Learn more about the 2019-2020 #G4CStudent Challenge plus some #G4C2020 highlights!
Games for Change is thrilled to share the results of the 5th annual G4C Student Challenge competition - and to recognize the talented young game designers who emerged as winners of the 2020 game design competition.
Despite new challenges posed by school closures and COVID-19, the 2020 competition was the most successful to date. In addition to engaging students in NYC, LA, Atlanta and Detroit (where the full-year Challenge program runs), this year's competition expanded nationally, inviting middle and high school students throughout the country to participate. Through the competition students were challenged to design and code digital games that addressed four important impact themes for teens today:
In the end, 1,600 middle and high school students submitted nearly 1,000 original games to the 2020 Student Challenge game design competition. Following a rigorous 3-round jury process involving 160 professionals from the games, social impact and education sectors, G4C identified 124 finalist games, which are showcased at the first-ever online G4C Student Arcade.
On June 17th, G4C revealed 33 winning games and 5 grand prize winnersduring a Virtual Awards Ceremony on YouTube Live. Students won prizes including Best Buy Gift Certificates, video games from Ubisoft, EA, Visual Concepts and Adult Swim, theme-related experiences and more. Each Grand Prize Winning student also received a $1,000 Scholarship, generously provided by Take-Two Interactive.
G4C also honored four cohort educators (1 from each Challenge city) with a Leadership Award. The Leadership Award represents a commitment on the behalf of the teacher to the program as well as a dedication to helping their students gain critical 21st Century skills while addressing real world, relevant topics. Recipients included:
Luna Ramirez (Information Technology High School in NYC)
John Landa (Girls Academic Leadership Academy in LA)
Vicki Robertson (Brookhaven Innovation Academy in Atlanta)
Misty May (Brenda Scott Academy in Detroit)
Thank You to the coalition of partners who supported this year's program, including: General Motors, Annenberg Learner, Annenberg Foundation, Endless, Motorola Solutions Foundation, Two Bit Circus Foundation, Detroit Public School Community District, the National Endowment for the Arts, Bigglesworth Family Foundation, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.
We look forward to working with our teacher cohorts and city partners during the 2020-2021 program - and to launching new resources and curriculum to support the national competition!
G4C would like to recognize all competitors for their impressive games and innovative solutions to this year's themes. Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winners!
As the advisor to the Stick Party, your job is to counsel the party's leader on how to respond to some of the most pressing issues in our society.
Grand Prize Winner - National
If you're involved in our Student Challenge program you'll definitely want to check out some Games & Learning highlights from the upcoming 2020 Games for Change Virtual Festival! Explore the full #G4C2020 schedule here!
Educational VR Games Tuesday, July 14th, 2020 11:00 am to 11:20 am Speaker: Jesse Schell (CEO, Schell Games) Schell Games has been working hard to innovate in the VR space, releasing over a dozen different VR games. Some of these have been educational experiences, and in this talk, Jesse Schell will present two different experiences, 'Deep Time Detectives' created for the Smithsonian, and 'History Maker VR' which allows students to create performance animations of historical figures. Jesse will present lessons learned, with a focus on small design details that made a big difference.
Seven F Words You Can Use In School Thursday, July 16th, 2020 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm Greg Toppo (Journalist, Paragraph Factory LLC) What can educators do to understand games and make school a more rigorous, vital and enjoyable place? Building on decades of research, this session looks at the seven essential nutrients that games provide: 1. Failure 2. Feedback 3. Fairness 4. Flow 5. Fantasy 6. Freedom 7. Fellowship. Understanding these "seven F's" can help teachers make their classrooms more successful places, even if they don't like video games or are uncomfortable bringing them into the classroom.
What Teens Tell Us About the Role of Games During COVID-19 Wednesday, July 15th, 2020 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Speakers: Katie Salen Tekinbas (Professor, Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine), Laura Higgins (Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility, Roblox) Tech-savvy kids and teens are showing incredible resilience during social distancing as they lean on online play and friends for human connection and mental well-being. Roblox's recent survey of teens found that they continue spending quality time with existing friends via games and chat apps, making new ones and enjoying improved relationships. In this fireside chat, industry luminary Katie Salen Tekinbaล and Roblox's Digital Civility leader Laura Higgins discuss the new data on play during COVID-19.
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