Dr. Sam should call me one of her success stories. In today’s activity where we “played” Neverwinter, Ashley V. had several questions about using games in the classroom and how this specific D&D like game could be used in her L2 class. I suppose that the last few Maymesters with Dr. Sam have sunk into my think skull. One answer that I am particularly proud of providing was in response to a question about how the game could be used to teach research practices. And behold! My suggestion to teach students secondary research practices through the staggered personalization menu (As a way to search deeply instead of broadly) in contrast with keyword lists and internet/library search engines was a success. We also discussed a series of assignments that could develop from a single game such as Neverwinter. It definitely wasn’t the worst thing in the world. However, we did discuss that video games, or any other technology/topic/content brought into the course required a comfort level that could only develop from patience and understanding. Or like Ashley said — “I like them to struggle. The struggle is real.” I have struggled for a few semesters to make sense of all this stuff and today was the first day that I felt like something made sense. Dr. Sam should buy me coffee in appreciation for my efforts.

Well said, Ashley. Well said.