Games @ School: Educational games in the classroom

Games @ School

Images from popular games as didactic material in the classroom.

As a history teacher with a passion for gaming, I think there is a mass of quality didactic material in games.

I am not talking about educational games, but about the games that many students already play at home. Games that are very popular, but little known to teachers. I would love to bring games from the pupils' world of life into the classroom and then let them think about what they have learned at school.

However, there are a lot of obstacles to play with students in the lesson: the games cost 60 euros each, the consoles (PlayStation, XBOX) and PCs to play them are expensive and you need several of them. to play with a class. In addition, the games I am talking about are primarily made as an entertainment product and therefore contain things that are not suitable in class. Whoever looks beyond the action and the violence that is certainly present, sees a game world full of historically correct visual material. Games like Assassin's Creed Origins, Far Cry Primal, Call of Duty WWII, Battlefield 1 and Kingdom Come Deliverance are made with budgets higher than those in the film industry and the developers are always working with historians and experts.

That's why I started a project, Games @ School, where I make videos myself to use as didactic material in class. For the time being this is mainly useful for the lessons in history, mavo, world orientation and PAV because the subjects lend themselves better to it. Because the videos are kept short, I think they are suitable in different working forms.

To follow the hunt for a mammoth from close up in Prehistory? Walking the pyramids of Giza inside? Explore a medieval fortress or experience the misery of the First and Second World War? That and much more can all be done in games, where you, in contrast to films, have control over the camera! There are already a number of movies available, but there is still a lot of material that is ready to process.

Because this is a project for teachers, all videos are advertising free.

Games @ School can be found at:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GamesAtSchool/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/GamesAtSchool