College Professor Requires Students to Study Portal

[Coranico]

You're joking?

Best. Homework. Evar

-SNIP-

Initially i was going to disagree and say that portal is one of the most engaging games i've played and every moment was memorable and so would not be hard to find, or even recall.

But then i thought, hang on a tick, i've played it before, portal runs in my blood. I don't think with logic, i think with portals, Valve changed me.
But this man is introducing this game to a class and asking them to study it. While he may well be onto something (GAMES ARE THE FUTURE!!!) there is a high chance that a lot of his students won't have played portal before. They may not even play games, if that is the case any assignment set for the game could be the worst thing ever to happen to them. It will either make gamers, or break people. The future of that technique could well rest on the gaming ability of a class of students.

I however would ace that class, i win, A+.

 

[Zugbop]

Firstly, epic.

When I do I often have to read the book several times over and when writing the essay, read through specific segments for quotes, themes and other writing material.

Imagine that with a video game. Granted a short video game, but that's 3-5 hours depending on your speed and many other factors.

Now imagine searching through the game for a specific moment.

It'd be bloody difficult and time consuming.

Hmm...reading a novel would likely take a lot longer than playing Portal. The time spent in-game is mostly working out puzzles, making a second run-through much quicker - you can play through the entire game in under an hour if you don't have to figure it out. Also, you can start at the beginning of any of the sections, and save points, making it easier to find a particular moment.

 

[Macgyvercas]

CLAP CLAP CLAP "a single tear and a smile" CLAP CLAP CLAP.

Same sentiments here.

Only I'm using this to illustrate.

Spoiler

I wish I went to that college.

 

[nelsonr100]

I like that portal is being included in education BUT it should be present in a more mathematical or spatial subject, not arty rubbish

 

[Therumancer]

I think they should make it so only those who have never played "Portal" are allowed to take the class, so they ummm... have no preconceived notions.

At the beginning of that section of class, the professor should come in and eat delicious cake in front of the class while they work hard, and promise when this portion of the lesson plan is done everyone will get some. Each time the class meets he should put down delicious cakes and munch on it, while making promises that everyone can have some when it's done.

Then of course predictably at the end of this part of the lesson (however many classes it takes) tell them it was all a lie and keep eating cake in front of them.

I mean after all, going by the cinematics GlaDOS did indeed have a cake, she just didn't share which makes her doubly evil.

That and anyone who says that they like pie better should automatically fail! (muhwahahahaha!)

Sadly, the above is the closest you can come to actually educating them on the game and it's treatment of delicious cake. I doubt the university would allow the professor to gas the people in class after they play the game, put them in crippling leg braces, and make them navigate a gauntlet of "SAW" and "Cube" inspired traps under the school with red and blue colored flashlights with no use given the lack of real portal gun technology. Sort of a way of getting people to understand the human condition of experiencing death traps with no hope... and well... okay, okay I'm getting crazy even for me.

Still, if some university wants to give me Tenure and a large budget to design my own classes, just let me know. I've got this great idea for a class that will use both "Battle Royale" and "Team Fortress 2" for inspiration. When done graduates will have a better understanding of insanity, sadism, and the artistic merits of blood splatters!

 

[laststandman]

I suggested this to my physics teacher at one point. I can't remember what he said, but it went along the lines of "That's not going to happen."

 

[Free Thinker]

One small step for students. One giant leap for gamers everywhere.

 

[Denamic]

Hope for the future, +3%.
It's now 9% total.

 

[The Night Shade]

Awesome i wish i had that teacher

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

CLAP CLAP CLAP "a single tear and a smile" CLAP CLAP CLAP.

The award for best teacher ever has just been awarded

My faith in humanity is now over 9000. This is the most forward thinking genius i have ever seen in the education system. Hazar! Enter the glorious new age of appreciation of games.

 

[silversnake4133]

wow, that's awesome! The only place I could ever find Portal in my school is in the game room.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Awesome sauce!

 

[BlueHighwind]

If I were a professor I'd put Ghosts n Goblins on my required reading list. And the students would have to BEAT IT. HAHA!

 

[Jamous]

He is a fantastic fantastic man.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I'm honestly not sure why some people are so concerned that potentially having to play through Portal with a more academic focus is a bad thing. In my school experience, I found that sort of focus actually made me love something I already loved even more. For example, I had to closely examine various works of Shakespeare in several different media forms (notably Hamlet). Rather than burning me out on Hamlet, I found myself enjoying it on an even deeper level than I had after simply seeing a single performance of it. The same thing happened with 1984, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Romeo and Juliet, etc.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

If there were more University's like this one... that'be fun !

 

[Jumplion]

I pray that this teacher will include "Shadow of the Collosus" in his curriculum, he would be the best teacher in the fucking WORLD if he did.

 

[Crono Maniac]

This is brilliant.

We here know that video games are a developing medium of art. Almost all art, Shakespeare, Orwell, Van Gogh, Kubrick, Mozart, and the like, are developed as a means to entertain and emotionally enrich. They serve no practical purpose, yet we are required to study them. Ergo, adding in the works of Valve, Team Ico, or Tim Schafer is no different.

If a person doesn't play video games, and is required to play Portal, it is no different than a person who doesn't often read being required to read Hamlet, or a person who rarely listens to music being required to analyze Bach. Learning the controls and solving the puzzles and learning to appreciate them is the same type of difficulty as learning to fully understand Shakespeare's writings. Once you've gained to ability to understand it, you start to appreciate its beauty. It helps that Portal is filled to the brim with artistic merit, is short, is cheap, and isn't very hard. A newbie getting into Portal will be the same as someone reading 1984. I'm not saying that Portal and 1984 have the same merit artistically, but that's because writing has had millenia to develop while video games are just getting started.

This is wonderful, and I applaud you. Not because "I wish I had a teacher who'd give me video games as homework" but because you're bringing new people into appreciating the brilliance of the art of a new medium.