Excavating the secrets, scandals, and untold stories hiding below the surface of life, and giving voice to the characters who make or made those hiStories happen.
Surprised to be reading about the educational value of a video game on a blog dedicated to education, history, literature, and learning?
So am I. But bear with me. I’ll admit I’ve been a cynic about video games since they evolved from Pac-Man. I could never understand why would anyone want to waste their time killing virtual enemies on a screen when they could sink into a great story with a movie or a book, practice a sport or an instrument, or just goof off outside.
Caitlin opened my eyes. We were talking about immersive storytelling and she referenced Assassin’s Creed.
You play that game? I asked.
You don’t? She said. You’d love it.
So I checked it out and, you know, she was right. Although the object of the game remains killing (the weapons and gear being big motivators), the assassin’s sandbox is a beautifully crafted 3-D environment rich in historical context. The parent company, UBISOFT, even has historians on the payroll!
Assassin’s Creed gameplay revolves around an age-old rivalry between two ancient secret societies: the Assassins and the Knights Templar. Their enmity dates to the Crusades and follows their successors through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to Revolution and modern times. Each game in the series assigns players the task of completing a covert mission, usually involving the assassination of a highly protected public figure.
Assassin’s Creed and Time Traveler Tours & Tales share a similar mission: both Turn History On. That mission dramatically intersects with the game’s latest release, UNITY, set during the French Revolution, the era in which our flagship heroine, Charlotte Corday, inscribed her name in the annals of immortality.
Is the game historically accurate? As a visual illustration of the age, yes. It is stunningly rendered and fully succeeds in transporting you to the time of the Revolution. It makes you feel like you’re part of the history, says Caitlin, which for a history nerd is very exciting!
Even for the non-nerd, it’s a fantastic “way into” history. And that’s where its educational value lies. As Caitlin informed me,
Assassin's Creed allows you to not only learn about history, but to experience it. You explore places you could never could otherwise. From the streets of Jerusalem to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral, Assassin's Creed encourages kids to learn from being there.
So let your kids get their "pure stealth" on (i.e., let them play). Then, their interest sufficiently piqued, grasp the opportunity to build their critical thinking skills by offering them more historically accurate information on the period. Seize the chance to engage them in doing real historical research. Immerse them in uncovering what really might have happened through authentic sources and other media.
Assassin’s Creed makes no claim to be anything other than Historical Fiction. Though a graphical and technological tour de force, it does take liberties with the facts.
The scene in the catacombs, for example, shows human bones stacked and organized in decorative patterns. But this didn’t happen until the early 1800s under Napoleon, who factors into Unity in a way he really didn’t in life. Another scene shows the protagonist, Arno Dorian, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, which was built 100 years later for the 1889 World’s Exhibition. In another, we see the Statue of Liberty under construction, still shackled by scaffolding, also about 100 years too early. And the Cathedral spire, from which Arno takes his death-defying leap into a haystack, was actually taken down during the years of Revolution and replaced in the 1860s.
Don’t even get me started on the accents! Enjoy Conan O’Brien, as the Clueless Gamer, on that.
Even staff historian, Maxime Durand, admits that the developer “takes some liberties creating visual assets, just to do what's best for gameplay'' (Wired Magazine). Whether this is right or wrong is definitely arguable. But they wouldn’t be the first creators to do so: How many of you, like me, grew up believing that Switzerland was just over the mountains from Salzburg after watching the Sound of Music?
The point is, Assassin’s Creed is immersive and engaging and a brilliant way to capture the attention, in particular, of the young person who’s convinced that “history is boring.”
Engagement and learning originate from the same part of the brain. Story and play are our most powerful teaching tools. We all construct new meaning on the foundations of what we already know. So let your teens learn what they can within Unity. Then put something historically accurate in their hands, like my interactive story BEWARE MADAME LA GUILLOTINE, available in app, iBook, and paperback editions. Or bring Revolutionary Paris to your classroom with Marcie Colleen’s Curriculum Handbook.
Use game, book, and role-play to spark discussion, see where it leads. There’s a great bibliography at the back of the book if they want to explore the era even further.
They may want to know, for instance, why Charlotte Corday doesn’t figure in Assassin’s Creed Unity? She was Revolutionary figure, after all. And an assassin.
What do you think about the educational value of Assassin's Creed, in particular, and video games, in general? Click comments to your right and let me know. It's a hot topic right now. Just last night it was discussed on KQED Radio, with parents, teachers, and researchers weighing in on both sides of the issue.
Stay tuned for my next post: Gender Bias in Assassin’s Creed? I Say Yes.
Are you struggling with how to monetize your educational app endeavor? Are you wondering if it's even possible?
Then you won't want to miss the final installment of our debut video interview series -- TEACHERS IN THE VANGUARD -- with Jayne Clare and Anne Rachel, Co-Founders of Teachers With Apps.
This two gutsy gals took a risk and made it work. Find out how.
In Part I of the series, we learn how these two Teachers in the Vanguard moved quickly from pioneer app developers to creators of an app resource and discovery site that benefits a community of educators, parents and other care-givers now 50,000 strong.
In Part 2, we discover the criteria and considerations Anne and Jayne use when evaluating the apps they choose to recommend on the TWA site.
In Part 3, the two offer us insights, direct from the front lines, on the ever-evolving app industry, and the respect they share for developers of educational products.
And in Part 4, we find out how Jayne and Anne have come to honor both worthy products and the people and organizations behind them: those developers who seem never fail at keeping children and learning at the forefront of their efforts.
Then, in Part 5, Jayne introduces us to Jayne Clare Consulting (JCC) and sets us up for Anne's latest news, to be revealed in our final episode to follow.
Do you have a question for Anne or Jayne? Click "comments" to the right to leave your message.
In Part 4 of this debut series -- TEACHERS IN THE VANGUARD -- Jayne Clare and Anne Rachel, Co-Founders of Teachers With Apps, fill us in on their latest, greatest app-ventures:
In Part I, we learn how these two Teachers in the Vanguard moved quickly from pioneer app developers to creators of an app resource and discovery site that benefits a community of educators, parents and other care-givers now 50,000 strong.
In Part 2 of the series, we discover the criteria and considerations Anne and Jayne use when evaluating the apps they choose to recommend on the TWA site.
In Part 3, the two offer us insights, direct from the front lines, on the ever-evolving app industry, and the respect they share for developers of educational products.
Now, in this latest episode, we find out how Jayne and Anne have come to honor both worthy products and the people and organizations behind them: those developers who seem never fail at keeping children and learning at the forefront of their efforts.
If you have a question for Anne or Jayne, don't hesitate to click "comments" and ask. Thanks!
Career educators and life-long friends, Jayne Clare and Anne Rachel were already in the vanguard in 2009 when theirs were among the first education apps to hit the App Store.
"We knew from the very beginning that this was the future. There was no doubt in our minds that this was the way children were going to be learning. We wanted to be on the cutting edge. We wanted to be where everything was happening and maybe a few steps ahead," Jayne states in a recent interview debuting today on this blog.
"We are both dedicated to the idea that quality mobile educational apps are not only the tools of the future, but the tools of today. That with them, we can reach children well beyond the classroom," adds Anne.
Branded under their joint venture, i-Itch Inc: Apps that Delight and Develop, Anne and Jayne’s reading-readiness apps – ABC On the Go, ABC Shakedown, and ABC Shakedown Plus – were instant hits. They all rose quickly to the top of the education category.But the voices of these apps were soon shouted down by the mob of products, many (if not most) of questionable educational quality, that continue to flood into the education category, and that now number in the tens of thousands.
As Anne and Jayne watched more and more “truly educational apps” get swept aside by big-brand, big-budget bullies with little educational value, they decided it was time to stride forward again. They saw the need for a resource site where teachers, parents, and app users could reliably discover great educational content. And so they resolved to create it.
In 2010, Teachers With Apps was born with the goal of showcasing top-of-the-class apps and, later, top-of-the-class developers. The site aims to help teachers and caregivers source App Store gems that have become lost from view. The site is a safe haven for educational app developers, working on a shoestring, who are in the business of changing lives, first. But the main objective of Teacher With Apps has always been to ensure that educationally sound content finds its way into the hands of children and youth.
What makes Teachers With Apps stand apart?
Founded by educators, the company worldview is grounded in age-appropriate educational theory and practice.
All reviews are contributed by teachers.
All reviewed apps are field-tested with students.
Only recommended apps are featured on the Teachers With Apps site.
If you find an app on Teachers With Apps, you can feel confident it’s worthy of your child’s or your students’ attention.
I am honored and delighted to launch this new interview series, TEACHERS IN THE VANGUARD, by introducing you to Anne Rachel and Jayne Clare of Teachers With Apps.
Enjoy! And please don't hesitate to leave your comments for Jayne and Anne.
In last week’s blog post, I summarized the results of our recent conversations with teachers and parents regarding the challenges they face turning teens and tweens on to history. Their comments fell into one of three categories:
Challenge #1: It isn’t easy for young people to comprehend time in the distant past.
Challenge #2: The way history is presented can be dry and dull, which makes it difficult to learn.
Challenge #3: Young people don’t appreciate how history influences their lives today.
Over at Time Traveler Tours & Tales, we’re building a publishing imprint with the express goal of overcoming these challenges. Our primary mission is to provide a fun way into history. Our operating mantra is:
Make History Relevant. Make History Personal. Make History Real.
This is perhaps best expressed in the latest release from the product suite of our award-winning debut title and case study:the Beware Madame La Guillotine Curriculum Handbook, by Marcie Colleen.
Here’s Marcie on the making of this dramatically-new teacher guide:
“My challenge with BMLG began with the question, “how can we get kids who have never traveled to Paris into the environment of the French Revolution?” It reminded me of my experiences as a grad student at NYU where I studied educational theater and used techniques from Process Drama.
Process Drama uses dramatic play to create an imagined world in the classroom…to help kids explore issues and solve problems without ever leaving the classroom. It can be used in the history classroom quite effectively to bring humanity to historical moments.”
Marcie’s Curriculum Handbook is a veritable time travel machine. Used in collaboration with my eponymous story, it takes students and teachers by the hand and transports them to the tumultuous streets of the Reign of Terror, making history real. It allows them to view this pivotal historical moment through the eyes of someone who lived it, making history personal. It introduces young people to the roots of democratic society, and compels them to ponder such big-picture questions as, Is violence ever justified?, making history relevant.
Get your FREE copies of both Beware Madame la Guillotine AND Marcie’s complementary Curriculum Handbook in exchange for your honest feedback. Click here.
Let’s make history together!
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Want to know more about the making of the BMLG Curriculum Handbook? Don’t miss this 14 minute video chat between me and Marcie Colleen.
