announcements

The Institute of Play is growing its team and in search of talented players to join a range of new projects and developing initiatives. We seek outstanding, creative and committed game-changers to contribute to our work as a design-led non-profit focused on the future of learning. Positions include: Chief Operations Officer/Director of Engagement (PDF), Communications Director (PDF), Curriculum Developer (PDF), Afterschool Program Mentor (PDF), Game Designer (PDF) and Design Production Intern (PDF).

Our Core Values:

• Commitment and Care: Members of IOP team have a strong commitment to work they do and a deep sense of care about why their work matters and whom it impacts.

• Social Life: Teamwork, collaboration, and the communities that we have helped to build and of which we are part, energize us.

• Diversity: We value a team made up of people with different backgrounds, skill‐sets, experiences, and points of view.

• Positive Feedback Loops: We embrace an additive creative process, where no ideas are rejected outright and we build constantly on an inventory of ideas generated by the group.

• Passions: We believe in the idea of having passionate interests and want to cultivate and support a sense of passion and engagement in others, particularly kids!

If you'd like to join our team, download one of the position descriptions above!

SMALLab-NY and Institute of Play game designer Kyle Li and his collaborators Albert Dang and Stephanie Tang, have won Best in Class: Innovation Award in the Digital Media and Learning Competition's Game Changers category. The Game Changers category aims to create new game play experiences that activate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math learning using the popular video games LittleBigPlanet™ and Spore™ Galactic Adventures. The competition is administered by HASTAC and supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

The team's winning game, Sackboys and the Mysterious Proof, was voted by the public to be the most innovative game in a competition with 800 entries. In Sackboys and The Mysterious Proof, LittleBigPlanet™ players must escape from the Proof family's century-old mansion by solving a series of puzzles using geometric reasoning. With puzzle mechanics driven by geometric theorems, players convert geometric concepts from the classroom into active knowledge through collaborative play inspired by precision learning. Congratulations to Kyle and the whole Sackboys team!

Katie Salen, the Institute of Play's executive director and the executive director of design at Quest to Learn, was recently profiled as part of Big Think's "Moments of Genius" series. In this interview, Katie discusses some of the key moments when she first envisioned how the learning architecture of games could help create dynamic and compelling learning experiences. Katie notes that games are player-dependent and focused, and as such offer kids "profound moments to understand notions of point of view, empathy and civic engagement." Katie also addresses the importance of problem-solving, intelligent resourcing and collaboration in both the design of learning experiences and the design of play.

This week marked the launch of an online social learning network, custom-designed by the Institute of Play for the game-based learning school, Quest to Learn. A creative, resourceful and stalwart team of designers, programmers, project managers and wellness experts collaborated to bring Being Me to life. Being Me’s features enable students to engage in a range of practices from self-reflective moments where they track how they’re feeling to more community-oriented activities where they participate in online discussions or share perspectives. Being Me supports Quest’s trimester-long focus on team work and how elements interact to create relationships within systems. It will also have an active role in Q2L’s afterschool space, providing opportunities for students to post, rate and comment on their work with the support of their adult mentors.