Articles

ADVENTURES IN EDUCATION – MYST AS A TEACHING TOOL
Courtesy of Focus Multimedia & Games Press

A Primary School teacher from Bristol has fast become the most popular
teacher at Chew Magna Primary School following his extraordinary
use of computer games
within classes.

Tim Rylands strategically uses Myst games to support literacy and
communication skills and to facilitate whole-class discussion. He
regularly focuses his lessons around Myst Exile, due to the compounding
realism of the game as well as the fantastical elements that help
to inspire his pupils and improve their metaphorical skills.

Rylands’ innovative work
has lead to a number of achievements, such as the school being
commended for the ‘value added’ levels that is
has achieved. Rylands was also awarded the prestigious BECTA ICT
(British Educational Communications and Technology Agency – Information
and Communications Technology) in Practice Award 2005, for which
he had to demonstrate a clear understanding of the role ICT can play
in teaching as well as showing how ICT in a subject context can raise
educational standards.

The Myst brand is admired by adventure gamers worldwide for its
deep and intriguing storyline, brain-teasing puzzles, interesting
locations and beautifully rendered graphics. The compelling worlds
created within Myst never fail to immerse the user, which explains
why the transition to using Myst within schools has been so easy.

The recent acceptance of incorporating games into education revolves
around the idea that games create a degree of user engagement, which
can be usefully harnessed in an educational context. Games are believed
to provide a forum where learning arises as a result of tasks stimulated
by the games and knowledge is developed through the content of the
game.

Rylands incorporates Myst by projecting the games onto an interactive
whiteboard and then sitting amongst his pupils to watch and discuss
the content in a shared context. He focuses on developing their creative
writing skills using the games to enhance their descriptive language,
and to improve their general speaking and listening skills.

Rylands commented; “This alternative approach to literacy has
inspired the children and generated an interest in the subject. Particularly
amongst boys, using Myst has made writing ‘cool.’ I ask my pupils
to write descriptive pieces about what they’ve seen and experienced,
and even to imagine themselves within the worlds of Myst and describe
elements of the environment, for example, ‘touch the rail – what
does it feel like?’ Having played Myst outside of school I wanted
to share my experiences with the children who have benefited immensely
from the games.”

Rylands also enlarges images from Myst landscapes and asks the children
to sit in front of them and read their work out aloud. Other skills
stimulated by the use of the Myst games include problem-solving and
sequencing. The children help Rylands to complete the puzzles and
progress onto the next levels.

Rylands’ approach has clearly demonstrated the move away from ICT
being the focus of learning, where pupils have to complete major
technology focused projects to develop their ICT skills, to actually
embedding ICT into subject teaching and learning. As this trend spreads
and becomes more widely accepted, more and more games are likely
to used in an educational context.

Myst Exile, Rylands’ preferred
game, is available from Focus Multimedia for only £9.99. Focus Multimedia also publish Myst
Masterpiece Edition for £4.99 and have just released the critically acclaimed
URU: Ages Beyond Myst for a bargain £9.99. All of these titles
are available from all good retailers of PC CD-ROM software or directly
from www.fmselect.co.uk.

About BECTA
More information about BECTA – a government-funded agency that
promotes information communications technology and its use to raise
standards in education
– can be found at www.becta.org.uk.

About Focus Multimedia
Focus Multimedia is the leading PC CD-ROM budget software publisher by value
in UK retail (Source: Chart Track), specializing in high quality, affordable
PC CD-ROMs aimed at both children and adults. The Focus Essential range consists
of over 200 titles priced at £9.99 each in 9 different categories – including
Games, Lifestyle, Creativity, Knowledge and Travel. Focus Multimedia has distribution
channels into major retail outlets such as PC World, WHSmith, Staples, Game,
via the Internet through www.amazon.co.uk as well as non-traditional chains.