Video games provide a dynamic way of studying history. Students can experience history first-hand by engaging with historical scenarios. Furthermore, these games allow for creating alternative histories or creating counterfactual histories https://147.139.145.195/.
Our research indicates that historically accurate settings, prior knowledge of history, and gameplay work together to foster historical comprehension. This finding supports Copplestone (2017)’s assertion that gaming facilitates informal forms of historical learning.
Immersion
Video games provide immersive experiences where players experience the action first-hand and can make decisions that impact their character’s fate directly. Their immersive nature, coupled with students being in control of their learning experience and actively engaged with it makes video games ideal teaching tools; however, their immersive environments also present some challenges https://149.129.220.28/.
Games often depict past settings and situations; however, their depiction only covers part of human history. Therefore, historical games may reinforce dominant interpretations of past societies’ histories while often leaving out members (e.g. peasants or nuns) who make decisions not always reflected within game environments.
Furthermore, many online history games are structured to restrict students’ options. For instance, some offer predetermined paths which can only be followed if students know enough about a specific historical context – creating limited options that reinforce binary understandings of history events and predictable outcomes for all involved players.
Though online gaming may have its limits, it has the power to foster meaningful historical education by engaging learners in active learning environments. History games such as Mission US’s narrative storytelling, iCivics’ civic engagement, and Planet 42’s quizzes allow students to immerse themselves in various historic eras while developing decision-making, perspective taking, comparing/evaluation skills.
Choice and consequence
Video games present an unparalleled learning opportunity through choice and consequence. Playing a historical-themed video game gives students a feel for what it was like living through historical events while seeing what consequences their actions have caused. This type of interactive learning is more beneficial than traditional lessons which may quickly move through tedious or difficult topics while leaving some with an inaccurate view of history.
A new generation of gamers are being introduced to historical narratives through online gaming, sparking interest in history while also raising concerns over its use in classrooms. Many educators fear that video games are replacing more traditional methods of education and not equipping children with necessary 21st-century skills for successful future. Others suggest video gaming can actually help students develop them.
Recent research revealed that participants who played digital historical games reported feeling that their historic environments and mechanics heightened their perception of authenticity, increasing engagement with the game. Respondents discussed how they interacted with both its environment and history in various games they chose – for instance one respondent noted that while settings may not always be historical accurate, prior knowledge helped deepen engagement with such titles.
Critical thinking
Video games that simulate historical events and evidence have become an increasingly popular form of educational media, providing powerful ways to learn about history. But their effectiveness requires careful examination of both their content and representational strategies in order to make appropriate pedagogical choices.
The predominant analytical paradigm for studying historical games focuses on their representations of history and historical meanings, marking a departure from earlier research which focused on individual games’ contents compared with traditional historical sources; although these approaches remain valuable, they neglect taking into account how form itself plays an integral role in game analysis.
Gamers’ ability to choose their own courses of action and interact with historic scenarios allows them to explore values that may differ from those prevalent in modern western societies, while challenging assumptions and making counterfactual plays that deepen historical understandings.
Though these features are positive, it should be remembered that players of history-based video games tend to only experience a limited variety of choices and experiences. Most often they play as characters like kings, explorers and generals rather than peasants or nuns who constituted most of the population in previous societies – this leaves out most people who lived then and hinders learning about their history and its significance for themselves.
Social interaction
As many games include social elements, the interaction among players during gameplay is another potential method for using these games to advance historical learning. Unfortunately, such interactions can sometimes result in biased interpretations of history (Foka & Westin 2017).
As previously discussed, history isn’t easily defined or depicted by video games; rather it can be likened to a prism with multiple viewpoints coming together to form an image of its past. Unfortunately, due to this complexity it can be easy for gamers to view gaming experiences simply as entertainment or even an escape from reality (McCall 2016).
Teachers and students should both explore how video games are constructed. Doing so allows us to move beyond approaches that focus on accuracy and authenticity and consider how gamers construct understandings of history as they engage with these games, exploring how these can be used as learning tools in classroom settings.
