The process of teaching and learning Geography with digital city simulation games

Abstract

City simulation games are entertainment media that allow the player to build and manage an urban space in terms of resources, demands, problems and expansion of the city. However, they can have pedagogical functions when mediated by the teacher in the didactic process. Based on this, the objective of this article is to reflect theoretically about the digital games of simulation in the teaching of school geography, in the sense of its pedagogical potentialities. For this, a mapping of the academic productions related to the theme was carried out, and its characteristics are discussed as innovative didactic resources for teaching city in Geography. The results show that the use of digital games is a reality in different areas of knowledge, with growth of research since 2000. However, the teaching of geography is still incipient. In addition, it was found that the game scenarios and the simulation possibilities of different spatial arrangements allow us to understand the urban dynamics and, being problematized in the classroom, can contribute to operate different reasoning. With this, they become a good resource for the development of the student’s geographical thinking.