Learning to play: games and web technologies in university didactics

The paper aims at presenting an experiment carried out by the chair of new media theories and techniques in the faculty of Communication Sciences at the Sapienza. Thanks to the brilliance of a final-year university student, a game platform has been developed capable of promoting new learning modalities characterized by video-game actions and interactions. Using the potential of strategic browser games, Learning To Play - this is the name of the platform and of the game we are going to present - shows how it is possible to create new and innovative ways of teaching, placing attention on game dynamics, which by using web 2.0 tools can be developed without having to possess particular technical competences. This way it is possible to improve student learning, increasing at the same time their level of satisfaction. The integration of the game platform with the teaching in the classroom of new media theories and techniques shows how learning and play, can merge thanks to the use of web technologies and create a virtuous circle where you can enjoy yourself learning and you can learn enjoying yourself.