Join us to discuss "play” as a creative pedagogical tool with serious potential. We will explore how to apply the practice of play to energize student engagement and inspire authentic learning experiences without sacrificing the rigor essential to the courses we teach. We will ask what it means to play with purpose when teaching an online course, and what the constraints involved are. This informal session highlights the effort faculty like you put into designing and refining classes, but also celebrates that you do not need to do it alone. Quite the opposite: one of the great joys of working alongside such talented educators is that we get to learn from each other and share what has been working in our own classes.