Elena Fedotkina

The article relevance is determined by the search for new methods of involving college and university students in patriotic education through working with the materials developed in English. In the authors’ opinion, usage of an educational computer game can be such an innovative method. The purpose of the study is to identify the particularities of using such games, approaches for deeper emotional involvement of young people in gaming activities, and to clarify the content of the stages/phases of game development. Research methods and materials include analysis of foreign and domestic scientific and methodological literature on the use of computer games for educational purposes, clarification of the content of development and integration phases, and analysis of the use of the computer game developed. The results of the study highlighted the particularities of computer games for patriotic education of Russian youth. Firstly, at the stage of initiating of a computer game development, pedagogical goals should be formulated, as they determine the genre of the game, its mechanics, the sequence of historical situations for visualization in graphic form. Secondly, patriotic messages in a computer game can be delivered by means of computer graphics. Thirdly, the authors recommend to supplement the alpha version of the educational computer game with an independent review, evaluation and certification. Finally, the study showed that the teacher during the communication with the students participating in gaming activity should follow the principles of pedagogical ethics: providing clear instructions on how to pass through the game; respect for students independence, their focus on success; providing a sound feedback and valuable comments both on the topic of the game itself, and on technical issues or assessment of cognitive activity; voluntary participation and confidentiality should be ensured as well. Under the circumstances of distance learning, such games can be a drive for young people to gain experience in using digital Internet resources, for organizing discussions in English devoted to memorable dates of the Russian history during English classes.