{"id":1377,"date":"2022-07-22T16:30:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2022-07-22T21:49:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T20:49:04","slug":"playful-learning-2022-reflections-and-conference-in-a-pod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1377","title":{"rendered":"Playful Learning 2022: Reflections and conference-in-a-pod"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a few weeks after the Playful Learning conference<\/a>, and even after a bit of time to decompress I’m still a buzzing, overstimulated mess. And you know what? I\u2019d do it all again in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

In this article and accompanying podcast<\/a>, I\u2019d like to share my take on the conference: my impressions, my takeaways, my general experience. It\u2019s been a highlight of both my professional and podcasting career to date, and I\u2019m hoping that through the process of reflecting on it I\u2019ll identify some of the reasons why <\/em>it resonated with me, and how I can translate the experience into my practice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I attended the conference both as an Open University Learning Designer, and under the banner of \u2018Pedagodzilla<\/a>\u2019 – the education versus pop culture podcast I produce with Dr Mark Childs<\/a> as a fun way of discussing pedagogy and our love of geeky pop culture.<\/p>\n

\"A
My beloved box of podcast recording equipment, ready to roll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alongside this article, I\u2019ve released a \u2018conference-in-a-pod\u2019 podcast digest episode that pulls my reflections together with recordings with organisers, attendees, presenters and keynotes into a single (very chunky) podcast episode. If you weren\u2019t able to make the conference yourself then hopefully you\u2019ll find this the next best thing. It’s available on the Pedagodzilla<\/a> feed, downloadable<\/a>\u00a0or can be listened to now through the media player below:<\/p>\n\nhttps:\/\/www.pedagodzilla.com\/podcast-download\/604\/playful-learning-2022-conference-in-a-pod.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Day 1<\/h1>\n

Rules are there to be questioned<\/h2>\n

The conference kicked off with Dr Elliott Spaeth\u2019s<\/a> rousing keynote, \u2018How can educators play fair by throwing out the rules?\u2019. His take on being playful in a learning context really stuck with me throughout, reflecting on and questioning the rules that we have in a playful way, and questioning the assumptions that rules are derived from. The assumptions educators can have around either ideal, or implied students can in turn lead to the construction of an \u2018obstacle course\u2019 of rules (I loved this metaphor) that may challenge those idealised students, but completely floor those outside of the assumptions. Neurodivergent students, students with different lived experience, and so on. Rules should be like pens. Give them a good scribble, and if the intervention and impact aren\u2019t working then chuck them out.<\/p>\n

Elliott extolls the benefits far better than I can of course, have a listen to the interview with him if you\u2019d like to get a more comprehensive, and coherent take on it.<\/p>\n

The reflections that percolated over the following days around this, were twofold. One was that I\u2019d seen some of this reflected in my own practice over the last year. I\u2019d made a personal choice to be a bit more playful for my own sanity \u2013 which has not only improved my work, but also I think my interactions with my colleagues. This leads me to wonder about the rules and assumptions in my own practice \u2013 unspoken rules around organisational hierarchy, professional interactions and expectations. Something I think I\u2019ll be challenging teams to do in my own design work is considering any projected rules and assumptions they have about distance learning, and then seeing where there\u2019s space to be a little more playful around those.<\/p>\n

Pedagodzilla on tour<\/h2>\n

Following the keynote, and a mad dash to College Court, I got the Pedagodzilla recording station set up in a cosy corner of the caf\u00e9 and started recording like crazy. The format for these initial drop-in recordings was a short, structured conversation, asking attendees and presenters to describe a game they were passionate about and identify what factors fuelled the passion. We would then go on to discuss their learning and teaching practice, seeing if there were any links between their personal approach and the characteristics of their favourite games.<\/p>\n

\"A
Our cosy little recording corner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was initially intended as an icebreaker, and a way to loosen people up before an informal chat about their practice. Once we got into it though, we found that some people had some quite profound links between their personal drivers and how they approached education. There\u2019s likely a deeper piece of work to look into that, but for now it\u2019s a lovely collection of 10-15 minute chats with some interesting and articulate folk, which I\u2019m very much looking forward to sharing. In addition to these, we recorded a series of broader interviews and pieces of edu-podcaster research. There\u2019s over eight hours\u2019 worth in total, which we\u2019ll edit and publish over the next few months. I can\u2019t wait to share it all!<\/p>\n

Exquisite Corpse<\/h2>\n

With recordings under my belt, and a lunch hastily snarfed, it was off to the first of many parallel sessions. I started with Beatriz Acevedo<\/a> and Andrew Middleton\u2019s<\/a> fab session on Playing Exquisite Corpse, and how they\u2019ve adapted the game into a conversational framework that they use as a pre-work warm-up podcast. The framework itself is simple, playful and quite effective as a way to explore topics. In a baton passing way it asks a group to:<\/p>\n