Advanced Virtual Studies (AVS) courses are designed for students to improve critical thinking, reading for meaning, writing across the curriculum, textual analysis, and educational technology skills. These skill sets will allow students to succeed in meeting core high school standards while preparing for the rigors of college. AVS courses require significantly more student-teacher and student-student interaction and time than a general high school course.
Each AVS course is divided into modules, each of which focuses on Common Core elements. Students will be expected to then meet additional learning standards specific to the topic. These standards may include researching, integrating research into written assignments, experiential learning, highly engaged team projects, and STEM specific labs. Students will interact with the teacher and other students via Discussion Boards, Skype sessions, Blackboard Collaborate, or other medium deemed appropriate for reaching targeted learning objectives.

Video games are an increasingly important medium in terms of national use, cultural impact and profitability. With over $30 billion in worldwide sales last year (more than motion pictures) and a rapidly growing base of mainstream users, games are a medium that needs to be examined. However, this industry, its history and the cultural practices it engenders have been seriously neglected in comparison to television and other media.
The course has been designed as a broad introduction to the medium and history of video games and the industry. It draws from a wide variety of disciplines to examine video games as aesthetic products, cultural products, economic outputs, as a policy issue, as possible sources of effects and sites of community.
The course will consist of both readings, exercises, and projects. We begin with the foundations in the first few CHAPTERS leading towards creating our first video game in later CHAPTERS and a final project at the end of the chapter.