"Video Games and the Pedagogy of Place" Summary

I chose the article “Video Games and the Pedagogy of Place” by David Hutchison because he attempts to refute the popular belief that video games are damaging and dangerous for today's youth, something which I thought was long overdue. Instead, he argues that the many varieties of video games out there all have one thing in common: place. They all occur in some past, future, contemporary or make-believe world. Furthermore, they all contain one or more key elements of place: landforms, maps, physical laws and historical settings. Hutchison believes this fact, along with the numerous reviews available which discuss the use of place in video games, can be used to teach a critical understanding of place and our relationship to it.

Hutchison provides three examples of activities that can be used in a classroom. The first is a descriptive paragraph which would have students describe the setting and details of a certain level or part of a level in a video game. The second activity involves students creating a place analysis – is how the characters interact with place realistic and interesting? The last activity is creating their own video game. I found his suggestions interesting, if a little unfounded. This leads me to my one criticism - he does not provide any evidence validating the activities recommended. Feedback from teachers and students who have tried these activities would have been useful. This being said, the article interested me enough to make me want to try some of his activities myself.