About
What we do
Working across a diverse community of players, the Institute of Play leverages games and play as critical contexts for learning, innovation, and change in the 21st century. We bring non-traditional audiences into innovative spaces of production and learning through partnerships with the game industry, academia, government, science, technology, and the arts.
Our goals are to
- Embrace game design as an agent of provocation, education, and change
- Build new domains of knowledge connected to gaming, digital media and learning
- Develop innovative curricula around gaming literacies and other 21st century skills
- Create experiences bridging digital and non-digital learning environments
- Foster new models of collaboration between students, educators, and professional game designers
- Provide a space for the experimentation and exchange of ideas across creative, technology, and education sectors
Our activities include
- The design of a new 6th grade-12th grade small school based on a gaming literacy model
- Development of game-base toolkits that support collaborative design activities
- Research and development of frameworks and models linking the learning architecture of games with key 21st century skills
- Workshops for youth, parents, and teachers in game design
- A design collaboration with an Australian research group (ACID), the UN, and graduate design and technology students at Parsons to develop text-based games on mobile platforms
- Ongoing public talks, workshops, and seminars on gaming literacy
- Consulting on games and learning projects in the commercial or non-profit sector
Become an Institute Player
Want to play with us? If you are interested in finding out more about how the Institute of Play might leverage your knowledge, expertise, or financial support, please contact Katie Salen, Executive Director: katie at instituteofplay.org
The Institute of Play is a nonprofit corporation designated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.