Roleplaying as a Teaching Aid

[Bombastus]

There must be lots of other ways to get across a subject (history especially) using roleplaying techniques of one sort or another. No idea is too wacky!

Woo Hoo! I thought you'd never ask.

Currently, Better World Roleplaying, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit organization,is working on a roleplaying game that facilitates the learning of history, language arts, science, math, fine arts and geography. The core rules are based on the d20 system, though it will not be d20stl compliant.

I could really use some more educators on the team to help me calibrate they academic aspects of the game and make them consistent. This game also incorporates plenty of opportunities for physical activity, cooperative and individual achievement.

While we have 5 settings and themes planned, right now we are focusing on a Mars setting for students ages 8-13 and then a modern city setting for high school students. This last game will focus more on helping students practice making hard life decisions and will utilize life skills not usually offered in schools.

I could go on forever about this stuff... but most of you know that already. Please stop by and support us in any way you can!

Nuthin but Love for Ya!

Maggie
President
Better World Roleplaying, Inc.

 

[DM with a vengence]

The Latin teacher at my school plays, well, not really D&D, but sort of a rules-lite version of it in his Friday classes. The characters and group interaction are a little odd, but they do use a lot of Latin, even if it's along the lines of "I cast fireball and hit him with my staff" rather than the classical sort.

Once for a history project I wrote my own wargame for the battle of Marathon, made some minis, and played out the battle. This time the Persians won by flanking the Greeks, and destroying their phalanx formation.

This year the entire class play a WWI simulation, where everybody was a top government official during the days right before WWI, and they had to set up a system of alliances and treaties and backstabs to win the war. It got a little intense, and my brilliant plan to destroy the German and Austro-Hungarian forces would've worked perfectly except that France double crossed us just to cause some chaos. There weren't any real rules, but everybody wrote up their actions, and then we discussed what would've happened afterwards.

So yeah, RPGs can be a useful and cool teaching tool, just don't use them traditionally.