Learning Through Games (with Ellen Burns-Johnson)

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences.

Learning Through Games Game DesignUI / UXEllen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carlsen Games.Much of Ellen’s work is based off of the CCAF framework.Learn about how to make fake news from the educator backed Bad News.Custom eLearning Vs. Off-The-Shelf eLearning: Which Is Right For You? - Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D, eLearning IndustryCathy Moore talks about training design ideas on her blogKentucky Fried Chicken’s Virtual Reality game The Hard Way - YouTubeAssassin’s Creed Origins’ new educational mode is a violence-free tour through … - Andrew Webster, The VergeEllen played SimAnt as a kid!Ellen Burns-JohnsonYour Nice HostGuest

By day, Ellen Burns-Johnson is a learning experience designer (LXD) and consultant. With more than a decade of experience in the education and training industries, she has crafted the instructional strategy and design for dozens of major initiatives across diverse topics, from classroom safety to IT sales. Emphasizing collaboration and playfulness in her approach to creating learning experiences, Ellen’s work has earned multiple awards for interactivity and gameful design.

By night (and on the weekends) Ellen stays as plugged into the Twin Cities Gamedev scene as she’s able to, contributing to game jam teams and local projects. She was a level designer and “explosion czar” on Widget Satchel and a designer/producer for a few different Ludum Dare and Global Game Jam teams.

Ellen lives in Saint Paul with her husband Eric and their two dogs, Dante and Pixel. Ellen is terrible at racing games, she always picks the sniper build, and she loves a good puzzle/platformer.

External link Ellen on LinkedInEllen on Twitter