Posted on 06/26/2016 6:31:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin
It's becoming more common to see games used in the classroom these days and, starting next year, the world-building simulator _Civilization _will be among those ranks.
Pretty much the most appropriate place to make such an announcement, the folks at Take-Two Interactive, 2K and Firaxis Games revealed during today's 13th Annual Games for Change Festival that a new version of _Civilization _will be introduced to U.S. classrooms thanks to a partnership with GlassLab Inc.
According to the initial report, this new version of Civilization _will be implemented in classrooms starting in the fall of 2017. Growing up, the only games we were allowed to play at school involved solving math problems, chucking bananas, the very occasional romp through _SimCity _or, of course, Oregon Trail. Now schoolkids are going to get to play Civilization_ in the classroom and I'm not even a little bit jealous.
Of course, this will be a modified version of Civilization called Civilization EDU. We're guessing it will offer a heavier focus on discussing actual history, loading players up on all sorts of knowledge while they try to build their own empire.
And really, Civilization _is probably one of the best educational games on the market without even being turned into a more classroom-ready outing. Math, science, strategy, problem solving and economics all come into play in your average game of _Civilization, so it's easy to see why teachers are intrigued by the idea of introducing it to their students. The easiest way to teach something is to present it in a way where it doesn't feel like a lesson, and video games certainly fit that bill nicely.
(Excerpt) Read more at cinemablend.com ...
Of possible interest
I have long enjoyed the iterations of “Civilization.”
After basic reading, writing and arithmetic to about 5th grade, you could get better results if students did nothing in school except watch movies made between 1930 and 1970.
Seriously, five hours a day, 900 hours per school year, just watch old flicks, newsreels and documentaries. Test scores would soar.
Ritalin sales would plummet, too. Anybody can’t sit still, they’re sent to the gym.
A public school version of a civilization game is educational iff (if and only if) the underlying assumptions reflect reality and also accurately reflect historical events and economic laws as we know them. For example, What happens if your civilization confiscates the profit from new ideas for fair distribution to the masses. If you don’t end up with something that looks live Venezuela or Cuba then you should rename the game Dreamscape or Fantasia.
That particular game never made a lot of sense to me.
If I were a modern high school student, I would probably fail the class if my grade depended on how well I play Civilization.
Not that I was a bad student. I think I left HS with a 3.4 GPA... lower than my college GPA, but still decent.
Except there are easily-learnable patterns to victory. In fact, to most of the victory paths. I can do a Science or a Culture victory in my sleep. . .
Here is my advocacy for this game as a learning tool.
Civilization, and other 4X games, provide a ton of “points of decision”. In fact, every turn, there is a point of decision for every unit, for every city, and for every other player (AI or human) you are in contact with. The whole structure of the game is about making decisions. Now, the same could be generically said about any and all games, but in a 4X game, the decisions you make affect which decisions become available to you in the future, without the chance to undo them.
This creates a sophisticated chain of decision points which will lead you to success or failure.
That means a player must think beyond the immediate effects of their current decision and comprehend what the long lasting effects will be.
This is an exercise in critical thinking and logical progression. Two elements that the vast majority of students in the U.S. are ignorant of when they graduate high school.
If we can instill critical thinking skills and an understanding of logical progression, we will be giving students two skill sets that will allow them to be more successful and capable in their future endeavors.
Or read history by Samuel Eliot Morison and Henry Steele Commager
If we can instill critical thinking skills and an understanding of logical progression, we will be giving students two skill sets that will allow them to be more successful and capable in their future endeavors.
Amen and well stated. I am working hard every day to teach my kids this because I see far too many young people in the world today who don’t understand or acknowledge this basic fact of our existence. Actions do have consequences.
Of course that is better, but most public school students today can't do that.
My point is that public education is so deplorably inadequate, the overall result would be improvement if it were all scrapped in fifth grade, in favor of vintage movies. And it'd cost less!
My 14 YO son likes the game, too, and he's taking AP history classes. Much better for him mentally than Call of Duty.
Let me know when they start using Leisure Suit Larry.
Sir Kenneth Clarke’s “Civilization” Television series and accompanying book were a wonderful course I took in high school. That and Sister Wendy’s renaissance art appreciation show were simply splendid.
I was given both “Civilisation” and Bronowski’s “Ascent of Man” in homeschool. Much preferred the latter.
Here’s part 1 of the latter...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH7SJf8BnBI
xyzzy, plover, fee fie fo foom.
Met a couple last year on a catamaran named “xyzzy” and their wifi was “Crystal Cave”.
I think I wasn’t the first to pick up on it.
Ha!! That’s classic — too funny. I have a few of the Zork books still around here somewhere.
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