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An important part of my job is communicating my research to professional communities and the public, but not all academic conferences are created equal. I recently attended the Connected Learning Summit in California to present a paper on how to design learning experiences in 360 degrees. This conference was big enough (or small enough?) to network, filled with thought provoking speakers, and easily accessible hands-on activities. Most impressively was the presence of failed experiments and failed technology. Sharing what doesn't work is just as important as sharing what does. Well done #ConnectedLearning, I'll be back next year. You can see all of the photos on the Connected Learning Alliance Flickr album (CC BY 2.0) It's conference season for the field of education, and with conferences come poster sessions. I really enjoy this one on one time with authors to ask questions and look for research studies in gaming. The design of the poster is a HUGE influence which posters I choose. If I can't discern the topic of the research at a glance, I'm probably going to pass it by. This is unfortunate, since I may be missing out on some really great research. Students in my Foundations of Game-based Learning course this semester are required to create a research poster. To help them along, I created this FREE TEMPLATE that focuses on audience interaction. You could add:
Leave a comment and let me know if you used this template and how your audience "interacted"!   I am thrilled to share with you the collaborative document from my Foundations of Game-based Learning course (EDUC 510) at Iowa State University! We are about 1/2 way through the course now, but you can read the course notes to find definitions of game-based learning and research resources for topics such as assessment in games.
Visit the Google Document
I developed the Step Model when re-designing my large undergraduate course. This model is only one way to design a GBL environment. In this model,
Interested in learning more about game-based learning for your own projects? Get in touch! 
Summer is almost over and the excitement for the new school year has begun! Each semester, my preservice teachers ask me for games and simulations in their own secondary content areas. This summer was my time to curate resources for each of my STEM groups. Below is the list I created for AgEd, and I have to be honest with you, most of these were new to me! It was a great experience to just sit down and search. Below you will see a variety of games, including board games, digital games, and even VR games.
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