Drake's Island

Drake's Island is a narrative driven game, an immersive learning experience and a creative writing blog all-in-one.

Students arrive on the island as a new avatar. They are guided in their experiences by a protagonist avatar, an online, in role teacher. After initially working on orientation, movement and identity, the student avatars then explore the island searching for objects and connected extracts from literary texts, responding to the texts in an online blog (found within a treasure chest).

The narrative of the game is driven by the protagonist, a character who has travelled through many worlds and met many people before finally settling on the island. The students too will meet the protagonist's acquaintances through the texts that they read. However, the protagonist has a dark secret, one that will not only put his own life in danger, but will also threaten the survival of all who come to the island.

Utilising young people's love of narrative, videogames, social networking and blogging, Drake's Island is a new approach to engaging students and developing literacy. With a proven track record in raising attainment at an accelerated pace, and a string of awards, it is a new take on educating that is fit for the 21st Century. The Literacy SOW takes place over a ten - twelve week period with activities for both in world and normal classroom use. Students who graduate from the program can then extend their use of the island in the Advanced User Area while other cohorts are engaged with the Literacy SOW.

The Literacy SOW also incorporates rewards, cross curricular work (ICT, 3D Modelling and Citizenship) and allows provision for peer education if desired. Text extracts have been chosen from a variety of literary sources with the aim of engaging and challenging students while encouraging reading.

An emphasis has been placed on creating an interface that enables ease of use for both students and teachers.

Online and email support is also available as part of a package.

If you wish to find out more, including costs and how to purchase, please Contact us.

Click the above link to download a powerpoint presentation about the Drake's Island Project.