August Lunch with NEMA

WHEN:  Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Noon- 1pm
WHAT: Low Tech/No Tech Live- Action Role Games for Public Audiences
WHO: Betsy Loring, expLoring exhibits & engagement, LLC, and Alexander Goldowsky, Ed.D, of Interact, LLC
FORMAT: Webinar

Whether played using a device or paper cards, role-playing games allow groups of people to dive into nuanced examination of complex topics — from history to science —while exploring data, events, and multiple perspectives and experiences. In this second in a two-part series, learn about an open-source paper-based game platform, “Play Decide” sponsored by the European science center network, Ecsite.

In the late 2000’s education and exhibit staff used the Play Decide framework to help Worcester people understand a very controversial federal removal of 30,000 neighborhood trees to eradicate a 1-inch beetle. Working in small groups and guided by a paper game board and cards, players create a policy to address the game’s central controversy. After a walk-through of the beetle game, we will discuss the work required to create and run this type of game.

Presenters:

Betsy Loring, chief cat-herder at expLoring exhibits & engagement, LLC, has 20 years of experience developing indoor and outdoor exhibits in multi-disciplinary museum settings. She has managed multi-museum collaborations and research partnerships and developed indoor and outdoor exhibitions. She has worked at the EcoTarium, Museum of Science Boston, and Massachusetts Audubon, and served as project director of the Environmental Exhibit Collaborative.  She serves as co-chairs of the New England Museum Association’s Exhibits Professional Affinity Gathering (PAG).

Dr. Goldowsky has over 30 years of experience in education, much of it in the field of informal science education. He has held key positions at major museums, including Senior Vice President for Programs and Exhibits at Boston Children’s Museum (Boston, MA), Director of Exhibits and Education at the EcoTarium (Worcester, MA), Director of Exhibitions at the MIT Museum (Cambridge, MA), and Senior Program Developer at the New England Aquarium (Boston, MA). Dr. Goldowsky currently works as a consultant in the fields of program and exhibit development and evaluation, and on research projects focusing on learning, through his company InteractLLC. He was coauthor of a chapter on simulation games in Museums at Play: Games, Interaction and Learning, edited by Katy Beale and published by Museums Etc. in 2011, and has worked on many simulation based curriculum and exhibit components.