Name: Benjamin Gnodtke
Project: LRC Digital Engagement and Gaming
Bio: Ben G loves video games and foreign language learning, which was a perfect combination for the Digital Engagement Project at the LRC! Ben also loves One Piece and hopes everyone gives it a read. After graduating with a bachelor’s in political science, Ben has decided to pursue a future career in public politics. This year, he will work for the state government, connecting Michigan residents with any assistance they may need. But wherever Ben works in the future, he will always cherish the memories and experiences gained at the LRC. Big shoutout to Abigail, and Go Blue!
The LRC Digital Engagement Project has guided me in working with various resources and inventories at the LRC. Through this, I have garnered a better understanding of the center and the support we provide. I have worked alongside Alfonso Sintjago and Phill Cameron to help catalog, organize, and streamline our world language games inventory while brainstorming new ways to help the instructional staff here at UofM.
As an inventory and catalog assistant on this project, I have spent extensive time studying the many games available to us while finding new ways to apply these games to language learning at Michigan. This includes events such as German Game Day, where we organized an “arcade style” event day that offered different online games in German audio and text for current students and prospective learners. After organizing our games inventory and pulling applicable materials, I integrated that information into the LRC Filemaker Pro Database. This allows people at any time to search our online games catalog for resources.
With the new knowledge of which games have language compatibility, Alfonso, Phill, and I have discussed how we can support instructors at the university with our new materials. This includes support for ongoing gameful pedagogy efforts and strategies to help with the adoption of these types of learning. While my project results are not as tangible as others, the work we have done at the LRC has streamlined certain processes, and saved time for future faculty, students, and staff. For the CDAs who wish to continue my work, I recommend brainstorming new ways to help draw in engagement with our existing materials. Reaching out to faculty and students about our services and resources will not only help language learners at Michigan but also increase publicity for the LRC.
Check out our updated catalogue of digital games in world languages!