The Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences (ALLS) and Areté were pleased to welcome Dr. H Chad Lane and Dr. Jeff Ginger of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign from February 17 to 21, 2020. The purpose of their visit was to share their research and practice on supporting learning through the use of games and fab labs.
Dr. Lane is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Informatics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His lecture, Promoting Interest and Engagement with Intelligent Learning Technologies, discussed the importance of learner emotions such as interest and engagement, and the ways in which game elements can be used to support these states. Dr. Ginger is director of the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab. His talk entitled Learning with Fab Labs – It’s not DIY. It’s DIWO: Do It With Others discussed making-in-community as a key element in maximizing learning, education, and social inclusion. Approximately 150 people attended these two lectures at the Loft on the 4th floor of the George SK Ty Innovation Wing of Areté.
After the two lectures, Dr. Lane and Dr. Ginger gave a 2.5-day hands-on workshop on the use of Minecraft to support science learning, programming, and computational thinking. They also demonstrated a variety of tools that can help with co-construction of Minecraft worlds and with the transitioning these models to a 3D printer. Held at the Eugenio Lopez, Jr. Makerspace on the 3rd floor of Areté, 15 representatives from the Department of Education, several private schools, and non-government organizations attended this workshop.
Dr. Lane and Dr. Ginger’s visit was made possible by the Department of Science and Technology, the Office of the Dean of the School of Science and Engineering, ALLS, and Areté.
