Educational Uses of Role-Playing Games

         This is a collection of articles which relate to the use of RPGs in an educational context. In many ways, role-playing games are a natural fit to education. A number of role-playing supplements (particularly several in the GURPS series) seriously treat topics in history and science, which have passionate players. However, this aspect of games has been relatively neglected. Below I have collected a number of links related to education and RPGs.

RPG Realism & Education (Added July 1, 2003)

This is an essay I wrote on the topic of realism in RPG design, and how it relates to education.

WWW Virtual Library --- Role Play and Role-Playing Games

A collection of links on education through role-play and RPGs.

David Millians' "Games & Education"

A blog by an elementary school teacher in Georgia, who has produced various material including:

• GAMA's "Games & Education" brochures
• "Gaming and Education" Newsletters on rpg.net

Abantey: The Roleplay Workshop

An educational enrichment program in Oakland for children ages 10 to 18, using role-playing in a custom system and setting.

The Way

A series of three role-playing games which were developed within the Lutheran church in Sweden, which were intended for use in confirmation courses.

Reflections on Gaming With the Younger Generation

An essay by a high school math teacher, Mike Petty, who used various games in an educational context.

Working Hard at Play

An essay by game designer and education PhD student Gwendolyn Kestrel.

RPGs in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom

An essay by Brian David Phillips (Department of English, National Chengchi University). Brian has a number of other RPG, gaming, and education essays on his site as well:
Communications: EFL RPG
Language Learning Benefits of Role Playing Games
Methodology for Using RPGs in English Conversation Classes
Card Based Games in the Classroom
The Game Design Project: Student-Generated Flash Games in the Classroom
Use of Role-Play Simulations in Teaching
Problem Based Learning: within a traditional teaching environment
PhD Education: where left and right brains meet?

Academic Gaming Review

A small quarterly journal edited by Peter L. de Rosa which covers freeware educational simulations, articles on using classroom games, course materials, and website and game reviews.