Reacting to the Past
I was in Georgia for a meeting last week and returned excited after learning about a group called “Reacting to the Past.” RTTP promotes elaborate games, set in the past, where students play roles informed by classic texts. Students run the classes, while instructors advise and guide. The group seeks to promote engagement with big ideas and improve intellectual skills. Personally, I am intrigued by the possibilities of applying this pedagogical approach within the technological framework of Second Life.
Pioneered in the 1990s at Barnard College, RTTP is now a consortium, a group of 40 colleges and universities. Eight games are currently published by Pearson Education, with another twelve under development across the country. The group has received developmental support from a number of foundations and in 2004 it was honored with the Theodore Hesburgh Award for pedagogical innovation.
To learn more about Reacting to the Past, check out their website.
Below is a YouTube video that will give you a taste.
