Saturday, April 09, 2011

Connecting with students in the classroom

I have to do a presentation in a few weeks about getting today's student to connect in the English classroom. One idea I want to explore is using adventure games as texts. I prefer to call adventure games interactive fiction. How may playing an adventure game help students learn or advance their literacy you may ask? Well I see it as a unique way of looking at narrative. Other ways for a story to be propelled. Exploring characters. Using the game as a visual to encourage descriptive writing. Perhaps students could also explore an ICT component and try creating their own games? Also some games are based on books so it's a good way to look at the story telling on another platform. A good example of this is Bladerunner. Here students could examine the book, movie and the game and compare the three. Probably the best way to use games as tools is for creative writing. The following are some screen shots from a few games, and I think they're a fantastic visual for students to propel their own writing.

Blackmirror two


Bladerunner


Secret Files Tunguska


Syberia


Syberia


To add more food for thought here is a youtube post that talks about using games in the classroom to inspire creative writing. Importantly watch the students faces as they interact with the game Myst. Now that's connecting in the classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZrkzXOV15k

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