beautiful thing in the activity stream and tag your post with #Collegiality to earn your points.
  • When you see someone else’s beautiful thing that speaks to you, please show your appreciation.

TECHNOLOGY WILL SAVE US #Innovation (10 points)

Isn’t learning technology wonderful? We don’t have enough new innovations do we? Here’s your chance to invent a Learning Technology to solve a problem you don’t even know you have yet.

Anyone can pose a problem. Here’s a couple of examples:

  • Lecturer Bob is fed up with pressing the ‘OK’ button 500 times in the VLE when adding content.
  • Mother bear Bobo wants to teach her baby bears to defecate in the woods rather than in their porridge.

Pose your own problem (5 points) and design things to solve other people’s problems (5 points). Don’t be constrained by annoying things like the laws of physics, the Gartner Hype Curve, or your institutional procurement policy.

Share your things with the tag #Innovation. Bonus points might be awarded for creative responses.

STREET SECRETS #Mischief (10 points per artwork)

It’s that time in the conference for a bit of fresh air, optional exercise and a chance to create a piece of GPS Art. Have a look at https://www.nathanrae.co.uk/gpsart for inspiration, tips and instructions.

It’s a bear! Can you do better?

Go for a walk, run, cycle, or just plot a route and create some art.

Share your GPS art to the activity stream with the tag #Mischief. Up to 10 points available for each piece of art.

ENCYCLOPLAYDIA OF PLAYFUL LEARNING #Rigour (10 points)

Some people think that play is silly, frivolous, and not appropriate in the context of adult learning. Having a robust theoretical frame and evidence-base is crucial when we need to be playful, yet taken seriously.

Let’s co-create a resource that brings together collected knowledge of key underpinning theories and practice of Playful Learning in a handy A-Z format. Cite if you like.

We’ve made a start here: Encycloplaydia of Playful Learning

Add as many terms and/or definitions to the document as you want. Don’t forget to add your name to the list of contributors. All contributors will receive 10 points.

The Encycloplaydia will be published in the Journal of Adult Play with all authors credited.


FAIL BETTER #Integrity (?? points)

We all make mistakes sometimes, it’s part of being human.

Sometimes we fail to be as inclusive as we could be, not on purpose but because we’re busy, distracted, or we just don’t think.

Please tell us a story on this anonymous padlet of when you failed to be as inclusive as you might have been: Fail Better (padlet.com)

We want to create a Manifesto for Inclusivity. Please also look at other stories and add a tip for more inclusive practice that might be learned from one of these fails.

Use your own judgement to award yourself points and add a comment to the activity stream with the tag #Integrity and the number of points you have given yourself.

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD (10 points)

Try our Playful Learning cryptic crossword. 10 points for the first person to post the secret message #Crossword (no prizes for spotting the deliberate mistakes…)
http://pla.playthinklearn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/playful_learning.pdf

GEOGUESSR – WHERE IN THE WORLD? (5 points)

Here’s a little extra challenge for you this week. You will be randomly dumped somewhere in the world, explore around and see if you can work out where you are and place your pin. Do come back here and post with #GeoGuessr when you’ve done it so we can check your score and award you some points!

https://www.geoguessr.com/challenge/hE0yEJoX0QxmrKle

A GOOGLE A DAY CHALLENGE #Google (5 points)

A challenge proposed by @r3beccaf
Highest score on this http://www.agoogleaday.com/ by 2pm BST will earn you +5 bonus points.
Participation will earn you +2 bonus points.

COVERT CHINCHILLA DUST BATH CHALLENGE #CCC (20 points)

A challenge from our local chinchilla – 20 bonus points at stake

https://www.thinglink.com/card/1472349858948972545

REGISTER (1 Point)

GET IN DISGUISE (2 Points)

  • Add your profile photo – in disguise – you can edit your profile by clicking your name at the top of the screen (you’ll earn points for this!):

FIND A FRIEND (3 Points)

  • Find an un-playful friend to join up with you
  • Persuade a friend/colleague/pet to register! Then comment on their new account.

CREATIVE TASK 1 (2 Points)

  • What or where is your happy place? Post a picture in the activity stream of your happy place!
  • Comment on somebody else’s picture.

Archived Tasks:

You can still complete these, but you are too late for bonus points and to be included in the day’s reflection blog post.

#PlayLearn February roundup

It’s been a couple of months since our last update, but we figured everyone had enough to digest over Dec/Jan. We hope you all managed to have a good rest, and a chance to relax and play, over the festive period.

PlayDay

The lockdown continues for most of us, of course, but in November we blew away isolation with a great online PlayDay: see our report of the Trials and Tribulations of Playing Online.

Events

Many events, Playful Learning included, are waiting to see how the world is looking later this year, but there are two conferences you might be interested in submitting a paper to, or joining:

  • 23-25 June: iGBL2021 is the Irish Games Based Learning conference, normally hosted in Ireland by Patrick Felicia; but this year – as last – it will be entirely online. 23-25th June, see the iGBL site. [note: Call for Papers closes Feb 5th!]
  • 23-24 Sept: ECGBL (the European Conference on Games Based Learning) which shifted online last October, is returning to Brighton this year with the promise of a blended approach. See details and call for papers at https://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/ecgbl/