Prologue: A Video Game’s Epic-ish Journey to a High School English Class
Prologue: A Video Game’s Epic-ish Journey to a High School English Class
Prologue: A Video Game’s Epic-ish Journey to a High School English Class
By Paul Darvasi
March 5, 2014
Summary
Ludic Learning begins with my experience as a high school English teacher implementing a video game as a literary text in three senior English classes.
Over that time, students played the video game Gone Home and were assessed by a series of responses and activities that are in line with the aims of a typical high school English curriculum.
It is a loose guide and a justification for the use of a video game as a text in a high school English class, and points to the wider use of games and game culture in education.
Chris Suellentrop from The New York Times went so far as to say it was the "Closest thing to literary realism I've encountered in a video game." Critical praise aside, it sounded like no other game I'd ever played, and I've played quite a few.
How would I get away with teaching a video game in a high school English curriculum? Fortunately, both the Ontario Ministry of Education and my school grant a great deal of flexibility in regard to choosing texts for English classes.
Even if hardened skeptics reject the idea that a video game can be a viable substitute for a literary text, high school English classes in Ontario must devote 25% of their content to media studies.
If you want to learn more about video games and education, advance to Video Games and Education: Overcoming the Stigma.
Reference
Darvasi, P. (2014, March 5). Prologue: A Video Game’s Epic-ish Journey to a High School English Class. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from http://www.ludiclearning.org/2014/03/05/gone-home-in-education/