Learning about the past through digital play: History students and video games

This chapter examines history students' perceptions of their learning about the past through playing video games. We present a speculative design fiction that draws on data from a survey of student gamers’ perceptions of their learning about history through videogaming. We used responses to the survey to create a story that explores both what students thought that they had learnt about history through playing “historical” video games in their free time and how they thought that they had learnt it. In addition, we explore why our respondents engaged in historical gameplay and what playing such games encouraged them to do beyond the digital world. Our aim is to understand students' roles as active agents in learning about the past through virtual play rather than as passive consumers of digital products.