Welcome back!
This week’s Caffeine Question is this: Are you a fan of energy drinks? If so, what is your favorite brand? I’m currently a fan of the mimosa-flavored Alani Nu energy drinks. If you’re a fan of these as well, comment below!
So this week we are kicking off a new series about gaming! Now I know what you’re thinking: “But how does a video game help teach history?” Well, I’m glad you asked!
Let’s get to it.
With digital history continuously changing to fit the modernity of society, many have gone down the gaming track in order to provide history in a more accessible and engaging way. Although this is the case for many games and gaming resources, researching before assigning topics to play on is still an important step when working with historical games. Many games seem to work alongside historical facts but may include a few fictional or alternate information within the gaming scenarios as well. Along with this, knowing and understanding the style of game you are wanting to provide to your students is the next important step. With the many resources provided online, the style of teaching through gaming varies from game to game. Many of these can range from simulation to roleplaying to interaction to simple trivia games. After you’ve found the gaming resource or specific game you’d like to assign to your students, it’s time to start having fun as they learn more about history in an awesome new way!
The resource I’d like to introduce to you this week is Gaming the Past. Created by Jeremiah McCall, this site provides a list of educational, simulation-style games for history classes. The games within his site provide students with a different point of view for understanding history. Many of these games can be found under topics such as U.S. History, World History, and Current Events. The con, however, with this site is that many of the games listed are not free, but they are still cheap for those really interested in working them into their lessons. As for ways to incorporate these games into lessons, one way that I personally like to see in classes is assigning a game after a quick introduction to a new lesson or event. This will allow students to work with their own previous knowledge while also working on their critical thinking skills in order to work through the game. After the game is completed, having a discussion on everyone’s decisions and why they decided that way is a great way to get insight into everyone’s basic knowledge of the topic. After the discussion, the lesson can begin as it uncovers the reality of what really happened within history. This is a great visual resource for teachers to have in their tool belt for days where a lecture just doesn’t do history justice when it comes to explaining the complexities within it. As a result of this, students will be eager to start the next lesson and work on understanding history in a new visually and mentally engaging way!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s post. Like always, if there are any resources, comments, or questions relating to the topic or future topics, comment below or message via the contact page.
Until next time!
THE CAFFEINATED HISTORIAN 