orchids again

I really enjoyed Susan Boyle’s workshop at LILAC on using games creatively. Susan made the point that pedagogy should be focused on arousing students’ imagination and engagement. Games are a great motivator and give participants a sense of accomplishment and confidence and I was surprised at how some very simple games can be used to bring a group together. It’s all about “EDUtainment”, surprising folks and making workshops memorable. Susan used this “do the big rocks first” video to illustrate her point – a very simple demonstration of time management which certainly sticks in your mind!
Even IL lends itself to games – we discussed games which help students with off campus access, evaluation, citation, database choice, search techniques and more. I’m certainly inspired to try using some.
Susan’s tips: games should be fun, quick, simple, easy to play, designed around a specific objective, followed up with correct play.