A WHITE House advisor will be one of the speakers when the University of Bradford hosts the UK's first conference about how computer games can help children's learning.

Constance Steinkuehler, who advised Barack Obama on national initiatives related to games, will talk about how educators can make the most out of the ever changing technological world when she comes to Bradford for the conference in June.

Other experts attending include senior figures at the BBC, Oxford University Press and games companies.

With technology rapidly developing, many children now develop their motor skills by playing games on tablets and phones, where previous generations learned through physical toys.

The inaugural Play and Learn conference, being held at the university campus from June 17 to 19, will look at ways to harness the popularity of computer games to aid children's learning and make it more engaging. It has been organised by a company called Play with Learning.

The conference is targeted at researchers, game producers, designers and developers and those who use play to communicate, including teachers and trainers.

It will look at how digital media and games can be used to provide new worlds for exploration, discovery and interaction.

Dr Carlton Reeve, senior lecturer in the University’s school of media, design and technology who will chair the conference, said: “The conference will explore ideas and practices that will improve the way we work and live.

"As well as seeing best practice from within the world of education and training, we will have important insights from leading producers, developers and artists from therapy, the media and theatre.”

Mrs Steinkuehler was a senior policy analyst in the White House office of science and technology policy between 2011 and 2012, where she advised on national initiatives related to games.

Her work there included the coordination of efforts to leverage games toward national priority areas like childhood obesity, early literacy, and teaching children about science and technology.

She now serves as executive director of the Higher Education Videogames Alliance, an organization of higher education leaders which looks at the cultural, scientific, and economic importance of video game programs in colleges and universities.

She said: "The event will connect the leading thinkers, designers, and practitioners working at this intersection to think about how we might leverage the capacity for new tools for engaged learning through impactful play.”

Other speakers include Elizabeth Wood, professor of education at the University of Sheffield, digital writer and development producer Tim Wright and Hanne Marckmann, who works at the games and interaction research lab at HKU University of the Arts in the Netherlands.

In September the University hosts the British Science Festival.