Teacher Perspective: Inside Educational Gaming

Zack Gilbert is currently teaching 6th grade social studies and language arts at Parkside Junior High School in Normal, IL. Zack is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University with a B.A. in History with a secondary teacher certificate and has an M.S. in Instructional Technology and Design from Illinois State University. His master’s research looked at the impact of educational games and how the knowledge gained through these games is stored into long term memory.

Zack is the host of the EdGamer podcast, the longest running podcast dedicated to Games and Learning. Since 2011, Zack has interviewed the leaders in the Games and Learning field which include Dr. James Paul Gee, Lucien Vattel, Joel Levin, Lucas Gillispie, John Hunter, and many more. Zack has built collaborative relationships with University of Wisconsin-Madison, MIT, and IlliniCloud. He is on the advisory board for Playful Learning through the Learning Games Network and he is the Project Lead for the Games and Learning projects within the Illinois Shared Learning Environment (ISLE). Zack is a chapter co-author in the book TeacherCraft: A Guide for Teaching and Learning with Minecraft. Games are an important part of Zack’s life, in and out of school.