
Hear from Bartosz Skwarczek, the CEO of G2A.com, about gaming's educational possibilities. Join a free course for teachers worldwide, with earnings donated to charities fighting digital exclusion.
Explore how to use video games to teach teenagers, develop gaming-related skills, and dispel myths through three modules with practical games and classroom exercises.
In this Unit, teachers will learn about:
- gamer stereotypes and why they're far from true
- the benefits of video games
- what motivates gamers & what they get from gaming
- possible issues & how to alleviate them
Unit 1 comes with sample exercises for your class.
Explore how games stimulate memory and critical thinking and how educators can use games in learning across areas from quick decision-making to strategic planning, teamwork, and leadership.
Explore diverse gamer motivations, from action driven thrills to social play, achievement, immersion, and strategy. See how these motives boost engagement and collaboration.
Explore how games serve students in education by simulating real systems—including biology and chemistry to business and crisis management—while offering escapism, risk assessment, and pathways to design careers in gaming.
Keep an eye on accessibility, cost, hardware, and age restrictions when using video games in teaching, ensuring the approach connects learners and considers controversial themes.
Practice-based exercises help students explore their video game preferences, emotions, and arguments about favorite games through character descriptions, media comparisons, and collaborative presentations.
Leverage students' video game knowledge to foster dialogue, trust, and a unified classroom. Start by consulting students about using games to teach.
Explore the French Revolution through a narrative game, analyzing moral dilemmas, the revolutionary tribunal, and political transformations, while guiding older students to presentations on political, economic, and social impacts.
Explore World War II through education using video games that illuminate civilian experiences and post-war life, with Attentat 1942 and My Child Lebensborn guiding discussion.
Explore how video games illuminate social issues like racism and xenophobia, using The Witcher 3 fragments to discuss discrimination, empathy, and responsible classroom dialogue.
Explore the portrayal of loss and coping through That Dragon, Cancer, guiding reflective discussion, supervised classroom play, and essays on suffering and human resilience.
Explore exile and the refugee experience through the autobiographical game Path Out, following Abdullah Karam's journey from war in Aleppo to the Turkish border, and discuss social change through games.
Explore post-apocalyptic literature through the Metro Redux game, examining survival, the metro setting, and post-nuclear world themes, then guide students to write essays and propose a new disaster-inspired novel.
Explore visions of the future with AI and robots using Detroit: Become Human as a discussion starter, then debate AI’s pros and cons and build argumentation skills.
Teach physics, astronomy, and engineering through video games, guiding students with hands-on exploration of free fall, gravity, and newtonian dynamics using Kerbal Space Program and Space Engineers.
Explore how video games teach basic physics and engineering through hands-on building, problem solving, and competition, using Tami's Tower, Roblox, and SimCity to engage younger students.
Use video games to teach acceleration and dynamics, linking launch force, height, and angle to motion and momentum. Practice formulas in class with Phys and Portal puzzles to reinforce learning.
Explore biology through games and models that illuminate the immune system, bacteria, and viruses, using interactive simulations like Immune Defense to reinforce practical understanding.
Discover how life sciences teach ecosystems, climate change, and genetics through Tyto Online and related educational games, with teacher tools and progress monitoring.
Explore how video games teach programming across popular languages such as JavaScript, Python, and Lua, using Codingame, CodeCombat, and CheckIO to engage learners online or in the classroom.
Teaching about the Renaissance era through Assassin's Creed 2? Showing how space physics work using Kerbal Space Program? Discussing the art of making difficult choices via This War of Mine? Video games are not just entertainment. They are also a perfect tool to make any subject fascinating to your students, no matter how difficult or tedious it may be.
If you feel that traditional methods have been failing you with today's youth, you're not alone. Video games allow for more captivating classes that are adjusted to your students' interests and hence, more engaging. After all, who doesn't love a good gaming session after a stressful day at school or work? Whether it's on the computer, using a console, or simply playing an easy mobile game, there's always something to be discovered and learned.
If you want to effectively teach your students, you must not only know their educational needs, but also what motivates them. This course will show you how to use games in teaching both STEM subjects and humanities, so that they can become a successful tool in your teaching practice. We've divided it into three sections:
Unit 1: The benefits of using video games in class and overall information about the psychology behind them. Here we also debunk all sorts of myths about gaming.
Unit 2: Effective ways of teaching humanities through the use of video games, including literature, history, social sciences and more.
Unit 3: How to use video games in teaching STEM subjects, such as math, physics, geography, biology, chemistry and so on.
You will also find sample exercises and other resources that you should find useful in your lessons.
Ready to try something new? Rock on!
All proceeds from the course will be donated to charity.
Course authors
Dr. Adam Flamma – academic lecturer at the University of Lower Silesia in the field of Creative Media, Game Design, 3D Animation and VFX. Earlier, a high school teacher. Specialist in video game storytelling, video game history and using new technologies in education. President of the GameUP Game Research and Development Association, privately a fan of isometric cRPGs, classic point-and-click games, as well as The Witcher and Assassin's Creed series.
Dr. Szymon Makuch – academic lecturer at the University of Lower Silesia in the field of Creative Media, Game Design, 3D Animation and VFX. Specialist in intellectual property and the business aspects of new media, a member of the GameUP Game Research and Development Association, vice president of the Trickster Popculture Researchers Association. Privately an enthusiast of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and the Syberia and Assassin's Creed series.