On the road to Cultural Bias: A critique of the Oregon Trail CD-ROM

This artical mainly criticized the Childhood CD-ROM the Oregon Trial. Some arguments were that it is sexually racist. Men roles were the only ones that were handled like how to cock the wagon or wether you should float it over the river. Women's roles were not touched upon. Also the articale argued that Black African American's were present but their live's weren't. When asked more about their story it was unclear what they were doing, if they were slaves, running away, or working. The goal of the Orgeon Trail was to get to the Oregon Coast and then life would be happily ever after, but what about the impact of race on living conditions? The game also failed to include what happened between settlers and Indians. White hostility was omitted and whites main goal was to stay clear of Indians. The article wants teachers to begin a dialogue developing a critical computer literacy before subjects interact with these games.

This article seemed a bit extreem for me. I think with nearly every program invented these days, people can critique it far beyond what was intended. If every detail is suppossed to be included I'm sure some projects wouldn't even be done by now. What interested me though was what the author said about the role of the teacher. He stated that the teacher should begin a dialogue developing a critical computer literacy before subjects interact with these games. I think when working with any program, students should have a background knowledge of what they are working with, why they are using it, and what implications it has. As a student I am far more interested in learning why I am using a device, what good is it doing for me. As far as the Oregon Trail goes, discussing with your students the impact it had on our country and eliminating the cultural biases would be a great tool to help implement the Oregon Trail into your classroom.