This month we have William Thompson giving a talk on what educational psychology can tell us about games. From William:



Games have been used as both entertainment and teaching tools throughout history. As our games have become more sophisticated so has our understanding of learning and engagement. As it turns out, learning, challenge and fun are innately tied in the human psyche.



In this talk, I will discuss how theories of game design can inform education and how theories about motivation, engagement and learning can help us to improve our games. Whether you are interested in games for learning or entertainment, I hope this talk will facilitate discussion and help you view game design from a different perspective.



Meeting space and free pizza/soda is provided thanks to StarSpace46 (http://www.starspace46.com/) and Techlahoma (http://www.techlahoma.org/). Our meetups are organized by GoldFire Studios (http://goldfirestudios.com/). Come hungry and ready to talk game development! Also, if you are working on anything, bring it with you to show with the rest of the group, we set aside time at the end of each meeting.



PS: Don't forget that we also have a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/okgamedevs/) that is great for sharing! Anyone is welcome to join.