Keynote Speaker

Prof. Dr. Sylvester Arnab

Professor of Game Science, Coventry University, UK

Sylvester  is a Professor of Game Science at the Disruptive Media Learning Lab and an associate of the Centre for Post-digital Cultures at Coventry University, UK. His research focuses on the investigation into engaging, empathic, and empowering experiences through the lens of playful and gameful design practices. Sylvester is a co-founder of the award-winning GameChangers initiative (http://gamify.org.uk), which has been adapted in Malaysia and is currently being expanded into Vietnam and Indonesia towards responding to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Sylvester has recently published a book on ‘Game Science in Hybrid Learning Spaces’, which provides insights into the research and practice of purposeful game design with a focus on hybrid education. For more information https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/persons/sylvester-arnab

Talk: Games in Education: Seriously?

Our relationships with experiential artefacts such as games are evolving, where games and gameplay are becoming more pervasive in our daily lives. The engaging characteristics of games are increasingly leveraged in various sectors, most notably health and education. Games, which are more readily blended with existing practices, are more likely to be accepted by practitioners, such as teachers, as useful resources. This keynote explores the importance of the sense of ownership and autonomy, suggesting that practitioners such as teachers should be empowered to create or co-create their own games. This keynote draws from existing research, development, and practice under the award-winning GameChangers initiative and its sister initiatives in South-East Asia, which have produced holistic game design methodologies and tools for breaking the barriers to entry into the co-creation of playful and gameful experiences for achieving purposeful outcomes. Insights into the empathic experiential approach will help inform meaningful and purposeful game design.