Aces High as a history teaching tool

[bbosen]

I'm having a BLAST using Aces High to teach my grandsons, and a group of local Boy Scouts, about World War II aviation history. Check out this YouTube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZPRsvkRaBs

[Dichotomy]

 

I'm having a blast learning more and more as time goes by. 

[MarineUS]

I'm having a blast learning more and more as time goes by. 

agreed!

[Wiley]

I'm still having trouble getting the image out of my head of little Johnny learning about history by logging into the Late War arenas.

Mom: What did you learn today, Johnny?

Johnny: Well, Mom, we were reenacting the great vulch fest between A78 and C183, where the General made sure nobody upped from the CV so we could get close, then proceeded to swarm the base before anybody could get off the ground.  Once we got the ack down, we got a bunch of kills because guys kept reupping trying to get at the CV.  It must've been tough back then, with all the friendly planes getting in the way when you're trying to kill an enemy plane on the runway.  Then, just like in the war, some bomb**** came in from the next base over and divebombed the CV in Lancs and sank it, and we had no choice but to head home.

Mom: O....kay...

Johnny:  Yeah, then some lametard in an LA7 started running me down, since I couldn't outrun him I turned around and HOed his ass.  He PMed me and started yelling about me being a HOtard and called me a bunch of names, here's a screenshot.  It's a good thing all the people in the war spoke English so they could understand each other.

Mom: ... ...*reading*... (what the heck is a 'ham doctor'?)

Johnny: So because I'd turned back and the rest of the horde had continued to run, I wound up getting gangbanged by 7 of his buddies and got shot down.  I do have a question though, which country was America allied with during the war?  Bishop, Knight, or Rook?

Mom: ...
Mom: Go outside, Johnny.

Wiley.

[Dichotomy]

 

[FLS]

Teacher: Johnny what did you learn about WW2 this weekend?

Johnny: Well I played Aces High and all the guys fighting think the Generals are stupid and the war is a waste of time and they mostly just complain a lot.

Teacher: Very good Johnny. My Grandfather fought in WW2 and he says exactly the same thing.

 

[Lusche]

 

[Wiley]

Teacher: Johnny what did you learn about WW2 this weekend?

Johnny: Well I played Aces High and all the guys fighting think the Generals are stupid and the war is a waste of time and they mostly just complain a lot.

Teacher: Very good Johnny. My Grandfather fought in WW2 and he says exactly the same thing.

 

 

Wiley.

[Chilli]

Nicely done Bosen.  Creating a mission offline with task force groups, and real time sound editing cues. 

I hope that your troop catches the bug.  Have them do some research and bring you the setup to do the next one.

Combine the reading and research required to bring history to life, show them how each step is done and pretty soon they will be trying to one up you.

This is the type of outside of the box thinking that unlike standardized testing and cookie cutter curriculums, reaches the imaginations of youth. That is what they will need to launch us all into our rightful place in global leadership.

You sir, are building leaders, not followers.  I sincerely salute you and your troop. 

[Mongoose]

I'm having a BLAST using Aces High to teach my grandsons, and a group of local Boy Scouts, about World War II aviation history.

I have gained a new respect for the pilots of WWII.  Getting bullets into another airplane is HARD.  And I don't have to deal with flying for hours and the cold at high altitudes, etc.

[Dichotomy]

methinks Mongoose will become a lifer.  Well said.  <S>

[gyrene81]

Teacher: Johnny what did you learn about WW2 this weekend?

Johnny: Well I played Aces High and all the guys fighting think the Generals are stupid and the war is a waste of time and they mostly just complain a lot.

Teacher: Very good Johnny. My Grandfather fought in WW2 and he says exactly the same thing.

 

ww2 a waste of time? no...mostly necessity

iraq and afghanistan? definately a waste of lives, time and money...

[FLS]

Did you confuse a joke with a history lesson? Seriously?

[CAP1]

Teacher: Johnny what did you learn about WW2 this weekend?

Johnny: Well I played Aces High and all the guys fighting think the Generals are stupid and the war is a waste of time and they mostly just complain a lot.

Teacher: Very good Johnny. My Grandfather fought in WW2 and he says exactly the same thing.

 

now if johnny would come into the AvA, he'd learn something. 

[Chilli]

Did you confuse a joke with a history lesson? Seriously?

FLS,

Did you watch the film?  I see no joke here, other than those humorous replies from other posters.  I have taught High School Science.  I have mentored elementary, middle school and high school males that were at risk.  The problems that these youngsters face in life will take more than a 2 dimensional textbook answer.  I have seen way too many turned into zombies, regurgitating answers to questions that will most likely be placed on a standardized test.  The cruel thing about the test, the results are aimed at evaluating the educators.  That is something that school administrators are much more capable of doing rather than a board of "know it alls" forcing their curriculum onto educators. 

My best day as an educator was any day that students had fun and were genuinely interested in learning.  A kid looking outside at a gray sky hoping to see some snow flakes, suddenly takes an interest in all the symbols and numbers and strains to recognize cloud shapes.  Do you think any of those questions were on his standardized test?  It is a much greater chance that the questions that he would have to answer would have to do with the ground that he walks over, every day and finds nothing interesting in it at all unless there is a $ dollar bill laying on it.

Back to Bosen.  He is stepping up and SHOWING some young folks that they are worth his time.     Now if this seriously were a joke, I fail to see any humor in it at all.