[RE]LEARN 2020 - The Learning Innovation Festival

How can we use design and creativity to enhance empathy, compassion, and care? In this interactive talk, I will talk about how I used game jams to enhance perspective-taking and to reduce bias. Game jams are hands on game creation events, where people come together (in person or virtually) to make games. The game jams first took place in nine cities in the United States. I assessed these jams and found that people explored their identities, and considered others' identities, while learning about game creation.
We are now going to do a series of game jams in Nigeria to support connection and compassion among different ethnic groups there (e.g., Hausa, Yoruba, Niger Delta, and the Igbo), as well as to teach game development skills and enhance creative expression.
In this short talk, I will provide an overview of the game jams and tips, guidance, resources, examples, and other support for how you can create a virtual or in-person game jam event for your school, class, organization, company, or group. The hope is that having people create together will help enhance learning and problem solving, but also to enhance equity, justice, and compassion, and connect humanity. Can engaging in creative practices with others help support understanding among people--and repair our world?