Ping Summer Institute for Teachers, June 5-7, Ohio University

This past week, I led a three-day workshop for area high school teachers on teaching with video games in the humanities classroom. The Ping Summer Institute for Teachers is sponsored by The Charles J. Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities at Ohio University. I was really honored and excited to be asked to develop and teach the Summer Institute, an opportunity not usually given to a junior faculty member. Dr. Fred Drogula, the new director of the Ping, brought me on board after I presented a workshop on teaching with games at Ohio’s first digital humanities THATCamp. Here is the mailer advertising the workshop:

Though this year’s cohort was small, we had three full and engaging days. We read, we discussed, we screened two documentaries, we did hands-on activities, and we brainstormed ways to integrate digital games into particularly classes, assignments, and curriculums; here was the rough agenda:

• Wednesday, June 5
  • Morning Session
    • Coffee & Introductions
    • Brainstorm & Expectations
    • Digital Nation (2010)
    • Discussion
  • Afternoon Session
    • What is Close Playing?
    • Workshop ImmorTall (2010)
    • Play Logs
    • Discussion
• Thursday, June 6
  • Morning Session
    • Coffee & Debrief
    • Brainstorm
    • Second Skin (2009)
    • Discussion
  • Afternoon Session
    • 5-Minute Game Lesson Plan Workshop
    • Presentations
    • Discussion
• Friday, June 7
  • Morning Session
    • Coffee & Debrief
    • Best Practices
    • Sample Games
    • Q&A

Thank you to the Ping Institute, to the teachers who participated, and to Ohio University for the opportunity to share some of my expertise, passion, and pedagogy. Here are some of the handouts I developed for the Summer Institute (free to use and adapt with attribution):