Innovators Ep. 7: What can kids learn from role playing games?
Tabletop role playing games have had a major resurgence in popular culture recently, and their popularity has reached new heights with new generations of players. In this episode, we invited technology and innovation teacher Morten Svenson from Hendriksholm Skole to discuss the history of classic games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, and the potential for learning these games can bring to the classroom.
Morten has over 30 years of experience with tabletop role playing games, and is still an active player to this day. As a teacher, Morten can see a clear use case for role playing games in the classroom, and is eager to implement the creativity and imaginations into a variety of subjects.
"The thing you want with students is to be able to get into a situation and understand it. If you’re a history teacher, you have the First World War - you want them to understand ‘what’s it like in a trench?’ If you read a book in Danish, 'what is this character feeling, and what is this environment like for them?' And that’s what roleplaying involves - you make an environment, and you act in that environment."
Our very own Kenneth Weiland opens the episode with a bit of his own introductory text from a role playing game where he taken the role of gamemaster, and as a fellow game afficionado, he leads the discussion with Morten. Listen to the whole episode here on our website, or on your favorite podcast app.