OUR STORY

The Play Make Learn Conference promotes high-quality learning opportunities for educators, researchers, developers, designers, foundation leaders, policy makers, museum and library professionals, and school leaders who are dedicated to promoting making, gaming, and playful learning. We aim to engage our audience in cutting-edge learning science ideas and experiences; communicate state-of-the-art design, education, and research; demonstrate new and upcoming games and technology; and network to spark new projects in the following strands:

Game Design and
Game Play

Personalized
Learning

Arts Integration in
Formal and Informal Spaces

Making and
Makerspaces

Playful
Learning

Research/Practitioner
Partnerships

PROGRAM FEE

Thanks to our generous sponsors, we are able to provide scholarships to cover the cost of registration for a limited number of people in need of financial support. Complete the scholarship application here.

Play Make Learn is hosted by the UW-Madison School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the office of Professional Learning and Community Education (PLACE). This partnership was made possible by the generosity of the School of Education’s Impact 2030 Initiative.

The 2022 Play Make Learn Conference has reached the venue capacity.
You can join the waitlist using the button above to be notified via email if space becomes available.

KEYNOTES

Jesse Schell is the CEO of Schell Games, a team of more than one hundred thirty people who strive to make truly great games, both for the purposes of entertainment and education, including award-winning VR games such as I Expect You To Die, HoloLAB Champions, and Until You Fall. Jesse serves as Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University and is the author of the award-winning book The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. 

Cassidy Puckett is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Emory University. Using a mixed-methods approach, she examines the relationship between technological change and inequality in education and healthcare. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the NSF, the MacArthur Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Her work has appeared in Harvard Educational Review, Social Science Computer Review, Social Science & Medicine, Teachers College Record, and Qualitative Sociology. Cassidy received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University and her master’s in Learning, Design, and Technology from Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. Prior to academia, she taught technology classes at Urban Promise Academy in Oakland, California.

Redefining Geek takes a close empirical look at what it means to be good with technology. Using mixed methods, Puckett finds five learning habits at the core of technological competence. These include three general habits: being willing to try and fail, managing frustration and boredom, and using models. And two technology-specific habits: thinking about the logic of technology’s design and seeking out efficiencies like keyboard commands. Ultimately, Puckett argues for a redefinition of geekiness as someone with strong learning habits—and equitably building, recognizing, and rewarding technology learning habits to help create a more inclusive and equitable technological future.

LODGING

Play Make Learn has reserved a select number of rooms for attendees at the following hotels.  Rates will be available until the cut-off date or until the block is filled, whichever comes first. Additional options may be added as they are confirmed.

Hotel: Graduate Madison
Address: 601 Langdon St | Madison, WI 53703
Distance from Venue: 0.3 Miles
Contact hotel directly for availabilty and rates.

Hotel: Madison Concourse Hotel
Address: 1 West Dayton St | Madison, WI 53703
Distance from Venue: 0.9 Miles; airport shuttle available
Contact hotel directly for availabilty and rates.

AUDIENCE

Our conference keeps growing! We continue to see the demographics of our audience expand, both in the fields they represent and how far they travel.

Attendees and presenters have joined us from across the United States and five other countries, including Canada, Germany, Taiwan, Kingdom of Bahrain, and India.

STAY CONNECTED

PAST CONFERENCES

2021
August 5-6, 2021 | Virtual | Program

2020
August 13, 2020 | Virtual | Program

2019
August 8-9, 2019 | Madison, WI | Program

2018
August 13-14, 2018 | Madison, WI |  Program

2017
August 13-14, 2017 | Madison, WI | Program