The video game I chose to explore is Executive Command on iCivics.org. This free game offers students an opportunity to be President and run the country for 4 years. It first allows you to choose an avatar out of 12 options and then you head to the Capitol to give your State of the Union address. At this time, you choose an agenda that you want to be the focal point of your term. You can choose from deficit reduction, education, energy, youth, health, and security. After this you begin your presidency. On the side there are two progress bars, one for your public approval rating and the other for your agenda. Every few seconds you receive a bill to sign or veto or a letter from other leaders around the world wanting to discuss important topics with you. Every time you sign or veto a bill or decide whether or not to meet with a particular leader yourself or send your secretary your progress bars will go up or down. There is also a clock in the corner that shows you how much time you have left in that particular year. The years go by very quickly which definitely makes you realize the stress Presidents face to achieve everything on their agenda while also doing everything you can to keep the public satisfied in such a short amount of time!
While playing Executive Command I was able to make some connections from our reading Mind/Shift Guide to Digital Games + Learning. As I was playing I kept thinking about how useful this game would have been when I was in civics class in high school. I always just thought that I was terrible at understanding anything civics related but I now realize I just did not have the right tools to help me. Shapiro says “When great teachers use the games to introduce and/or reinforce material, those games become another extremely effective classroom project or activity” (Shapiro et al., pg. 17). If I would have played this game in high school I do not think I would have felt so lost in class. I truly believe I learned more about civics playing this game than I ever did in class! Overall, I really enjoyed playing this game and look forward to continuing to discover new ways I could use it to assist my instruction in the classroom.
Shapiro, J. (n.d.). Mind/Shift Guide to Digital Games + Learning. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from https://a.s.kqed.net/pdf/news/MindShift-GuidetoDigitalGamesandLearning.pdf
Kayla's Blog 
Kayla,
As someone with a Social Studies concertation I really like the premise of this game and how it can be applied to grade levels studying different government topics. I definitley see how it can be fit into 6th grade and 8th grade content due to specifics of Democracy. I wonder if there is a way to apply different government styles?
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Hi Kayla!
I chose to play an iCivics game, as well, and I see lots of similarities between Executive Command and Counties Work. In Counties Work, I was a county executive for 4 years. I got to choose that position from a few options. Did you choose to focus your agenda on deficit reduction, education, energy, youth, health, or security? How did this impact the types of bills and letters you were sent?
In Counties Work, I also had an approval rating progress bar. I thought that this was a great way to provide feedback to me as a player on how I was doing in my position. What did you think?
I like your connection between how quickly the 4 years went in your game and how quickly it must go for presidents in real life – very true! I agree with your connection to Shapiro’s reading. I think that this game would’ve better helped me to understand the roles within the executive branch better in grade school and high school. Also, like the iCivics game I played, Executive Command seems to be a short-form game as well. It can be played and picked up quickly, but players can learn a lot from it in a short amount of time.
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