I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be joining the Society for Photographic Education’s 2025 National Conference, “Adaptation,” in Reno, Nevada! On Thursday, March 6th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM in Tuscany 7, I’ll be leading a hands-on workshop where we’ll dive into using design thinking to craft engaging, game-based learning experiences. Join me for an interactive session designed to transform classroom challenges into creative opportunities for deeper student engagement.
About the Workshop
Level Up Your Lesson Plan with Design Thinking and Game-Based Learning
Workshop by Carol Record
In this workshop, photography educators learn to apply design thinking and gamification to tackle classroom challenges. Participants explore these challenges, collaborate in breakout sessions, and leave with practical strategies to enhance lesson plans and boost student engagement for deeper learning.
2025 SPE Annual Conference “Adaptation”
Peppermill Spa Resort
Reno, NV
Thursday, March 6 – 2:00PM to 4:00PM
Tuscany 7
Workshop Proposal
If you have ever wondered what a workshop proposal might look like here’s the information I submitted for this one.
One-sentence Summary: Use design thinking to create engaging, game-based learning solutions.
Abstract
This workshop introduces educators to design thinking principles and gamification as innovative strategies for increasing engagement and enhancing learning. Participants will explore design thinking principles, examine the benefits of game-based learning, and identify challenges in photography education suitable for gamification.
After a brief lecture and Q&A session, attendees will be divided into breakout groups and guided through collaborative exercises to identify a specific challenge to address, discuss student pain points, and rapidly ideate solutions that foster engagement and deeper learning. At the end of the workshop, all groups will share the challenges they selected and their proposed solutions, providing attendees with various ideas to take away and potentially implement.
Workshop Outline
- Introduction to Game-Based Learning and Design Thinking
- Group discussion to identify common challenges in photo education
- Step-by-step guide on how to use design thinking to create game-based learning solutions
- Small groups: Discuss and choose a problem to tackle, discuss student pain points, then rapid proto-type possible solutions
- Share solutions/peer feedback
- Q&A
Speaker Bio
Carol Record is an interdisciplinary artist and designer from Alabama who uses photography as a spiritual practice for exploration, reflection, and awareness. Her work delves into her life experiences, investigating and raising awareness about human experience, memory, identity, and trauma. Her #MeToo series “My Worst Nightmare” has won several awards, including Grand Prize in Fine Art & Personal Work in PDNedu’s Student Photo Contest 2020.
