Resources for Teachers - Games

Dynamics of the game industry

The video game industry has evolved from a niche entertainment market into a dominant global force, surpassing the combined revenue of the film and music industries.[1] This evolution has been marked by radical shifts in how games are published, monetized and consumed, creating both unprecedented opportunities for creators and significant challenges for players.

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Video Game Verbs

In this lesson, students learn that video games are unlike other media because they are interactive, allowing players to do things and make choices. They then explore the idea of affordances and defaults by considering the “video game verbs” that different games allow you to do. They consider the commercial, technical, and genre reasons why some verbs are more often possible than others and then create a simple design for a video game in which players are able to do a wider variety of things.

10 tiny ways you can make the world a better place today

You can make the world a better place TODAY. 10 tiny ways you can make the world a better place today.

Game Time

In this lesson, students consider the positive aspects of video games as well as the ways in which games may take time away from other activities they enjoy. Students are introduced to the idea of balancing game and screen time with other parts of their lives and learn about the reasons why they may be tempted to spend more time playing games or find it difficult to stop playing. They then keep a diary of their game play (or another screen activity if they do not play video games) that prompts them to reflect on their gaming habits. Partway through that process, they are introduced to techniques that will help them moderate their game play and deal with the difficulties they may feel reducing game time. Finally, students reflect on the experience and develop a plan to make their game play more mindful.