[OYAN] Play Make Learn Annual Conference Aug 21-22 in Wisconsin

BERGQUIST Greta * SLO Greta.BERGQUIST at slo.oregon.gov
Mon Jan 6 14:49:48 PST 2025 

Hi all, This conference looks like it could be a really great opportunity to learn and share, especially for those of you serving 0-18!

Best, Greta

*****
Happy New Year, everyone!!
To all my librarian, teacher, maker, game designer, researcher, and museum worker colleagues... I'm so excited to share that the Call for Proposals<https://web.cvent.com/event/d613ed8e-1801-4709-b7dc-17dd69c72e6e/websitePage:fd00ee5e-f337-450e-a6ac-1c668e50caf2> for the Play Make Learn 2025 Conference<https://web.cvent.com/event/d613ed8e-1801-4709-b7dc-17dd69c72e6e/summary> is now OPEN! Please help me share this information far & wide with your networks; if you've not yet been to Play Make Learn, be sure to save the date (August 21st & 22nd, 2025) — and consider submitting a proposal yourself. More information about the conference & the Call for Proposals is included below:
Play Make Learn Annual Conference<https://web.cvent.com/event/d613ed8e-1801-4709-b7dc-17dd69c72e6e/summary>
August 21st & 22nd, 2025
Memorial Union | 800 Langdon St. | Madison, WI

  *   The Play Make Learn Conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, and arts in education. PML creates an inspirational space for preK-12 educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work. For the first time ever, Play Make Learn will have a conference theme to bring together the work of all of the communities that come together for the conference. The 2025 Play Make Learn Conference theme is:
[https://images.cvent.com/57a95aeba7d746db83f8c2b8649a8b93/pix/95837b0f9f2644f0bc45097885d8c5eb!_!274eda76dcae17ae4b452f83b246b836.jpg?f=webp]

  *   Innovations in educational design and play-based learning often emerge from moments of critical reflection, experimentation, and creative risk-taking. By embracing the processes of breaking and mending, we can foster enhanced inclusivity, deeper relevance in teaching and learning practices, and greater belonging in educational spaces. This year’s conference theme invites educators, researchers, scholars, librarians, and practitioners to critically examine the acts of breaking and mending as pathways to systemic transformation, resilience, and creative growth. Whether through playful experimentation, critical deconstruction, or thoughtful rebuilding, we explore how “messiness” can lead to meaningful change and stronger, more human-centered learning environments. Possible Focus Areas for Submissions include but are not limited to:

     *   Critical Breaking: Exploring how deconstruction of traditional educational systems can disrupt inequities and create more inclusive spaces; investigating maker education as systems thinking: breaking down to understand and transform; examining how games in education challenge systemic power structures, & restructuring educational practices to be student-led.

     *   Playful Breaking: Leveraging arts integration as a tool for belonging through messiness and experimentation; designing for “productive failure” to foster resilience and creativity in learners; creating “maker” spaces that encourage learners to break, question, and rebuild.

     *   Rebuilding Through Reflection: Using the metaphor of Kintsugi (the "art of beautiful repair") to explore how educational practices can emerge stronger after breaking; reflecting on the disassembled components of a classroom to build more equitable, inclusive learning environments; developing frameworks for rebuilding educational spaces to support deeper learning and human connection.

  *   This theme invites participants to embrace the messy, complex, and transformative journey of breaking and mending for better learning futures.
While not all sessions will speak directly to the theme, you are encouraged to use it as inspiration while developing your proposals. Proposals which address the theme will receive special consideration during the review and selection process.
_________________________________________________________
Call for Proposals
You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2025 Play Make Learn Conference (PML). PML aspires to foster a learning community that has a diversity of perspectives and practices. Are you a first-time presenter, young person, or practitioner considering submitting for Play Make Learn, and need additional support? Reach out to our planning team at: conferences at education.wisc.edu<mailto:conferences at education.wisc.edu>.
DEADLINE for Submissions: March 7, 2025 at 11:59PM Central
Notifications Sent:  April 2025

  *   Submit your proposal here!<http://go.wisc.edu/PMLsubmit>

     *   Session "Strands": Submissions are encouraged in and across the following themes, but new ideas are also welcome and encouraged. You will be asked to select all themes that apply to your work:

        *   Playful learning

        *   Games for learning and positive social impact

        *   Making and makerspaces

        *   STEAM education

        *   Arts in education

     *   Session Format: You will be asked to select the session format. Please note time and maximum presenters for each type.

        *   Hands-on Workshops (75 minutes, 1-6 presenters): Workshops should actively engage participants, showcasing your work, or methods you use inside or outside the classroom. They may include physical making, playing a game or something else. Session Organizers will be asked for 2-3 learning goals or takeaways they have for participants in the session.

        *   Panel Presentation (75 minutes, 2-4 presenters): Panel presentations should have two or more presenters from different projects or organizations. Panels should explore a “big question” relevant to the conference theme or of interest to the larger PML community. Session Organizers will be asked for 2-3 learning goals or takeaways they have for participants in the session.

        *   Individual Presentation (15 minutes, 1-2 presenters): Presentations will be 15 minutes in length to highlight noteworthy initiatives, ideas, or recent research. Session Organizers will be asked for 1 learning goal or takeaways they have for participants from their presentation. The planning committee will group individual presentations into themed 75 minute sessions with a moderator, who will reach out to coordinate the final format with presenters.

        *   Poster: Posters provide the opportunity to present innovative ideas, initiatives, and prototypes in both formal and informal learning contexts. Presenters will have space to hang their poster and engage with attendees during the interactive poster & playful demo session.

        *   Playful Demo: This interactive, open-ended session is a chance to show off or playtest a game, ed tech tool, or other innovation. Presenters will have a table for their activity or tool during the interactive poster & playful demo session.

        *   Break the Mold Session: Have an idea that doesn’t quite fit into the formats listed above? Samples include sessions lasting days or weeks asynchronously, sessions within games and so on. What if a session took place in Minecraft? What if participants met outside to explore? What if participants worked collaboratively over the conference to produce a play? Be as creative as you dare for these sessions. If you have questions about an idea before submitting, send an email to conferences at education.wisc.edu<mailto:conferences at education.wisc.edu>.

     *   Final Notes:

        *   In the interest of providing diverse perspectives any individual will be limited to participating in a maximum of two sessions. Posters and Arcade Demos do not count towards this maximum.

        *   Sessions should focus on new insights, learnings and innovations of broad interest to the PML community and should not be promotional in nature. If you are a for-profit company interested in showcasing your product to the PML audience, please reach out to conferences at education.wisc.edu<mailto:conferences at education.wisc.edu> for sponsorship opportunities.
_________________________________________________________
Thank you for helping me spread the word. If you have any high-level questions about Play Make Learn 2025, please feel free to reach out and I'll help if I can. Alternatively, you can contact conferences at education.wisc.edu.<mailto:conferences at education.wisc.edu> I look forward to seeing you at the conference!
~Chris Baker





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