How Should We Teach the Trail?

Clearly, students’ response to the presence of death in the Oregon Trail is something the game itself is not responsible for. However, students’ interpretations of death on the trail do underscore a potentially unsettling fact: when left to navigate the game for themselves, students, who take on the persona of the white male wagon leader, are also left to digest the experiences of “the trail” through their experience of the game. Educator Bill Bigelow quips, “[j]ust as we would not invite a stranger into our classrooms and then leave the room, we as teachers need…to equip our students to read [computer games] critically” (1).

In addition to the game, books like this one can serve as helpful teaching aids. Images courtesy of Science Blog. Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved.

Some strategies for teaching the trail successfully might include:

• Before students play the game, give historical backround, and ask them to think critically about the game's content.
• While students play the game, monitor their computer usage and ask questions about their decision-making.
• After playing the game, talk about how life on the Trail was depicted and what might be missing from the game.
• Supplement the game with other teaching tools (e.g., books and artwork about the trail).
• Create a real-life simulation of the Trail. Ask students to assume the roles of Native Americans and different pioneers (e.g., middle-aged white man, African American woman, or young child).
  

	"You had to learn responsibility on the Trail or else you would die." Karmen, junior
More Memories of the Trail