The GliderCell Blog

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Will Wright Talks About Games and Education

Will Wright, inventor of Sim City and the Sims, makes a good point about the value of games; it's more about motivation than content. That said, if we can weave the two together, haven't we solved a major problem in education?

Lee Chazen

Lee Chazen is an educational content developer and writer who does consulting work under the name GliderCell. Chazen studied political science at Colorado State University, also receiving a minor in history and concentration in Russian and East Central European Studies. In the months following Gary Hart's presidential campaign, Chazen became a campaign manager for a California state assembly race where he also helped to coordinate a trade mission of Silicon Valley executives to the former Soviet Union (initiated by state assembly candidate Wendell Williams).

Chazen moved on to a career teaching high school world history, U.S. government and speech and debate. Convinced that teaching in a traditional "top down" method wasn't working for students, Chazen worked with students to create their own learning experience through the use of a game called Global Challenge. The Global Challenge Project continued for seven years and formed the basis for a research paper called Thriving on the Edge of Chaos. In this paper, Chazen argued for more games and projects in the classroom, where both teachers and students feel empowered.

Chazen has been a French horn player since the age of 7, playing with various symphony orchestras, wind ensembles and brass quintets. Hobbies include running, hiking and disc golf.

Navigation

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Will Wright Talks About Games and Education