| Summary: | In recent years studies have shown students interest in school has dropped as they mainly see the subjects being taught or their content to be irrelevant or hard to relate to. This essay explores how using computer games, specifically Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as a teaching tool can help increase students overall interest in the subject of religious education which should facilitate more learning. This essay will be focusing on the Judeo-Christian themes that can be found in the games dialogue, texts and the main missions. To accomplish this, a text analysis will be done of some of the conversations and texts in the game as well as a more thematic analysis of the main missions. The texts and conversations were collected by playing through the games main missions and taking screenshots during reading, conversations and key parts of the story. These screenshots are featured in a separate appendix. This essay follows a socio-cultural theory of learning as laid out by Lev Vygotsky and later James Wertsch. This theory argues that learning is facilitated in groups of people, and is affected by the kinds of groups that the learners are involved with. It also argues that: Everything has evolved to reach the point/form it has today. Higher mental functions come from social interactions. Human actions are transferred with tools and symbols. The computer game in this study is shown to be one such tool, and can be used to facilitate socio-cultural learning. It can also be used to overcome barriers against learning in school that the students may have picked up at home or amongst their friends by approaching them in a more familiar manner. This makes the game and others like it a good tool for teachers struggling to reach their students through a wall of disinterest.
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