Teachers are resorting to video games to teach remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to the closure of schools. Whether it's teaching model geometric concepts or teaching about how different species adapt to their environment and ecosystem, video games have created a virtual meeting ground for teachers and students. As the schools closed down indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak, teachers had to find ways of changing their school curriculum into virtual lesson plans. This has been challenging for those who were not well conversant with technology. However, it's very effective and enjoyable once they master how to use it.
Kevin Péloquin, a history teacher at Collège Saint-Hilaire was to take his history students on a tour to Greece this April. However, this was not possible because of the current pandemic that caused all schools to be closed and school trips to be canceled.
Therefore, how would his students learn about the historical sites in Greece after the canceled trip? Peloquin decided that his students would tour Greece virtually by use of a video game called Assassin's Creed: Odyssey that was developed by Ubisoft. The video game would allow his students to tour Greece's historical sites and learn more about them.
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According to Washington Post, Ubisoft gave Peloquin's students free access to Assassin's Creed: Odyssey via Google Stadia for the next three months. More educators just like Peloquin are using online platforms that use games to teach such as Ubisoft, Roblox, Minecraft, and many others. This isn't the first time that Peloquin was using a video game to teach his history class since he had once used the Assassin's Creed 3 trailers to teach about the American Revolution. However, this was the first time that a video game was substituting a school trip.
Ubisoft has come up with teachers' closed forum where they share their experiences with the digital tour for both Assassins' Creed: Origins and Odyssey. Ubisoft isn't the only platform that is becoming popular with teachers since most of the educators from Florida schools are using Minecraft to virtually teach students from grade 2 to grade 12. The edition comes with readymade lesson plans but the teachers are also at liberty to create their own.
There is an app called Classroom Mode that helps the teacher to control his virtual classroom. There is also a provision for students' assessments, in-game camera, and a place where they can write journal entries. Students can also take photos of their work as evidence of what they have learned.