"That’s Your Right" is a digital drag-and-drop card game which was developed by the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics with the aim of helping students to learn and understand the Bill of Rights. Being a browser game, "That’s Your Right" can be played both on PC and Android systems.
How to play "That's Your RIght"
That’s Your Right is played with
cards and tokens with the ultimate goal of reaching a “Freedom Score” of 60
before your opponent. While all tokens represent one of the five amendments the
player may choose before the actual game begins, there are two different types
of cards: “Scenario cards”, which provide a specific, more or less realistic
scenario the player has to match with the respective amendment, and “Founder
cards”, which, under the name of one of the Founding Fathers, give the player
special abilities he/she might use to win the game (e.g. adding points to your
score or allowing you to draw new cards).
The playing field consists of a small box including the five tokens the player has deliberately or randomly chosen before the game, some free space for the tokens the player will collect throughout the game, the players’ hand cards as well as a “Freedom-meter” which indicates the players’ obtained freedom points. Each scenario card includes a blue value, which indicates the freedom points you will get for correctly matching this card with a token, and a red one, which indicates the points that will be subtracted from or (in some cases) added to your opponent’s score in the case of a correct match.
Each turn, the player has to match scenario cards with the respective tokens he/she has taken from the box and added to his personal collection before in order to make the card playable. After he/she has done so, the card can be dragged onto the board, where the player will learn whether or not the match was correct, which will either be rewarded with freedom points as well as one Founder card per match at the end of the round, or punished with the card sleeping until the next round. Furthermore, a player can also remove the opponent’s or his/her own cards from the board by correctly matching them with an amendment. Within one turn, the player is also able to click on cards on the board he/she has matched with a token before in order to obtain feedback and information on whether or not the match was correct and why.
Once the player has completed all of the possible moves, he/she presses the “End Turn” button, in which case he/she will be returned all of the spent tokens.
Each turn, the player has to match scenario cards with the respective tokens he/she has taken from the box and added to his personal collection before in order to make the card playable. After he/she has done so, the card can be dragged onto the board, where the player will learn whether or not the match was correct, which will either be rewarded with freedom points as well as one Founder card per match at the end of the round, or punished with the card sleeping until the next round. Furthermore, a player can also remove the opponent’s or his/her own cards from the board by correctly matching them with an amendment. Within one turn, the player is also able to click on cards on the board he/she has matched with a token before in order to obtain feedback and information on whether or not the match was correct and why.
Once the player has completed all of the possible moves, he/she presses the “End Turn” button, in which case he/she will be returned all of the spent tokens.
The playability of "That's Your Right"
It is not only the game’s easily comprehensible drag-and-drop principle, but also the sound and graphic design that make That’s Your Right a very playable game both for private and pedagogical use. According to Oblinger (2004: 6) there are four different types of players according to their commitment to games - just as there is more than one learner type. In that sense, games that can be successfully used in a teaching context must cater for both experienced and inexperienced players, which is most definitely the case for That’s Your Right, which, due to its digital imitation of a real-life card game neither bores the experienced players nor overwhelms the what Oblinger (2004: 6) calls “fun-seekers” and “time-killers”, i.e. the types of players that will not have any experience in gaming and will only play games for entertainment rather than for personal challenge.
Furthermore, since "That’s Your Right" allows for a relatively high degree of individualization in terms of difficulty and content, the game has an extremely high replay value. In fact, given that the game’s main purpose is teaching new content and/or allowing students to practice the newly acquired knowledge, it seems that only sufficient repetition will render "That’s Your Right" a meaningful and successful learning environment.
Moreover, even though it is secondary to the game’s purpose, the graphic and audio design of "That’s Your Right" further contribute to its playability. For instance, the use of light colours, relatively plain shapes, delightful music as well as sound-coding (i.e. using various very specific sounds for different events within the game, e.g. a specific, positive sound for correct results and a darker, more negative one for wrong matches) create a friendly, relaxing atmosphere. Subsequently, the player gets the impression – whatever the context of his playing might be – to be engaged in a fun, relaxing activity, which allows for stress-free learning to occur.
Furthermore, since "That’s Your Right" allows for a relatively high degree of individualization in terms of difficulty and content, the game has an extremely high replay value. In fact, given that the game’s main purpose is teaching new content and/or allowing students to practice the newly acquired knowledge, it seems that only sufficient repetition will render "That’s Your Right" a meaningful and successful learning environment.
Moreover, even though it is secondary to the game’s purpose, the graphic and audio design of "That’s Your Right" further contribute to its playability. For instance, the use of light colours, relatively plain shapes, delightful music as well as sound-coding (i.e. using various very specific sounds for different events within the game, e.g. a specific, positive sound for correct results and a darker, more negative one for wrong matches) create a friendly, relaxing atmosphere. Subsequently, the player gets the impression – whatever the context of his playing might be – to be engaged in a fun, relaxing activity, which allows for stress-free learning to occur.
"That's YOur RIght" As a learning environment: implications for the classroom
What qualifies "That’s Your Right" as a good or appopriate learning environment? In what ways is it suitable for learning and teaching, and what can be taught by playing this game in class?
According to Oblinger (2004: 8), games “must have useful parallels to sound pedagogy”, amongst which she mentions the seven principles individualization, feedback, active learning, motivation, social interaction, scaffolding, the transfer of knowledge into new contexts, and assessment (Oblinger 2004: 13). Furthermore, she stresses that “[o]ftentimes, students are motivated to learn material […] when it is required for successful game play – that same material might otherwise be considered tedious” (Oblinger 2004: 13). In a similar manner, Kordaki (2010: 396) states that it is for a game’s highly engaging and motivating character that they lend themselves to the introduction of new topics and concepts both in class and at home.
While it is true that most of the research on digital games in learning focuses on more complex game types that will include characters and a story line for instance, many of these concepts are, in one way or another, applicable to "That’s Your Right", which will be described below by discussing the game according to four categories based on Oblinger (2004): "That’s Your Right" as a learning environment; "That’s Your Right" as an individualized learning experience; "That’s Your Right" as a motivating learning environment; and "That’s Your Right" as an evaluative learning environment.
"That’s Your Right" as a learning environment
That’s Your Right encourages active learning as well as the transfer of existing knowledge by encouraging the discovery of a new topic (i.e. the Bill of Rights) and putting the individual amendments (the tokens) into real-life contexts (the scenario cards). In that sense, the game could be used both for playfully introducing the topic as well as for practicing with learners who are already familiar with the Bill of Rights or illustrating the theoretical amendments with practical examples.
"That’s Your Right" as an individualized learning experience
Individualization, i.e. the possibility to adapt the gameplay to the individual learner’s needs and desires, certainly is a dominant feature of "That’s Your Right". Not only does the game allow the player to choose the level of difficulty and social interaction by providing 3 difficulties (easy, normal and hard) and the possibility to play either in single- or multi-player mode, but it also allows customization of the game design by rewarding players who have watched the extra material (i.e. videos which provide further information on the individual amendments; see explanatory video below) with bonus content such as new designs for card decks, etc.
According to Oblinger (2004: 8), games “must have useful parallels to sound pedagogy”, amongst which she mentions the seven principles individualization, feedback, active learning, motivation, social interaction, scaffolding, the transfer of knowledge into new contexts, and assessment (Oblinger 2004: 13). Furthermore, she stresses that “[o]ftentimes, students are motivated to learn material […] when it is required for successful game play – that same material might otherwise be considered tedious” (Oblinger 2004: 13). In a similar manner, Kordaki (2010: 396) states that it is for a game’s highly engaging and motivating character that they lend themselves to the introduction of new topics and concepts both in class and at home.
While it is true that most of the research on digital games in learning focuses on more complex game types that will include characters and a story line for instance, many of these concepts are, in one way or another, applicable to "That’s Your Right", which will be described below by discussing the game according to four categories based on Oblinger (2004): "That’s Your Right" as a learning environment; "That’s Your Right" as an individualized learning experience; "That’s Your Right" as a motivating learning environment; and "That’s Your Right" as an evaluative learning environment.
"That’s Your Right" as a learning environment
That’s Your Right encourages active learning as well as the transfer of existing knowledge by encouraging the discovery of a new topic (i.e. the Bill of Rights) and putting the individual amendments (the tokens) into real-life contexts (the scenario cards). In that sense, the game could be used both for playfully introducing the topic as well as for practicing with learners who are already familiar with the Bill of Rights or illustrating the theoretical amendments with practical examples.
"That’s Your Right" as an individualized learning experience
Individualization, i.e. the possibility to adapt the gameplay to the individual learner’s needs and desires, certainly is a dominant feature of "That’s Your Right". Not only does the game allow the player to choose the level of difficulty and social interaction by providing 3 difficulties (easy, normal and hard) and the possibility to play either in single- or multi-player mode, but it also allows customization of the game design by rewarding players who have watched the extra material (i.e. videos which provide further information on the individual amendments; see explanatory video below) with bonus content such as new designs for card decks, etc.
Video: Extra educational content in "That's Your Right" and their suggested uses in the classroom
That’s Your Right as a motivating learning environment
This relatively high degree of possible individualization will have a direct effect on the learners’ motivation to play the game. That’s Your Right presents what Kordaki (2010: 396) calls “tedious” content in a fun and engaging way by creating a multi-sensory environment which invites learners to actively use their acquired knowledge in order to win the game as well as encourages them to learn more about the topic by rewarding additional learning with the unlocking of new contents. Furthermore, the game’s easy game play will is also engaging to players who have no or hardly any experience with digital games.
That’s Your Right as an evaluative learning environment
Given that the main purpose of That’s Your Right is to teach the Bill of Rights as well as to provide room for practice, evaluation is certainly not a central feature of That’s Your Right. In fact, while the players obtain both verbal, optical and sound-coded feedback on their performance (i.e. on a match they made), evaluative assessment, on the other hand, is hardly present in the game.
However, there are some aspects that might render That’s Your Right inappropriate to some learning contexts or must at least be taken into account when using the game in class. One of these aspects is the game’s national specificity, i.e. the fact that it was clearly designed for the use by American students who will be directly affected by the Bill of Rights in their own lives. Similarly, it is obvious that the game was designed for learners with English as a First Language, because non-native speakers might have to struggle with more advanced vocabulary items such as to increment. Nevertheless, there are still ways That’s Your Right could be used in non-American settings, which will be discussed in the next section of this critique.
That’s Your Right as a motivating learning environment
This relatively high degree of possible individualization will have a direct effect on the learners’ motivation to play the game. That’s Your Right presents what Kordaki (2010: 396) calls “tedious” content in a fun and engaging way by creating a multi-sensory environment which invites learners to actively use their acquired knowledge in order to win the game as well as encourages them to learn more about the topic by rewarding additional learning with the unlocking of new contents. Furthermore, the game’s easy game play will is also engaging to players who have no or hardly any experience with digital games.
That’s Your Right as an evaluative learning environment
Given that the main purpose of That’s Your Right is to teach the Bill of Rights as well as to provide room for practice, evaluation is certainly not a central feature of That’s Your Right. In fact, while the players obtain both verbal, optical and sound-coded feedback on their performance (i.e. on a match they made), evaluative assessment, on the other hand, is hardly present in the game.
However, there are some aspects that might render That’s Your Right inappropriate to some learning contexts or must at least be taken into account when using the game in class. One of these aspects is the game’s national specificity, i.e. the fact that it was clearly designed for the use by American students who will be directly affected by the Bill of Rights in their own lives. Similarly, it is obvious that the game was designed for learners with English as a First Language, because non-native speakers might have to struggle with more advanced vocabulary items such as to increment. Nevertheless, there are still ways That’s Your Right could be used in non-American settings, which will be discussed in the next section of this critique.
How to integrate "that's Your Right" into the classroom
As has been discussed in the above section, "That’s Your Right" might, at a first glance, seem irrelevant to non-American students. However, there are still ways in which the game could be integrated into the Austrian classroom, which will be presented below.
Integrating "That’s Your Right" into the English classroom
According to the Austrian curriculum (BMBF 2004: 4) the integration of social, cultural, civil and political aspects is (or should be) a central element in the English classroom. Thus, "That’s Your Right" could be first used after a chapter on “crime and punishment” (a topic which is extremely common in Austrian textbooks) to put the “Freedom of…”-amendments, which are also relevant for Austrians, into real-life contexts in order to illustrate their meaning to students, before letting learners explore the game on their own. After this step has been completed, the teacher could prompt a discussion by asking students which amendments they have found interesting/strange, which will most probably lead into a discussion of amendment 2, the right to bear firearms (a law that will sound strange to many European learners). After this discussion, the topic of legal firearms in the United States could be discussed by critically viewing television ads for special children’s firearms (see, for instance “My First Rifle” Advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_gJqkbPt4)
Integrating "That’s Your Right" into a transdisciplinary project (English-History)
Another important aspect that is repeatedly stressed in the Austrian curriculum is the integration of transdisciplinary projects, which could be very well conducted using "That’s Your Right" in cooperation with English and History classes, which could evenly split the in-class workload for the project to avoid losing too many classes. As a preparation, the History teacher would need to provide the learners with sufficient background on the Bill of Rights, while the English teacher would have to introduce important vocabulary linked to the topic. After this preparatory phase, there would be three lessons in which the project itself would be conducted: in the first lesson, the learners would be put into groups and be assigned a (meaningful) group of amendments that stand in relation to one another by the teacher, play the game and watch the extra videos on their assigned amendments. In the second lesson, the learners would design posters and prepare a short group presentation on their amendments, and in the third and last lesson dedicated to this project on American history and politics, the individual presentations would be held in front of the class in order to give everyone an overview about the whole Bill of Rights.
Integrating "That’s Your Right" into the English classroom
According to the Austrian curriculum (BMBF 2004: 4) the integration of social, cultural, civil and political aspects is (or should be) a central element in the English classroom. Thus, "That’s Your Right" could be first used after a chapter on “crime and punishment” (a topic which is extremely common in Austrian textbooks) to put the “Freedom of…”-amendments, which are also relevant for Austrians, into real-life contexts in order to illustrate their meaning to students, before letting learners explore the game on their own. After this step has been completed, the teacher could prompt a discussion by asking students which amendments they have found interesting/strange, which will most probably lead into a discussion of amendment 2, the right to bear firearms (a law that will sound strange to many European learners). After this discussion, the topic of legal firearms in the United States could be discussed by critically viewing television ads for special children’s firearms (see, for instance “My First Rifle” Advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_gJqkbPt4)
Integrating "That’s Your Right" into a transdisciplinary project (English-History)
Another important aspect that is repeatedly stressed in the Austrian curriculum is the integration of transdisciplinary projects, which could be very well conducted using "That’s Your Right" in cooperation with English and History classes, which could evenly split the in-class workload for the project to avoid losing too many classes. As a preparation, the History teacher would need to provide the learners with sufficient background on the Bill of Rights, while the English teacher would have to introduce important vocabulary linked to the topic. After this preparatory phase, there would be three lessons in which the project itself would be conducted: in the first lesson, the learners would be put into groups and be assigned a (meaningful) group of amendments that stand in relation to one another by the teacher, play the game and watch the extra videos on their assigned amendments. In the second lesson, the learners would design posters and prepare a short group presentation on their amendments, and in the third and last lesson dedicated to this project on American history and politics, the individual presentations would be held in front of the class in order to give everyone an overview about the whole Bill of Rights.
final remarks
We hope we were able to provide you with a basic idea of how and why to integrate the online game “That’s Your Right” into the classroom. Should you have any further questions or remarks to make, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Iris Paur Philipp Thar
iris@paur.at p.thar@gmx.net
Iris Paur Philipp Thar
iris@paur.at p.thar@gmx.net
bibliography
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Frauen. 2004. Lehrplan für Lebende Fremdsprachen (Erste, Zweite). online: https://www.bmbf.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/lp/lp_ahs_oberstufe.html (18.04.2015)
Kordaki, Maria. 2010. „A computer card game for the learning of basic aspects of the binary system in primary education: Design and pilot evaluation”. Education and Information Technologies 16(4), 395-421.
Oblinger, Diana. 2004. “The Next Generation of Educational Engagement”. Journal of Interactive Media in Education (8), 1-18. online: www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/8 (18.04.2015)
That’s Your Right! 2014. The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics.
Kordaki, Maria. 2010. „A computer card game for the learning of basic aspects of the binary system in primary education: Design and pilot evaluation”. Education and Information Technologies 16(4), 395-421.
Oblinger, Diana. 2004. “The Next Generation of Educational Engagement”. Journal of Interactive Media in Education (8), 1-18. online: www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/8 (18.04.2015)
That’s Your Right! 2014. The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics.
