Brandon Pittser

With a 15 year tenure in the Ed Tech industry, Brandon leads the content marketing practice and helps to guide the overall business strategy at Filament Games. His role also includes oversight of Filament’s funding development practice, tracking and pursuing funding opportunities for both internal and collaborative projects.

Selected articles by the author

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Brandon Pittser
October 5, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - October 2026

Explore September's game-based learning news, including four major edtech acquisitions and new research on how game design supports student persistence.

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Brandon Pittser
September 30, 2026
September Roundup: Practical Considerations for Effective Game-based Learning

Our September recap covers new Filament guidance on measuring learning inside games and getting that evidence to the people who need it.

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Brandon Pittser
September 28, 2026
Scaling EdTech Databases for High Volume Telemetry

Classroom telemetry arrives in synchronized bursts when the bell rings. See how event standards, ingest architecture, and rollups operate under peak load.

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Brandon Pittser
September 23, 2026
Tracking Soft Skills and Behavioral Change in Corporate Games

Soft skills become measurable when they are designed into the mechanics. See how corporate training games produce evidence of behavioral change on the job.

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Brandon Pittser
September 21, 2026
How Educational Game Designers Test Players Without Breaking Immersion

How do you measure learning without stopping the game to administer a test? See how evidence-centered design embeds assessment directly into your mechanics.

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Brandon Pittser
September 16, 2026
Designing Useful Teacher Dashboards

Why do so many teacher dashboards go unopened? See what the research says about actionable insight, teacher co-design, and reporting that fits the school day.

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Brandon Pittser
September 14, 2026
The Proof is in the Playing: Efficacy in Game-Based Learning

What does proof look like for a learning game? See the impact numbers behind our work with iCivics, the Museum of Science, and Niagara Cares.

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Brandon Pittser
September 9, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - September 2026

Bill Gates warns on AI and critical thinking, a classroom pilot measures what students retain, MIT rethinks grading, and New York City pauses AI in its K-8 classrooms. Check out the latest in AI and learning.

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Brandon Pittser
September 2, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - September 2026

This month: middle schoolers coding their own games, a depression-prevention game backed by a clinical trial, and a new law holding edtech accountable for student data.

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Brandon Pittser
August 31, 2026
August Roundup: Game-based Learning and Getting Into the Classroom

Are you ready to game your way into the school year? Check out our August recap to see what it takes to get game-based learning into classrooms, from LMS integration and data privacy to accessibility and readiness.

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Brandon Pittser
August 26, 2026
The Black Box Problem: Making Interactive Games Screen-Reader Ready

See why an educational game can pass an accessibility scan and still exclude students, what the 2027 ADA deadline requires, and how Filament closes the gap.

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Brandon Pittser
August 24, 2026
Is Your School Ready for Game-based Learning?

See how a new 50-state study ranks game-based learning readiness, why digital infrastructure decides the map, and what that means for reaching every classroo

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Brandon Pittser
August 19, 2026
Data Privacy by Design in Educational Games

See how privacy by design, from data minimization to district data agreements, keeps student information safe and gets games through procurement.

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Brandon Pittser
August 18, 2026
Sign up for our Webinar! Navigating the transition to middle school through narrative game design

Sign up for our upcoming webinar! Using Tales from the Middle (Bezos Family Foundation & Filament Games), we’ll explore how a narrative game can help students practice for their first week of middle school.

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Brandon Pittser
August 17, 2026
Behold, the LTI Standard: LMS Integration for EdTech Developers

See how LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage let educational games deploy into the LMS platforms districts already run, plus insights on integration.

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Brandon Pittser
August 11, 2026
Vote for our SXSW PanelPicker 2027 Panels!

Check out the three Filament Games sessions up for SXSW EDU 2027 community voting, covering media literacy, AI-proof assessment, and narrative games for adolescents!

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Brandon Pittser
August 5, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - August 2026

See how August 2026's AI and learning research points to tools that keep students engaged in real cognitive work.

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Brandon Pittser
August 3, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - August 2026

In the latest issue of what's new in game-based learning, we cover a public health board game in Nigeria, teacher-built AI games, and a 20-year dementia study.

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Brandon Pittser
July 29, 2026
July Roundup: Game-based Learning and Sustainability

See how game-based learning builds sustainability, ESG training, disaster readiness, and climate literacy across six recent Filament posts and studies.

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Brandon Pittser
July 27, 2026
Game-Based Learning for the UN Sustainable Development Goals

See how educational games can advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals, exploring what three recent studies reveal about climate motivation and engagement.

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Brandon Pittser
July 22, 2026
How Game-Based Learning Builds Disaster Readiness

See how serious games and VR build disaster preparedness across classrooms, nursing programs, and accessible learning, plus what six recent studies found.

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Brandon Pittser
July 20, 2026
Sustainable Practices in Software and Game Development

See how sustainable game development cuts server costs and emissions, plus what four recent reports on carbon, cloud, and compliance mean for your projects.

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Brandon Pittser
July 15, 2026
Using Serious Games to Combat Climate Anxiety in the Classroom

See how four recent studies show game-based learning easing student burnout, lifting knowledge retention by 33%, and turning heavy topics into engagement.

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Brandon Pittser
July 13, 2026
Beyond the Forecast: Using Simulation Games to Build Climate Literacy and Negotiation Skills

See how climate simulation games build negotiation, literacy, and systems-thinking skills, plus what three recent studies reveal for educational game design.

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Brandon Pittser
July 8, 2026
Game-based Learning for Enterprise Sustainability

See how AI, immersive simulations, and interactive data are turning corporate sustainability training into measurable behavior change, backed by three recent studies.

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Brandon Pittser
July 6, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - July 2026

Discover the latest insights on AI in education from UNESCO, the World Economic Forum, Microsoft, GIS Reports, and NPR. We explore this vibrant landscape of emerging perspectives.

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Brandon Pittser
July 1, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - July 2026

The latest and greatest in game-based learning - covering STEM education, social work training, and classical music instruction.

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Brandon Pittser
June 29, 2026
June Roundup: Game-based Learning and Corporate Training

Explore our June 2026 roundup on game-based learning in corporate training, featuring new research on skills verification, VR onboarding, and retention.

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Brandon Pittser
June 24, 2026
Case Studies: How Simulation Games Improve Knowledge Retention

Discover how custom simulation games and scenario-driven practice overcome the forgetting curve and lock in verifiable, long-term knowledge retention.

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Brandon Pittser
June 22, 2026
Corporate Gamification: Scenario-Driven Learning for Better Decision Making

Discover how enterprise leaders deploy custom, scenario-driven learning games to build critical decision-making skills and improve operational efficiency.

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Brandon Pittser
June 17, 2026
Immersive Training: The Role of VR and AR in High-Stakes Onboarding

Discover how AR and VR simulations allow employees to refine technical skills and build psychological resilience in entirely safe, data-rich online environments.

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Brandon Pittser
June 15, 2026
Microcredentials and Digital Badges: Validating Skills Through Gameplay

Explore recent insights on microcredentials, digital badges, and game-making as they reshape how organizations measure workforce readiness in 2026.

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Brandon Pittser
June 11, 2026
Welcome to the new Filament Games Website!

The Filament Games website has just completed a massive overhaul! Explore our new Portfolio and expand your knowledge in the Content Hub.

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Brandon Pittser
June 8, 2026
The Rise of the Skills Economy: Redefining Workforce Readiness

Discover how educators are preparing their learners for the widespread shift towards a skills-based economy, and how games can help!

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Brandon Pittser
June 3, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - June 2026

Explore the latest June 2026 findings in AI and learning, covering research exploring the impact of AI in education.

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Brandon Pittser
June 1, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - June 2026

In the latest issue of what's new in game-based learning, we explore VR for empathy, esports career pathways, and 18th-century games.

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Brandon Pittser
May 27, 2026
May Roundup: Game-based Learning and Mental Health

Our May roundup explores how structured digital play actively reduces workplace anxiety and supports mental health.

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Brandon Pittser
February 15, 2016
Yes, You Are a Gamer

Sometimes video games get a bad rap. As a form of media, they’re often considered unserious, or childish, or any number of other negative descriptors implying that time spent on a video game is time better spent elsewhere.

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Brandon Pittser
May 14, 2018
Organizing Engaging Events for Young People

I’ve recently had the privilege of participating in a number of game-based learning events for youth in the Madison area, namely through Spring Harbor Middle School and the Madison Urban League’s Spring Break Gaming and Coding Day at the Madison Central Public Library.

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Brandon Pittser
June 13, 2018
Inspiring Educators in Game-Based Learning

As an educational game development studio on a mission to create playful experiences that improve people’s lives, the team at Filament pays a lot of attention to the commercial games space and the trends that are capturing audiences’ imaginations and attention – but that’s just one half of the equation.

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Brandon Pittser
May 18, 2026
Resource Roundup: Mental Health Awareness Month and Digital Play

Mental Health Awareness Month brings a timely focus to the intersection of digital play and emotional well-being.

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Brandon Pittser
February 3, 2016
How to Teach With Games

We spend a lot of time at Filament thinking about the best ways to use games in the classroom – our designers, engineers, and artists are all tirelessly invested in uncovering new ways that games can shine in a formal education setting.

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Brandon Pittser
April 25, 2016
What Makes Great Learning Games?

Over our long track record of creating educational games, we’ve developed some fairly strong opinions about what makes a great game-based learning experience – from mechanics, to learning objectives, to organization, we have a lot of specific ideas about best practices for learning game development.

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Brandon Pittser
May 16, 2016
Virtual Reality for Learning Games

We’ve talked before about virtual reality and the unique impact it could have on the education space.

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Brandon Pittser
May 25, 2016
Building Creative Practices: Psychological Safety

This is the first piece in an ongoing series about developing skillsets that position you for success in a creative enterprise.

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Brandon Pittser
August 22, 2016
Building Creative Practices: Strategies for Communication

Welcome back to Building Creative Practices! In my last semi-regular installment, I discussed strategies for creating Psychological Safety in the workplace, which at a high level is simply a way to get your team to operate in such a way that no one on the team is scared to speak their minds.

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Brandon Pittser
November 27, 2017
Top 5 EdTech Conferences to Attend in 2018

With another year of travel under our collective belts, it’s time for another rendition of our list of the top 5 EdTech conferences to attend – 2018 edition!

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Brandon Pittser
November 29, 2017
Teach Yourself to Code for Free

In case you haven’t checked our careers page lately, we’re doing a lot of hiring.

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Brandon Pittser
January 3, 2018
EdTech Predictions for 2018

Game-based learning (particularly the digital variety) depends on the health of the EdTech industry, rising and falling with the adoption of hardware and the evolution of education policy.

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Brandon Pittser
January 10, 2018
Getting to Know Adaptive Learning

In my 2018 EdTech predictions article, I tapped personalized learning for a big year, largely because of the way that personalized learning is expected to dominate Chan Zuckerberg Ed Investments.

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Brandon Pittser
January 15, 2018
Game-Based Learning & Clinical Practice – An Interview with Dr. Eric B. Bauman

For the launch of the newly minted AppClinic series of digital apps and games, today we’re interviewing Dr.

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Brandon Pittser
January 29, 2018
Yoga For Teachers: An Interview with Breathe For Change

[Note: This is an interview transcript, and has been edited for length and clarity.] Breathe For Change is a growing movement of educators focused on teaching and learning for peace, love, and social justice.

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Brandon Pittser
February 12, 2018
Learning from 2017’s Best Commercial Video Games

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds A Hunger Games-esque battle royale survival game, online shooter PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds tasks players with a single objective: stay alive until you’re the last player standing.

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Brandon Pittser
February 28, 2018
Exploring the Future of Digital Curriculum with Explorabl.es

Remember Arne Duncan? I do.

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Brandon Pittser
April 4, 2018
Print Publishing in the Digital Age: An Interview with Jennifer Barney

Today we’re interviewing Jennifer Barney, Vice President of Acquisitions & Project Management at Publications International, Filament’s partner on the recently released VR Explorations.

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Brandon Pittser
September 26, 2016
5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your EdTech Pilot

EdTech purchasing is a complex process with many stakeholders. Administrators, educators, students and the surrounding community all have a vested interest in knowing that your next purchase will offer real value to your institution, whether you’re purchasing at the school or district level.

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Brandon Pittser
October 12, 2016
Incorporating VR into Your Business Strategy

Virtual Reality (VR) is an exciting new technology with a lot of potential, and we’ve spoken to a number of folks who are already exploring ways to augment their businesses with VR.

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Brandon Pittser
October 13, 2016
Building Creative Practices: Holacracy

The last installment of this Building Creative Practices series talked about employing sound strategies for communication in the context of some common organizational structures and challenging dispositions.

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Brandon Pittser
March 20, 2017
Major League Hacking

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for MadHacks, the Madison, WI chapter of Major League Hacking (MLH).

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Brandon Pittser
May 17, 2017
How to Embrace Failure

Dan White wants to talk about failure. Specifically, the way we view failure within the context of education.

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Brandon Pittser
May 22, 2017
Virtual Reality for Impact

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re Virtual Reality enthusiasts at Filament Games, owed in no small part to the fact that the affordances of this emergent medium are so vast and varied.

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Brandon Pittser
June 13, 2017
FGP3-7: Making VR a Reality in the Classroom

In this episode, we’re joined by two incredible educator pioneers who are leading the way towards using VR for learning.

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Brandon Pittser
June 19, 2017
Speed Sketch! Sennett Middle School

Earlier this year, Filament Games adopted Sennett Middle School, and it’s hard to believe it, but the first school year of our adoption is already over!

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Brandon Pittser
June 20, 2017
FGP3-8: Audio Design in Games and VR

In today’s podcast, Brandon and Dan are joined by Filament’s Ethan Cayko for a discussion of practical audio techniques for game development.

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Brandon Pittser
June 21, 2017
Bloom’s Taxonomy and 21st Century Skills

We draw on quite a few paradigms of thought when we develop games, and fortunately for us there is no shortage of taxonomies and frameworks to be found in the realm of education.

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Brandon Pittser
July 5, 2017
Getting Patriotic with iCivics

Happy (belated) Fourth of July! Now that the lawn chairs are back in the garage and refrigerators are bursting with leftovers, I’m looking for ways to prolong my lingering sense of patriotism and national pride.

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Brandon Pittser
July 10, 2017
Filament Games Podcast Finale – Episodes 9 & 10

That’s a wrap! Season 3 of the Filament Games podcast is officially concluded with this exciting double-header.

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Brandon Pittser
July 17, 2017
Medical Applications for Virtual Reality

Last time I checked in on the Virtual Reality space I was looking at VR projects that were creating a positive impact on the world, and I found no shortage of material.

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Brandon Pittser
July 31, 2017
Highlights from a Decade of Learning Games

What does a decade of learning games look like? Filament Games has been around making learning games and taking names since 2005, which was so long ago that smartphones weren’t even a thing at the time.

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Brandon Pittser
August 3, 2017
Walden and ELA Games for Learning

With Games for Change awarding Most Significant Impact and Game of the Year to Walden, a Game, there’s a lot of attention right now on the type of game that Walden represents – that is, narrative games, which fall more broadly into the category of English Language Arts (ELA) games.

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Brandon Pittser
September 6, 2017
Unity for Education – An Interview with Jessica Lindl

The Filament Games blog team recently sat down to talk with Jessica Lindl, Global Head of Education at Unity, to talk through their plans and aspirations around the education industry.

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Brandon Pittser
September 11, 2017
Game-Based Learning Research Roundup 2017

As game-based learning finds its way into the mainstream of teaching modalities, questions about efficacy will naturally start to surface.

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Brandon Pittser
September 18, 2017
Augmented Reality and Training

We’ve been talking a lot about VR lately, but the world of XR content and experiences is wide and inclusive of mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and more, each with its own set of strengths and applications.

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Brandon Pittser
September 20, 2017
Making Games that Learn

There’s a lot we can learn playing games – from Newtonian physics to object-oriented coding, games can make us more capable and more informed.

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Brandon Pittser
October 2, 2017
Project Highlight: Aquation from the Smithsonian Institute

Learning games are powerful tools for delivering information – whether you’re teaching basic spelling or object-oriented code, learning games are potent experience engines that immerse and engage the learner.

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Brandon Pittser
October 4, 2017
Video Games and The Scientific Method

The Mario Method Form a question, create a hypothesis, predict the outcome, test your theory.

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Brandon Pittser
October 9, 2017
ESA Heartland Series: An Interview with Dan White

Note: This interview first appeared in the Entertainment Software Association blog.

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Brandon Pittser
October 25, 2017
Meet the Expert: Virtual Reality Artist Adam Blumenthal

We recently connected with Adam Blumenthal, a veteran of the virtual reality space, to discuss the history and future of Virtual Reality.

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Brandon Pittser
October 30, 2017
Speed Sketch! Halloween 2.0

Happy Halloween everyone! For this year’s Halloween Speed Sketch, Game Art Lead Natasha Soglin takes us on a hike through a colorful autumn forest scene.

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Brandon Pittser
May 13, 2026
5 Excellent Digital Games for Teaching Empathy

Like most human-made scenarios, the K-12 classroom is a high-stakes environment for social development.

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Brandon Pittser
May 11, 2026
Research Roundup: The Impact of Digital Play on Social-Emotional Development

Happy Monday everyone! Today we’re going to talk about cognitive wellness and learning.

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Brandon Pittser
May 6, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - May 2026

Our April roundup focused on where the lines are drawn, and May is showing us exactly how those boundaries look in practice.

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Brandon Pittser
May 4, 2026
What's New in Game-based Learning - May 2026

This month brings new data and unique projects to the wild and wonderful world of educational game development.

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Brandon Pittser
April 30, 2026
april roundup: game-based learning across contexts

Throughout April, we explored how interactive digital experiences apply targeted frameworks to solve distinct educational challenges.

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Brandon Pittser
April 27, 2026
Game-based Learning for Environmental Awareness

Happy Monday, Filafriends! Today, we consider the environment, and the fact that it’s pretty much all we have.

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Brandon Pittser
April 22, 2026
The Best Educational Games for Nintendo Switch 2

Since the Nintendo Switch 2 launched, it has rapidly found its way into family living rooms worldwide.

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Brandon Pittser
April 20, 2026
let's play investigation declaration with icivics.org!

Joining us for today’s episode is none other than Carrie Ray-Hill, Senior Director of Digital Learning at iCivics.org. This episode covers Carrie’s path into the world of civics education, the story behind how and why we developed Investigation Declaration with Colonial Williamsburg.

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Brandon Pittser
April 15, 2026
Why Cognitive Satiety is the New Goal for EdTech

The dopamine extraction schemes behind many popular digital products are often blamed for shrinking attention spans, especially in environments filled with constant notifications and competing stimuli.

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Brandon Pittser
April 13, 2026
Equipping Students for the Trades Through Game-based Learning

Career and technical education trains students to operate with precision before they have access to real equipment, real stakes, or real time in the field – a gap that has always asserted itself when the granularity of professional realities meet the abstractions of what one learns from curricula.

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Brandon Pittser
April 8, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - April 2026

Our March roundup focused on clarity, and with that clarity in hand, April is showing us where the lines start getting drawn.

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Brandon Pittser
April 6, 2026
What’s New in Game-based Learning - April 2026

This month brought a mix of new tools, research, and notable projects that are worth a look.

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Brandon Pittser
April 1, 2026
Building Data Literacy Through Game-Based Agency

Data literacy is a non-negotiable competency for the modern workforce. While our recent update on artificial intelligence and education explored how learners prompt generative models, it’s equally important to address the foundational skills required to evaluate their work.

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Brandon Pittser
March 30, 2026
Five Great Games for Learning on the Go

Whether you’re commuting to work, waiting for an appointment, or just kinda bored, who can resist the siren’s song of the smartphone?

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Brandon Pittser
March 25, 2026
Systems Thinking in Educational Games

10 years ago – yonks ago – in an article called Yes, You Are a Gamer, I noted that everyday existence is governed by mechanics and dynamics, meaning we all intuitively understand how to navigate complex, interactive rulesets.

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Brandon Pittser
March 23, 2026
Why Effective Educational Games Require Friction

Best practices in digital design often prioritize seamless user experiences – intuitive interfaces, frictionless onboarding, and uninterrupted progress are the hallmarks of the modern digital interactive.

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Brandon Pittser
March 16, 2026
The TEMPO Shift: What the FDA’s New Pilot Means for Interactive Medical Technology

The intersection of digital innovation and clinical validation has long been a bottleneck for medtech entrepreneurs.

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Brandon Pittser
March 11, 2026
From Novelty to Utility: Emerging Trends in Game-Based Learning

A review of current trends in game-based learning suggests that the industry is moving away from the novelty of play and toward the utility of systems and of course, impact!

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Brandon Pittser
March 9, 2026
The Latest Findings in AI and Learning - March 2026

Welcome in everyone, it’s time for another monthly roundup of the latest developments in the grand, society-wide technological experiment we call artificial intelligence.

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Brandon Pittser
March 2, 2026
what’s new in game-based learning - march 2026

The highlights (and numerous student-led EDU game launches!) from this last month show that structured play is now a frontline tool for public health, high-level physics, and crisis management.

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Brandon Pittser
February 23, 2026
🚨Game Launch!🚨 Introducing Credit Climber from Intuit

Hey Filafriends! Today we’re turning our attention to an important topic - namely, financial literacy.

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