Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of retro games as teaching materials by practicing with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in the subject "Independent Activities" at special needs schools. Game consoles are evolving day by day, and whenever the latest consoles or the latest titles are introduced, children are hooked on them. Games and study are often seen as opposites, with the implication that when children are absorbed in games, their studies are neglected. However, since games have permeated society to such an extent, if games themselves could be incorporated into classes as teaching materials, they could be effectively used to motivate children to learn and improve their motivation to learn, rather than to inhibit learning.

"Independent Activities" at special needs schools do not have specific learning content, and teachers have a lot of room for creativity and ingenuity, depending on the actual conditions of individual students. Therefore, it is thought that the kind of teaching materials used will be a major factor in determining the quality of the classes. Although many classes have been conducted and teachers' originality and ingenuity have been reported at special needs schools nationwide, there have been no cases in which retro games such as SNES were used as the main teaching materials. Therefore, in this study, we decided to conduct a class practice using SNES as the main teaching material, based on the recognition that it is possible to increase students' motivation for the class based on their actual conditions. In this study, two 17-year-old students with low vision were used in "Independent Activities" at a school for the blind to practice teaching with SNES.

Based on the content items of "Independent Activities" as indicated in the Courses of Study, we observed the students' behavior before and after the practice in terms of psychological stability, relationship formation, understanding the environment, physical movement, communication, etc. We also conducted interviews with the students after the practice. As a result, we found that retro games can be an effective teaching material for teaching the content items of "Independent Activities." In addition, we found that retro games are very effective as teaching materials to motivate students with a high interest in games, and that they can be used in other subjects such as history study. SNES used as a teaching material in this study has 1,447 titles on the market, and there is a very wide range of titles that can be selected appropriate to the actual conditions of individual students. Furthermore, it became clear that the teachers' hard work in obtaining and providing rare and valuable titles requested by students and the teachers' playing games together with students had a significant impact on improving the relationship of trust between teachers and students. On the other hand, the parents gave positive feedback such as, "They seem to enjoy participating in the classes. " "They talk about the classes at home."

Keywords:

Special Education, Independent Activities, Video Games, Teaching Materials, Motivation.