Becoming Superheroes

Playing, Finding and Making Games Networked Learning Preview Workshop McGonigal, whose games are filled with top-secret missions in which you get to play the superhero, says "reality is broken" because people don't get to feel "epic" often enough. This is a child's view of how the world works. Do adults really need to pretend they're superheroes on secret missions to have meaning in their lives? Heather Chaplin, "I Don't Want to be a Superhero" Education is "one of the most perfect game ecosystems that's out there," full of challenges, rewards, rules, allies, enemies, countdowns, and incentives, "all sorts of things that basically make school the best real-world implementation of a game that's out there." And yet "it's a poorly designed game; it's kind of broken." Seth Priebatsch Video games don’t just carry the potential to replicate a sophisticated scientific way of thinking. They actually externalize the way in which the human mind works and thinks in a better fashion than any other technology we have. James Paul Gee WORKFORCE CENTRAL FLORIDA has listened to the public, and will be withdrawing our admittedly out-of-the-box creative campaign, "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" later today. Fortunately, we've achieved some success in the short week and a half the campaign has run, including new job postings online, new job candidates registered for services and an increase in usage of our website. Cape-ability Campaign -http://www.workforcecentralflorida.com/fight-unemployment/ Classroom - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ms_sarahbgibson/3188108318/ Football Play Map - http://mapcataloggis3015klp04e.blogspot.com/2010/04/football-play-diagrams.html Sparked Superheroes - http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2011/04/13/from-staff-to-superheroes-inside-the-world-of- FourSquare badges - http://www.cio.com/article/593143/Foursquare_Tips_and_Tricks_Unlock_Secret_Badges_and_Reduce_Privacy_Risks Level Up - http://hackingchristianity.net/2010/11/could-discipleship-be-an-rpg.htmlCityscape Wow Achievements List - http://wow.joystiq.com/tag/archaeology-achievements/ Car - http://www.webdesignhot.com/free-vector-graphics/set-of-four-car-vector/ Tall Tree - http://www.clipartist.net/clipart/open-clip-art/tree-02-tree-clip-art/ Round Tree - http://newevolutiondesigns.com/fantastic-freebies-friday-3 Birds - http://www.vectorarts.net/nature/flying-birds-vector-graphic/ Street Lights - http://www.bievectors.com/free-4-vintage-street-lights-vector-graphic/ Getting to School - http://gamertherapist.com/blog/ Superpower Visualization - http://popchartlab.com/index.php/site/posters/ Images Sources Chaplin, Heather. "I Don't Want to be a Superhero." Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2289302/ Gee, James Paul. "Why Are Video Games Good For Learning?" http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDkQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.125.5890%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&ei=Na20TYi3F4autweMnbnpDg&usg=AFQjCNE6XypLwNLX0J_bKx5y7rI7aV3-qQ&sig2=PEAeZuYwHApUMX6SR1kxfA Priebatch, Seth. "The Game Layer on Top of the World." SXSW Keynote. http://gamification.com/post/3894522638/sxsw-keynote-the-game-layer-on-top-of-the-world. Social Chocolate. "About Us." http://socialchocolate.com/ Workforce Central Florida. "The Cape-A-Bility Campaign." http://www.workforcecentralflorida.com/ How do games connect to our world? How can they transform education? What can we learn from our desire to be super heroes? *and why "gamification" is taking the wrong lessons from gaming Anastasia Salter - @anasalter Can games give students agency in their learning?