FAB Ideation “Transforming Education with Games” Report

On 21 May 2020 we met again for another FAB Ideation at FabCafe Hong Kong. This time we had a total of 10 people joining to discuss the values of education and how games might provide fun and engaging learning experiences for students.

We began the session with self-reflections on our own educational journeys and learning styles. By sharing our experiences of education systems in different countries and how we individually tend to learn new things most effectively, we came to understand a lot about the process of learning and the persistent problems in Hong Kong’s education system. We found that the subjects we enjoyed the most during our time in school were fully dependent on how the subjects were taught, compared to the vastly different learning preferences in our group.

In the second half of the session we discussed some of our favorite games and tried to identify the possible learning potentials. We were surprised by just how easy of a task it was! We very quickly found dozens of things that you can learn from playing games, both in terms of academics, mental training and personal development.

Given insight to some of the unique qualities that games can bring to the learning environment, we began to develop ideas for new educational games. In groups we brainstormed for possible learning objectives, game genres, rules & mechanics and themes. Then we individually came up with a complete concept sketch of a game and presented each of them to the group. The presented game concepts were interesting, goal-focused and innovative! In two of the concepts the students would train problem-solving skills through adventurous scenarios. Another concept focused on improving improvisation and story-telling skills with special trigger cards. Other concepts included a Monopoly-like trading game for teaching finance and business, an improved take on competitive spelling contests, and a future-themed safe environment for learning the traffic rules.

Thanks to all the participants for an enjoyable evening of Design Thinking. FabCafe HK will soon host more FAB Ideations to inspire creativity and innovation. Stay tuned for our event announcements on FabCafe website and our Facebook page.

Find more pictures from the event on Flickr.