We’re thrilled to introduce Anjila Lim, the newest member of the dfusion team!
Anjila recently graduated from New York University with a Master’s of Science in Games for Learning. Coming from Singapore and with prior higher education experience in the UK, she is deeply passionate about games and their power to create meaningful learning experiences, making her a wonderful fit for our work at STEMPlay Labs. Get to know Anjila through her answers to our introduction questions!
Arriving at Game-Based Learning
What drew you to game-based learning, and when did you first become interested in this field?
I have always loved games, video games specifically. I grew up on them, with my earliest memories being educational games that my dad got me! Titles like Putt Putt, Freddi Fish and Reader Rabbit. As you can imagine, I continued to be and still am an avid gamer. I have always thought that games are such an incredible medium to tell stories and to teach and learn concepts. The interactivity and agency that one has in the experience is so immersive and personable in a way that other mediums just cannot capture.
With game-based learning, I recall revisiting those older educational games of my childhood, and was wondering if children and youth of today have anything quite like what we did back in the 90’s. It became apparent quickly that the culture towards learning through more digital, interactive and innovative means had shifted… almost backwards even. While we have come a long way, the current implementation of game-based learning in both classroom and informal settings could still use some work to capture that balance between ‘fun’ and ‘education’, beyond a kindergarten level. I think children and youth deserve to learn through experiences that are designed to meet them where they are and not patronize them.
Her Work With Us
What are you most excited to learn or work on during your time with dfusion?
I cannot wait to work on the game-based learning projects! I want to be able to apply all my knowledge and skills from my program to real studies and designs, to be able to partake in conducting user studies and playtests and see how that data informs our iterations.
What do you hope to contribute to our team?
I hope to bring my game-based learning perspective, to fetch that balance between fun gameplay and meaningful educational value. As an avid gamer who likes keeping up with game news, I would also like to bring fresh, new ideas and advise on some design directions that our users will be able to resonate with or are familiar with.
Her Passions & Goals
What are your career goals?
I hope to be able to do a PhD someday (always saw myself becoming a professor eventually, how I get there? we shall see) Overall though, my main career goal is to really create and be part of the design process of educational games that can make learning less daunting, and actually exciting for learners. If my work has made a positive impact on even just one person, that means everything to me.
If you could solve one game-based learning challenge, what would it be?
Lessening the stigma of playing games while learning! Unfortunately, video games still do not have much of a positive reputation amongst the general public, despite it becoming more common amongst youth. Furthermore, there is still this assumption that video games are “mindless” and “promote violence”, when that is simply not true. That is quite literally a minority genre amidst a wide array of non-violent, brain stimulating games!
Beyond Game-Based Learning
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
Playing video games, watching animated shows, reading books and comics, as well as illustrating and writing music (I have many hobbies)!
What’s something interesting about you that people might not expect?
I love seals, they are my favorite animal!
We’re excited to have Anjila on our team and look forward to seeing the impact she’ll make on our projects! Welcome to the team, Anjila!
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