Simon Engerer: Video Game-Adjacent Courses

The Education Innovators Podcast is a weekly conversation between Eric Byron and guests from all aspects of education around the world. We look for innovative ideas and practical examples of things happening in schools and learning environments that are of interest to teachers, corporate trainers, school administrators, EdTech providers, students, parents, and anyone else interested in education.

 

This week’s guest is Simon Engerer from Cicero Group. My conversation with Simon Engerer was absolutely inspiring and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you. We covered so much cool stuff that I had to break it into two parts. In this first part we talk about how they use video games that are not developed or sold as learning games, to teach English and writing.  Our discussion is awesome, and you need to hear Simon’s story.

 

Originally from the UK, Simon came to Hong Kong in 2010. He worked as an English teacher in several secondary schools across the city, before founding Cicero Group in 2019 to address the falling interest in English studies happening in the local school system. Together, Simon and his business partner, Nelson Leung, have developed video game-adjacent courses for schools and have launched and grown the “From Player to Page” competition into a popular writing contest across Hong Kong.

 

Links:

 

Simon Engerer https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-john-engerer/

 

Cicero - https://cicero.com.hk/

 

Video Games Referenced and source of some audio in the podcast:

 

What Remains of Edith Finch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0kKF5f8nS0&ab_channel=GameTrailers

 

Celeste - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70d9irlxiB4&ab_channel=PlayStation

 

Typoman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wtxex2uUHw&ab_channel=PlayStation

 

Florence – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPUwFEhgvVA&ab_channel=AnnapurnaInteractive

 

Subnautica: Below Zero - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdix1XxaZyU&ab_channel=Subnautica

The Education Innovators Podcast Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551034804742

 

This podcast is produced entirely by Eric Byron.

You can contact Eric at eric@edinnovationpod.com