Using Video Games To Teach History
Yesterday, I played Assassin’s Creed III in class with my students. It’s a hit game amongst the students (especially at an all-boys school), and I wanted to show them I was better than they were… Well, not really. I’m teaching revolutionary Boston to sophomores boys, and I figured I’d show them how the video game recreated the events and locations of the American Revolution. Ubisoft did a good job depicting the history surrounding the Revolution in their third installment of Assassin’s Creed. Regardless, one of the best parts about the lesson was that students were able to call out the game on a few historical inaccuracies since they had been studying the Revolution in class.
What made this lesson even better was that students had their laptops open, and they could Google every location and event covered. The web assaulted students with information about each particular place or event and how it fit into history. So, after I taught the revolution, they saw the Revolution, in a recreation and in real life. And, they got to learn about it in their favorite mediums, video games and the internet!
While my colleague navigated the streets of Boston to find the Old State House, I told the boys the story of the beginning of the Boston Massacre when a colonist insulted a redcoat by, get this, telling him there were no gentlemen in his regiment!
The boys saw the developers’ recreation of the scene, which is pretty accurate. And, if you get to the Old State House at the right time, you can trigger people standing in the square to start a riot!
Fortunately, Ubisoft is ten steps ahead of me. There’s a mission in the game where your avatar gets to play a role in the massacre. While Mr. Davey glided through the mission, we met Charles Lee. So, I interrupted the massacre to explain Charles Lee’s role in the Revolution—the former British soldier, now patriot--just in time for the students to point out that the game's rendition of the events of March 5th, 1770 contained Crispus Attucks.
Then, it’s on to the Old North Church where the students recall Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. Fortunately, my colleague had been on a handful of duck tours in his day growing up in Boston, and he filled in (Boston pun!) the geography of the city while avoiding parading redcoats. As Mr. Davey climbed to the top of the church, I explained Revere’s “one if by land, two if by sea” and why he decided to hang two lamps on that fateful night of April 18th, 1775.
And finally, your avatar can navigate Breed’s Hill to slay British commander, John Pitcarin, on June 17th, 1775. As Mr. Davey leapt off a flagpole to deal the fatal blow to Pitcarin, I taught students how Pitcarin actually died--in his son’s arms after being shot on the hill! Remember, he was the commander of the redcoats who were at Lexington on April 19th, of 1775
I’d like to conclude by thanking Ubisoft for producing such a thoughtful recreation of an excellent period in American History. I'd also like to entreat other US history teachers to give this lesson a shot. I had a great time playing video games in class, and the students squeezed more knowledge out of the American Revolution thanks to AC3.
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