Edu-Jargon: The Game

A few weeks ago I shared a small game I had developed for a conversation-based conference session. It was a riff on “Cards Against Humanity,” and utilized the Education Jargon Generator found on Science Geek to provide the kind of stereotypical edu-jargon that makes up most large conference session titles. The answer cards were all blank. I realize now that was a mistake. While I intended the game to be farcical, it was a bit too open ended; some people took to it immediately, while others were a bit lost. That was a mistake I’ve hopefully rectified with version 2.0 of the game, which I’ve now officially titled “Edu-Jargon.”

The game now includes close to 45 “fill in the blank” edu-jargon conference session titles, and close to 50 answers taken from the more lighthearted side of teaching. In other words, the game is now a mash up of the more stiff collared side of educational theory, and the more “real world” nature of educational practice. I’m bound and determined to turn “Edu-Jargon” into a full fledged card game, but it still needs a few more months of development, refinement, and a lot more play testing. It’s going to be worth it too, because every time I play test the game with a new group of people, the laughs are louder, the card combinations are funnier, and I see people really click with it.

I knew last Saturday at EdCamp OAISD that I had to bring this game to life when one of the players created the following line of edu-jargon with three cards:

“The global reality of forgetting to feed the classroom pet over break, and mystery meat Monday in the cafeteria.”

My plan is to have this in full playable form by the summer (275 cards), with a small run (perhaps Kickstarter) of professionally printed cards, complete with original logo, graphics, and colors. I also plan to make it absolutely free (in the spirit of Cards Against Humanity) as downloadable PDFs for those that don’t want a shrink-wrapped copy. It’s strange bringing something like this into the world and sharing it on my blog; I’m fearful someone with more resources than I have will find the idea, print off a few hundred copies with a custom card print house, and sell through the tiny market I feel there is for it. Then I remind myself that my readership is infinitesimally small, the idea is most likely NOT that great, most people only come here looking for “tech tips,” and I don’t exactly play nice with the big names in Education Technology circles, which means it won’t be getting the kind of overly gratuitous shares on social media. In other words, my ego is far bigger than the reality of how far my thoughts wrap around the globe, and how good the game actually is.

If you’d like to download the game in its current form right now and play test it for me, please do! You can download the PDFs below, as well as the instructions for how to play. There are two full sheets of black “question cards” and two full sheets of white “answer” cards, with one blank sheet of answer cards for players to fill in their own answers. It’s still a work in progress, but if you play it and like it, or want to offer me feedback, please leave comments!

Edu-Jargon Instruction (Google Doc)

Edu-Jargon – Black Cards Sheet One (PDF)

Edu-Jargon – Black Cards Sheet Two (PDF)

Edu-Jargon – White Cards Blank (PDF)

Edu-Jargon – White Cards Sheet One (PDF)

Edu-Jargon – White Cards Sheet Two (PDF)