Zoe Zhang
Video Games in the English Classroom - Part 3: The How
Thank you, and congrats, for reaching the end of this series! It was seriously so much fun to make, and was my first foray into the genre of the video essay. Relevant links and a Q&A can be found below. 😁👇🏻
(Any and all feedback is appreciated!)
✔ Part 3 transcript:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fhxhzoCHH_nOna0eC6-O90V-vvKoowsLguQDWEEOWRo/edit?usp=sharing
✔ Written proposal for video games as literature:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CKWubhvWRCjkxck0pnlWIpMbUOfbUqwD/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115003992520843023993&rtpof=true&sd=true
✔ Extra Credits on video game literacy:
▫ Basic (https://youtu.be/QNV2xtiBk5U)
▫ Advanced (https://youtu.be/OXjJu8eauHo)
✔ Links related to Critical Media Literacy:
▫ http://www.medialit.org
▫ https://criticalmediaproject.org/media-literacies/
▫ https://aml.ca/about/
▫ https://www.edutopia.org/game-based-learning-resources
✔ Some other video essays about video games (a playlist):
▫ https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrSY8aeRVpFyFTnTNSVn3BavGF2pYHqTq
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🤔❔ Q&A ❕ (Credit to my classmate Liz for these insightful questions!)
[Q]: What can video games bring to the table that is essential or useful in the English classroom that nothing else can?
[A]: I think we're still discovering what makes video games unique as a storytelling medium, but something Ostenson brings up in his article and that I mention in Part 2: The What is the participatory nature of video games, how a sense of agency, interaction, and immersion change the way a player engages with a story. Also, many games have similar themes of "try, try again" (versus the not-so-good themes of "grind, grind away") which have yet to be explored in depth in terms of its impact on decision-making and storytelling.
[Q]: What is the purpose of the English classroom? Do we need to transform the way we approach the English classroom?
[A]: As a non-English teacher, I don't think this is for me to say-- but just from observation, I think it's fair to say that English teachers are recognizing an age of multiliteracies, which can be taught alongside traditional literacies like reading and writing. (Like digital literacy!)
[Q]: This sort of media literacy will need to start with teachers, right? Where do teachers gain media literacy for use in the classroom?
[A]: This may be related to the more complicated matter of teacher education, but from a teacher's perspective, I think experimentation is key: at least for now, teachers can begin to discover the best ways to incorporate video games. We are very much in a transition phase, where teachers are learning and re-learning literacies to bring into the classroom, and not only English ones. The pandemic, for instance, has forced a lot of teachers to turn to alternative teaching methods that involve a more advanced media literacy.
[Q]: Do you have any tangible examples of how you would incorporate this into the classroom? What might a teaching session look like, or an assignment? How would it address the skills English students need to be acquiring?
[A]: These are all great questions! Ostenson's article, as shared in Part 3, is one such example of how one could incorporate video games into the classroom. In my short time researching, I've found a handful of other firsthand accounts, and Extra Credits' Youtube channel has even more. As far as it relates to skills in the English classroom, I point again to the idea of media literacy, or any critical pedagogy which would encourage heightened analytical skills which could be applied, regardless of the medium.
I hope that helped! I definitely don't have all the answers but can at least point in a general direction for us to get started.
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📚 Works Cited
▫ Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2019). The critical media literacy guide: Engaging media and transforming education. The Netherlands: Brill/Sense Publishers., doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.32448.79360
▫ Muller, Valerie. “Film as Film: Using Movies to Help Students Visualize Literary Theory.” English Journal, vol. 95, no. 3, 2006, pp. 32–38., doi:10.2307/30047041.
▫ Ostenson, Jonathan. “Exploring the Boundaries of Narrative: Video Games in the English Classroom.” The English Journal, vol. 102, no. 6, July 2013, pp. 71–78.
▫ Thoman, Elizabeth, and Tessa Jolls. “Literacy for the 21st Century: An Overview & Orientation Guide to Media Literacy Education.” Center for Media Literacy, 2008.
▫ Game trailers used:
The Last of Us Part II
Myst
Life Is Strange 2
Wandersong
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Twelve Minutes
Spiritfarer
Undertale
▫ Personal recorded footage:
What Remains of Edith Finch
Extra Credits
The Sims 4
GMTK
What’s So Great About That
▫ Music:
Langtree by A Shell in the Pit (Wandersong OST)
House of Leaves by Laryssa Okada (Manifold Garden OST)
Possum Springs by Alec Holowka (Night in the Woods OST)
The Bard by A Shell in the Pit (Wandersong OST)
