On learning games, Angry Birds, and a philosophy of fun learning

Welcome to ELTjam, ClearlySo, and Firefly Learning as Edtech Podcast Launch Party Sponsors this week #edtechpod

What's in this episode?

Intro, what’s in this week’s episode, how to submit questions for The Edtech Podcast Live and review of #sotonpod16
Interview with Lauri Jarvilehto, CEO, Lightneer
Review of Lauri’s career to date, including time spent at the Swedish Theatre of Finland, in music production, analytic philosophy, executive training and at Angry Birds developer Rovio, developing a framework for educational games
Influence of family on Lauri’s work
Experiences launching games at Angry Birds, partnering with NASA
What’s it like working with Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio, Founder Slush and Co-Founder, Mobile Monday, Brent Hoberman, lastminute.com, made.com and Founders Forum, Pasi Sahlberg, Professor of Education, Harvard University and Rolf Landua, Head of Global Engagement, CERN?
Introducing Lightneer as a games studio, and Big Bang as a particle physics game
Describing the unique landscape of developers, creatives and exceptional education in Finland
What’s next? Partnerships, educational resources and a world tour

Sample Quotes: 

‘I grew up all the way up north…in a city which practically gets no sunlight in the winter.’
‘I’ve lived a portion of my life in the footsteps of my mother and another portion of my life in the footsteps of my father.’
On wanting to be a musician: ’Everyone said don’t be crazy get a proper job….but I realised I didn’t have that much to do. I didn’t like to go to school that much.’
‘I think Finland is a uniquely positioned place to create learning games.’
‘What do you get when you put amazing engineers and amazing media people in the same table…you get games, right?’
‘We (Finland) are also ….really great in Education.’
‘Our new curriculum is like a work of art.’
‘The cool thing is that Finnish education is unique in the sense that it’s so inclusive.’
‘My dad was a professor of psychology. I used to be a test subject when I was seven years old so i’d have these electrodes coming out from my head and i’d play a computer game.’
‘I love this classical idea of philosophy; this love of wisdom, this love of understanding.’
On Rovio/Angry Birds ‘It was some of the most amazing time of my life. We laid the whole ground work…in terms of the philosophy of fun learning…in those years’
‘The idea of wanting to embrace big ideas is strong with me, but I want to combine it with impact.’
It’s been strange..to get into this position where you can actually bring so many people together and they just CLICK.’
‘We don’t want to get a free ride, because we are education or learning; we want the game to be amazing, period.’

 

Further Reading and Resources: 

#SOTONPOD16

Welcome to sponsors ELTjam, ClearlySo, Firefly Learning

Connect with Lauri

Jarvilehto family gaming at Seriously & via Aki

Gaming in Finland via Supercell, Rovio, Remedy &Traffic Light Games

Curriculum in Finland

CERN education

Peter Vesterbacka, Brent Hoberman (http://www.lastminute.com/), Pasi Sahlberg, Rolf Landua

Dragon Box game

Maarit Rosi

Top 3 games:

Ratchet and Clank #rachetandclank

No Man’s Sky

Human Resource Machine

Top philosophers

Wittgenstein’s ladder

Plato

Kierkegaard

 

We want YOUR questions for The Edtech Podcast Live Panel

Send them via email at [email protected] or via twitter @podcastedtech including #edtechpod 

The panel currently is as follows,

• Tolu Oyenola, Computing Co-Ordinator, Lauriston Primary School, Hackney
• Mark Anderson a.k.a ICT Evangelist, award-winning blogger and speaker
• Jen Lexmond, Founder, EasyPeasy
• Alex Flowers, Team Leader, Digital Programmes, Victoria and Albert Museum
• Joe Dale, ‘a one-stop-Twitter-shop for ideas, inspiration and Modern Foreign Language friends’ #MFLtwitterati