More Like Ocarina of Timeless Games.

For those of you that know me well, I'm sure you could imagine the grin on my face when I was given the task of investigating a video game for its educational value in my Teaching with Technology class. As a self-identifying "gamer", I am thrilled at the chance to impress upon the world the value that video games can have for children. From the education and literature paradigms, there are few positive commentaries on video games. Most of the discussion is devoted to the harmful and damaging effects that many believe come from playing violent video games. And while this may be the case, it is equally important, in my opinion, to recognize when and where video games provide us some value and can have a positive influence on children.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT) is widely considered by many gamers to be one of the best if not the best video game of all time. The tale follows a young hero named Link (or a name of your choosing when you start the game) in his quest to save the beautiful Princess Zelda and defeat the evil Ganondorf. Along the way, the player must overcome a series of increasingly difficult challenges in the form of temples, monsters, and the most annoying "helper" that you will ever experience in your life (HEY! LISTEN!). The intricacies of the game, the detail given to world (granted detail circa nintendo 64 in 1998) and the thought and attention that must be constantly given by the player makes it a frontrunner in the world of video games. For me to best explain the educational value of the game, I'll break it down by lessons that it taught me. Mind you these are merely single examples drawn out of a bundle of options from this adventure. (Potential SPOILERS below).

Creativity: In the very first temple that you face, you run into a number of doors and openings that are covered in spider-webs. You cannot cut them with your sword, you cannot run through them, and none of the items that you have at this moment are helpful. To get past these webs, you must pick up a stick from the room, light the stick on fire with one of the torches in the room, and then burn the web to the ground. The game doesn't give you hints or tell you what you should do; you must figure it out for yourself. This game challenges the player to think creatively to solve problems. Often times the obvious way is not the best, or even the correct way. This translates to life and the classroom quite readily. We must be able to be creative in order to help accomplish tasks and generate ideas.*

Problem Solving: The situation mentioned above involves some problem solving, but the example provided below comes a bit later in the game. After the first temple, you must sneak into the castle, past all of the guards, and talk to Princess Zelda. The patterns of the guards differ from spot to spot. Therefore the player must begin to recognize these patterns to get by without being spotted. Our classrooms and our working world are littered with problems waiting, needing to be solved. This game helps to develop that mentality and prepare the players to recognize and tackle the obstacles that they will face in life.*

Following Directions: At one point in OoT, you are offered the opportunity to take up a side quest for which you will be given a great reward. You are then tasked to deliver an item to a character in the game who in turn requests you to do the same and so on until you find yourself doing the job of the sporadic, passive aggressive and pompous mailman (seriously, he isn't that fast). In doing each task, you must recall what your delivering to who. At other points in the game as well, you are given clear instructions that you must follow in order to move forward. The applicability of this to learning in children seems obvious, but for the sake of clarity, children must do this every. single. day. Whether it is at home, on the bus, in school, at recess, or playing sports, children are given directions that they are expected to follow. This game provides an opportunity to organically discover the value of following directions and to be motivated to do so.

Patience and Dedication: Finally, the most important takeaways from LoZ OoT (too much "acronymizing"?) are patience and dedication. You cannot beat this game without developing a healthy sense of patience. OoT is challenging enough and complex enough that you will inevitably fail along the way. For some people (myself included) it takes a number of tries just to figure out the Forbidden Forest at the beginning of the game. But the game teaches you that by being patient, dedicated, and motivated, you will be rewarded in the end. These virtues are invaluable in a classroom and for learning. If you don't get something right away, staying patient and staying dedicated to the task at hand are the most important things you can do in that moment. If there are only two critical aspects learning (which certainly isn't the case) they are patience and dedication.

 

 Unless you are attacking a chicken, then it's best to avoid dedication to the task.

To be honest, I could write a novella on the benefits reaped from Ocarina of Time and a full series on the Legend of Zelda games. This blog could have just as easily have been written about A Link to the Past, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, etc. The LoZ series has always captivated me because of the value that these games have outside of pure enjoyment. They teach the player lessons that are necessary in almost every domain of life. And if this learning process can happen while the individual is having a great time, well that seems like a win-win to me.

*For those with experience in the game, I could have simply put the Water Temple down for every category and made my point.