You’ve probably already encountered role-playing games (RPGs) in some way. Maybe you’re a fan of Stranger Things where you saw the main characters playing the well known Dungeons & Dragons RPG. Maybe you saw a group of people at a table using pen and paper character sheets, throwing strange dice and having fun through simple communication. Perhaps you’ve never encountered them in any way, but no need to worry. This course is designed to introduce you to the world of RPGs, with special focus on their educational aspect. You will learn how to easily create characters and develop an educational story setting for your students to interact in. You will be introduced to simple mechanics you can apply in your games to create rules. And, of course, you will get a chance to play and experience it from the student’s perspective.

Live-action role-playing games (LARP) can be considered a natural progression of the RPG. No longer are you using dice and pen and paper, nor do you need a table. You now physically embody the characters and act them out with other players. This is not a theatre play and there is no audience you need to entertain. You play for your own benefit, the same as all the other people in your game. The results can vary and quite often surprise you. Maybe you tried it in order to have fun, but ended up with a better understanding of a character you were playing or interacting with. Maybe you engaged in behaviour patterns you’re personally not used to. For instance, if you’re a person who avoids conflicts, a LARP can provide you with a safe space in which to engage in them, or teach you how to resolve them.

The concept of EduLARP has been on the rise recently. It provides an engaging and interactive learning experience. Students can proactively participate in a simulated environment where they can apply both the schoolwork they learned as well as their imagination to affect the story developing around them. It can also be used in social emotional learning where students are put in different roles in order to interact with each other and learn to cooperate and communicate to solve puzzles, mysteries, problems and other tasks. This course will let you experience participating in a LARP and show you how to apply it in your classrooms and schools. It will also provide you with plenty of resources where you can find materials to use.