Learning card

The game of history

Description

This activity is based on the recognition of facts or real historical characters in the context of a videogame that also includes fiction events.

Tag
  • Videogames
Skills

PRODUCTION

  • To use writing software and apps
  • To create and modify drawings and designs
  • To use drawing and design tools

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

  • To search, select and download

PERFORMANCE

  • To play videogames

NARRATIVE AND AESTHETICS

  • To interpret
  • To recognize and describe
  • To compare
Learning areas
  • Social Sciences
Card language
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Italian

Structure

Sessions
3 – 4 (Variable). Depending on the historical period treated, the activity can be more complex or simple.
Duration
55’ (Variable)
Number of participants
10-30 participants
Age
  • 10-13
  • 14-16
  • 17-18
Materials
  • Valiant Hearts The Great War or similar videogames based on real history.

Process

Key questions
  • Do videogames tell the real history? What are the relationships between videogames and real history like?
  • How do videogames represent war/conflict or political events?
  • Would it be possible to tell the same story from another point of view or perspective?
  • How and why do people ‘enter’ into history?
Development

The teacher presents a certain historical period (for example the First World War) that serves as a context for the didactic activity (30’-55’)
This introduction should also put the students in the context of the videogame. It is recommended to inform parents or guardians that the didactic activity includes the use of a videogame.

Students, in agreement with the teacher, choose one or several videogames set in that historical period. Working in pairs or small groups, they should recognize and describe characters and real events, and distinguish them from fiction. For this, they can consult all the sources they consider necessary. This part of the activity can be done at school or outside school hours depending on the hardware availability (110’).

The groups or pairs gather more information about the events or real characters represented in the videogame and prepare a Power Point presentation or Poster about the content worked on. (55’).
Point out to students the importance of complementing what appears in the videogame with other texts.

Each group or pair makes a brief presentation of the work done. The teacher asks them to also inform classmates of the sources of information used to contrast the facts of the videogame  (10'-15 'of presentation for each group or pair).

Evaluation

The teacher should evaluate:

  • The ability to understand the development and sequence of the activity.
  • Planning and organization of the work team.
  • The ability to identify the most prominent events in history and, above all, its actors and context.
  • The wealth of sources used to expand the information.
  • The capacity for synthesis and graphic / oral expression of the final presentation.

We suggest using a rubric to evaluate the activity.

References for professors

  • To select the most suitable games, it is recommended to use the following database, which includes the minimum recommended age of each videogame (PEGI): http://www.pegi.info/

Author

Óliver Pérez. Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Barcelona (Spain), oliver.perez@upf.edu
Ruth Contreras. Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Barcelona (Spain), ruth.contreras@uvic.cat

  • Videogames