Since the field of game design is still in its infancy stage, things change fast and often. Games were once created by small teams of people with a passion for gaming but no formal training. Now, more and more, game designers, programmers, and artists are entering the field with years of schooling and experience.
Soon, students will have access to game design training as early as middle school. Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) just announced plans to incorporate video game development education into its curriculum. To prepare teachers for the program, BCPS will implement a series of “gamification boot camps” to educate teachers on the technology behind video games.
This technique of incorporating game technology with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is quickly catching on, increasing student engagement and interest in core subject areas.
Be The Game, a game design training curriculum for high school students, was developed by the Institute of Urban Game Design in 2005 and has rapidly spread from its original school in Washington, DC, to six schools across the US.
This new trend may be yet another game changer for the field of game design. As access to training becomes more prevalent, more indie games created by younger designers will soon hit the market.
We may not have highly effective educational games just yet, but we do have highly motivated students ready to create them. Let the games begin!