Finding ways of making teaching more engaging and helping students to remember content is the concern of any classroom practitioner. Gamification has become more important in the classroom as a way to make learning more accessible, and games have been used as tools for teaching skills such as typing and arithmetic. There have been a number of games based in the Classical world, spanning themes, consoles and gameplay type; however, there has been little systematic analysis of how these can be practically used in the classroom. Gaming the Past builds on the research and literature, and creates a more practical guide
However, this book not only demonstrates how games can be effectively integrated into classroom practice, but it also re-emphasises more traditional use of sources and research methods, and how to apply analysis to the models that are presented within games. Gaming the Past is also helpful as it provides a roadmap as to how to help students critically assess and analyse the context and content of the historical games that they might use. This will be particularly helpful to those practitioners concerned about integrating new approaches into their existing practice. Furthermore, it is made clear throughout the book that this can not only be applied to Classics and History, but to other subjects as well.
The experience of a classroom practitioner comes through throughout this book as it addresses everything from how to implement a curriculum which integrates videogames; guidance on how to choose the appropriate games for the context of the classroom and subject; and also, helpfully provides key information on how to communicate the introduction of the games to stakeholders such as parents, students and decision-makers. Furthermore, Gaming the Past includes very practical strategies which include how to structure lesson time effectively, and how to build in reflective activities for students so that gaming is a more active pedagogical tool.
This book is a must read for any teacher, department head and classroom practitioner who is looking for strategies to help students engage more actively with the Classical World, but also with history more widely.
Open access
