I started making game theory YouTube videos in September 2009 for three reasons. First, I was getting tired of people asking me what I do without being able to provide a quick answer; a simple link to a YouTube video of the prisoner's dilemma solved that. Second, if you searched "game theory" on YouTube at the time, what came up was by and large not game theory. And third, the one exception to that was Ben Polak's class at Yale. His class is good, but each lecture runs longer than an hour, which makes it inaccessible to people with passing interest and nearly impossible to use as a study aid. In contrast, my videos are short--all but one run under ten minutes.

Games as learning tools are in my mind A LOT these days. And so it happens with this gamefi-learni-cation happening all around that the topic is in many peoples’ minds. A question that comes up when I have conversations around the topic (which happens pretty often) is what are effective strategies to design a game for learning. The obvious answer is that games for learning are first and foremost games and in order to make them you should take all the steps you would take to create a fun game. A rule of thumb I apply whenever I design a game for the classroom is to ask myself whether or not a kid would play this again outside of the school context, say at home with friends. If the answer to that question is NO - then it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Gamification has come under some fire from gamers recently, specifically since this post from Ian Bogost (since republished in The Atlantic). It could be the beginning of a backlash against the use of video games and game culture in a wide variety of spaces. Bogost is ruthless in his attack on the corporate world's foray into gaming, but what of serious games and the broader concepts around gamification and game-based learning in education? Where does this leave the push by schools and educators who have been exploring the use of games and game-based learning as a way of engaging students, teaching twenty-first century skills and finding ways to make the technologically-saturated lives of our children relevant in the classroom?

Ha, got your attention, eh?  But this is actually an important topic, of the 'reality is broken' variety.  Like the fact that we're obsessed over sexting and other digital phenomena related to sex, yet we have done little to improve sex education in this country.  In fact, we have vilified and cut funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that save people's lives by providing them critical information that affects them physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Sifteo cubes are 1.5 inch computers with full-color displays that sense their motion, sense each other, and wirelessly connect to your computer. You, your friends, and your family can play an ever-growing array of interactive games that get your brain and body engaged.

Sifteo’s initial collection of titles includes challenging games for adults, fun learning puzzles for kids, and games people can play together.

Stephens is what business author Daniel Pink would call a “free agent.” Stephens is a professional speaker who is currently booking speaking dates for fees between $2,500-$7,000 on his topic of expertise, self-directed learning. He is the creator of the blog and social movement UnCollege.org. He is also a budding book author represented by legendary literary agent Jim Levine; my guess, based on my own extensive experience of the publishing market, is that with the large platform Stephens has built for himself from scratch, combined with Levine’s representation, he’ll receive an advance well into six figures for his upcoming first book.

At GDC this year, I was given ten minutes to speak at the Game Educators Rant. I actually went over by a few minutes (with apologies to my fellow panelists) so I had to cut the end of the presentation a little short. What follows are my notes (sans slides, and edited for strong language since this is not meant to be an M-rated blog)

Clearly defined goals and fair, incremental rewards are two game design techniques that could motivate the 'gamer generation' in the workforce, according to a US academic.

Lee Sheldon of the Indiana University believes managers may have to rethink how they engage the next generation entering the mainstream workforce.

Lee Sheldon is an accomplished screenwriter and game writer, having worked on TV shows like ST:TNG and Charlie's Angels as well as the Agatha Christie series of games from The Adventure Company. He now teaches game design courses for Indiana University's Department of Telecommunications. Instead of assigning his students a grade at the end of the course, he instead starts every student at 0 xp and they earn points through completing quests like solo projects and quizzes in addition to grouping up for guild projects and pick up groups. How many points they have at the end of the course determines their actual "grade."