When making a
selection in ED 609 for a presentation on educational games, there was never a
doubt that The Oregon Trail was the
perfect choice. The game, first developed by MECC (Minnesota Educational
Computing Consortium) in 1971, has been used in classrooms since it was
initially released to schools in 1974 (Cohen, 2015). While MECC went defunct in
1999, the game still survives today, and continues to engage and captivate
learners on various platforms forty-one years on. It was a wonderful experience
revisiting a technological “pioneer” I first played as an elementary school
child in the mid 80s to practice developing my skills with today’s useful
computer tools and applications.
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| The screen that exited students as the program loaded. |
In looking at
the game in terms of educational value and use in class, our group first
created a rubric of important criteria to evaluate. While we had little difficulty
agreeing on what criteria we wanted to use in our assessment, the actual
creation of the tool required some thought. Ultimately, we agreed upon using
Google Sheets to create the rubric. Due to its ease in access for all our
(remote location) contributions and cell layout, the application proved a very convenient
tool for the job. Over the 4 days we developed the tool, the group could add in
and polish as we came up with ideas or realized we had left something out. In
the end, we were quite pleased with our final product and the way in which we
could effortlessly “jigsaw” it together. The learning curve for the application
was not too difficult for the group and proved to be my biggest challenge in
measuring up the game from an educational standpoint.
In addition to
Google Sheets, our group also used Google
Drive as a meeting place and a collective record
of our ideas and information. I feel that Drive proved to be the most useful
resource available for a number of reasons. First, it was a great remote storage
place for all we wanted to include in the presentation. As we could not all
meet face to face over the days we worked on the project, we could work at our
own pace and simply drop anything of interest (images, URLs, notes, etc.) into
the application. It was very convenient and increased our productivity and preparedness
when we were together. When it came to the actual construction of the
presentation, we had everything we needed in our “box” we simply needed to
access it. Second, the application was nothing new to any of our group members,
required no time to learn or understand, and we all felt very tech savvy being
able to decrease the difficulty of the assignment by putting technology to use
for us. Finally, we were able to effortlessly share a class instruction page
and link to The Oregon Trail online
through drive in the presentation, saving time and guiding our learners directly
to the centerpiece of the presentation.
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| As you can see, using the Google suite was so easy that we had a lot of fun and enjoyed making the presentation. |
The Google suite
of applications was not the only modern technology we used to construct our
presentation. After examining a few presentation programs suggested in class,
our group chose to research a few of the suggestions. I was very excited when I
came across a review that quoted Motti Nisani one of three founders of emaze, “A
good presentation is like a good story” (Farner, 2013). Upon looking into the
software, we were not disappointed. The interface and construction mode was
straight forward and offered many options to make your presentation more of a
visual narrative. The presentation software also allowed us to work
collaboratively and provided an amazing array of visually engaging templates
for the arrangement of our information. We were very pleased with the look,
feel, and final product. We chose the template that took viewers on a journey
down the road, much like the actual journey in our featured game, It’s great to
see that since our usage of this PowerPoint alternative many other members of
the cohort are using it, and using it well. I am very satisfied with the way
our emaze presentation turned out. It was a great way to bring a great
educational game to the attention educators who can utilize it regardless of
content area.
Revisiting The Oregon Trail as an adult and teacher
of Language Arts is very special for me. It is a connection to my days as a
student and offers a multitude of ideas for incorporation into my classroom.
One of my favorite ideas is using the game for a dual purpose. I would like to
incorporate it into my American Literature when the class reaches the transition
from Romanticism to Realism. The game is very immersive and will help students
identify with the ordeal that those brave pioneers undertook. I feel the game
will help them put themselves into the shoes of another group of people who
embodied the American Dream. I feel there is a wonderful opportunity for a
creative writing pioneer journal activity. The game will also serve for a team
building activity and exercise in critical thinking. It’s heartwarming to know
that after our examination and review of the game, The Oregon Trail has proven to still be a great addition to any
classroom setting and education some 40 years after its release.
Don't just take my word for it...
Round up your family, get in your wagon, hit the link, and head out!
Cohen, D.
(2015, February 1). The Oregon Trail -
Edutainment's First Video Game Hit - Apple II - About Classic Video Games.
Retrieved June 14, 2015,fromhttp://classicgames.about.com/od/computergames/fr/OregonTrail.htm
Farner, S.
(2013, May 21). Emaze: The cure for the common presentation? - BestTechie.RetrievedJune14,2015,fromhttp://www.besttechie.com/2013/05/21/emaze-the-cure-for-the-common-presentation/
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