Katie Salen
Katie is a Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs in the Department of Informatics at the University of California at Irvine, a member of the Connected Learning Lab, and Executive Director and co-founder of Connected Camps. She has expertise in the design of youth-centered online communities, and loves to collaborate with youth to develop tools, programs, and spaces that fit their needs and amplify their voices. Katie has been leading work recently on designing caring and care(full) online environments that support adolescent wellbeing and is collaborating with a number of tech platforms to develop innovative approaches to prosocial community design and moderation. Katie is founding Executive Director of Institute of Play, a founding member of the Connected Learning Research Network, and led the design of Quest to Learn, an innovative New York City public school. Her books include Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning, Rules of Play, and The Game Design Reader.
Keynote: Care(full) Play: Rethinking What Makes Play Meaningful
In this keynote, I will examine the design of care(full) online play communities for youth. These communities foster belonging, agency, and resilience by centering youth interests and identities, amplifying the social and relational dimensions of play, and positioning youth as co-designers of values, norms, and practices. Unlike traditional models of online safety and governance that privilege adult surveillance and productivity, care(full) communities exemplify asset-based and equity-oriented approaches that highlight the expertise, experiences, and identities of young people, particularly those from vulnerable or marginalized communities. While my examples focus on youth, the principles of care, contribution, and ongoingness have implications for designing meaningful play across all age groups.
By examining care(full) communities as a lens on meaningful play, I argue that the games research community has both the responsibility and the opportunity to reimagine our agenda: moving beyond narrow metrics of engagement or “fun” toward the design of systems, practices, and cultures that sustain flourishing. The challenge before us is not only to study play, but to design infrastructures of care that enable it to matter.