Earlier this month, I attended the CUNY Games Festival, a conference that brought together students, faculty, staff, game developers and all-around nerds to talk about the role of gaming in higher education. Speakers presented formal and informal work on the role games—tabletop, console and computer-based gaming, even game creation and development—have on learners in and out of the classroom.

As a World of Warcraft fan myself (albeit not a current player), this conference was…exciting. In addition to the usual discussion of how MMORPGs help with teamwork and problem solving, many educators dove into the nitty-gritty of games as vehicles for basic math, statistics, accounting, economics…the list goes on.

Program administrators talked about the value of putting game development in the hands of students. Moving a project from conception to completion, especially for students who have little to no game development knowledge, is significant. Within the classroom, projects that conclude with a tangible product—a playable deck of cards, an interactive space in Minecraft, a functioning app for smartphones—prove that creativity in the classroom is sometimes just as valuable as traditional/formal instruction.

I could go on and on about my excitement for this conference, but I think you all get the point—I’m a nerd. As a workforce development program, we at CEWD are always looking for innovative ways to engage learners and CUNY Games Festival has sparked some great discussions about future programming.

Did you attend this conference? We’re curious to hear your thoughts, from first-hand knowledge to ideas and inspirations, about gaming in the classroom. Tell us your story!