About Me

I believe the world would be a better if people found awe and wonder in learning about it. I have a creative background in design and advertising and in education, have a specialism in project based and game based learning design. I work with a number of people and organisations around the world. I write about these things from a perspective of imaginative curriculum design and working with educators in strategic planning, professional development and leadership.

Cultural diversity is an important strength in today’s increasingly global society. It may even be the answer to one of the most pressing problems facing the world today – that of cultural polarization. The pressures for change in education are building fast and my belief is that by developing creative intelligence, though games and project based learning,  experiences are more a relevant, resonant and realistic reflection of learning in a changing world.

Topics this blog covers

1. Demands by parents that education work for all children;
2. The increased push for accountability from education officials;
3. The information and communications revolution;
4. New research and greater understanding of the way we learn as children and adults – though play and imagination
5. Practical frameworks for teachers to deliver games and project based learning as a blended learning experience.

Things I can do around these topics (if you are interested)

1. I have published peer-reviewed articles, books and thought pieces for online media.
2. Run professional development workshops and blended learning courses on project and games based learning, curriculum development, disciplined innovation, leadership and technology in all sectors of education
3. Develop project and game based learning professional development programs for eLearning and Curriculum
4. Keynotes and presentations around these topics
5. Build learning communities.

Current Major Project – Massively Minecraft

In May 2011, I co-founded Massively Minecraft with Jo Kay, a game based learning world for kids aged 4-16. During the year we joined by Bron Stuckey who has helped us create a research base and rallied parents to help scale our game well beyond our initial expectations. We have grown to over 300 parents, teachers and kids learning about digital culture, game based learning, information literacy and online safety in a pervasive, global game. Many of these players (and their kids) will be familiar bloggers and influencers that you’ve read, seen and heard. This project consumes vast amounts of time, and every second is well worth it as it helps inform our unique games based learning framework. We don’t study games, we learn from them – and we are very good at it. Our players are amasing, and is perhaps the ‘proof’ that people want to find that what I talk about, research and advocate is more than a theory, but can be delivered in multiple ways today. You are welcome to come and play with us – and we are used to presenting the game – and so our our players. They have presented locally and internationally, and I’d argue will delight and inform an educational audience as well as any adult expert. They are the experts, we learn with and from them. We don’t attempt to teach them – our game-framework is designed to do that.

To contact me : please email deangroom@gmail.com