Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Education and Games for Social Impact on Friday 11th March

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• Death of the Textbook, Emergence of Games

  by Sara DeWitt, Alan Gershenfeld and James M. Bower

  Textbooks published on trees are on the way out in Texas, California and the rest of the country and world.

  The Textbook industry is hoping they will be replaced with on-line versions spruced up with animated graphics. However, it is likely that on-line textbooks will be no more successful than magazine advertising that morphed into banner ads. Linear content with multiple choice answers at the end of each chapter, won't work. And as with banner ads, on the Internet you can measure that they don't work.

  What does work? Socially networked GAMES. The question for this panel is whether games will replace traditional educational media, and what those games look like.

  What will the teachers manual look like? How will learning be assessed? What happens to the classroom, or the school itself, when on-line learning is available 24/7? What does the PTA look like if parents can play along with their kids?

  What happens to the distinction between vocational and instructional if playing games is equivalent to performing a virtual job or service? And what happens to the college admission process, if instead of taking a standardized aptitude test, students have been playing a complex game for years. In fact, what happens to colleges and universities where lecture halls still reign supreme?

  There is a revolution underway, driven by kids and the games they play. Will the educational system adapt or die? We will see (and discuss).

  LEVEL: Beginner

  • Education
  • Games
  • Games for Social Impact

  At 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Friday 11th March

  In Sabine, Hilton Garden Inn Austin Downtown