Non-School Skills in a Remote Learning World
How kids like Liam (13) and Jackson (12) are forging essential future skills through online gaming — layered with the realities of remote school.
Start ExploringLiam in the living room, tablet glowing, juggling Fortnite and Zoom tabs. Upstairs, Jackson in his bedroom, laptop humming through Valorant or The Sims 4.
Saskatchewan's remote school — endless Google Classroom modules, glitchy calls on prairie ecology — drills basics like math and history.
Gaming forges "proto-political" chops: creating persistent identities across networks, like future actors managing sock puppets for influence.
The "Mask Management" Muscle
Kids wall off personas to avoid leaks — a skill for real-life adaptation.
Click a persona to explore each identity
Remote classes add a third switch — muting Zoom for games, half-listening to lessons. A notification buzz? Prioritize: submit notes or finish the match? One slip risks bans or low grades.
Push one "true self" for projects.
Iron focus, resilience, and self-control. Failure hones autonomy — no teacher oversees.
Preps for job interviews (polished persona) vs. friend chats (raw you). In politics? Compartmentalize campaigns without fracturing core identity.
Storytelling on the Fly
Crafting evolving backstories to hook others, blending empathy and improv.
Click to reveal strategy
Lurks during "independent study," posing as a noob — "Hey, how'd you make that redstone trap?" — or trader with prairie nomad lore to infiltrate servers, gathering rival intel on hoards and raids.
Click to reveal strategy
Builds sim families with "community leader" histories — brokering deals while spying, texting Liam ideas to inspire Minecraft plots. Different games, same skill: improvised fiction.
Essay prompts echo this — write a "fiction" story? Use game practice. But coercivity hits: teachers demand "show your work," forcing quick tweaks. Hundreds of chats balanced with homework during lunch under covers.
Fixate on essays and facts via lectures.
Reading reactions, endless iterations from forums. Shared schemes strengthen bonds despite separate rooms.
Seeds activist narratives or spy covers tomorrow. Levels empathy where play meets purpose, building invention while dodging check-ins.
The "Burner Mindset"
Spotting and mitigating threats in networks — proactive paranoia for security.
Links accounts across platforms
Tracks physical location & identity
Connection drops expose activity
School VPN clashes with game sessions
Family accounts reveal hidden activity
Platform tracking & behavior monitoring
Competing priorities: 5 PM deadline vs. raid? One exposure means lost puppets or "distracted" flags to parents. Screen shares for learning YouTube guides during "free time."
"Be safe online" in basic modules.
Curiosity + caution from resets and bans. No hand-holding — frustration becomes savvy.
Breeds cybersecurity instincts for net wars. Teaches shadow teamwork. Preps for data leaks toppling careers.
Gray Zones & Moral Flexibility
Weighing deception's pros and cons, exploring beyond black-and-white rules.
Drag the slider to explore the gray zone
Most gaming moments live in the gray zone — where real learning happens.
GuildWeaver builds empires through trust. ShadowStriker trolls for laughs. Leads pranks over voice, but guild trust empowers.
Joins hesitantly in Among Us sabotages or Sims manipulations. Targeting younger players stirs guilt.
"Digital citizenship" lessons warn against bullying, clashing with play's freedom. Black-and-white pledges vs. shades: skip a post for a win? Autonomy in private reflections during prairie bus rides.
"Don't lie." Clear rules, no exceptions.
Blur morals — glee from wins, guilt from betrayals. Life dispenses nuance via discussions.
Preps for politics' mazes (bend truth for goals). Builds flexibility without judgment, logging ethics from all corners.
Liam and Jackson aren't wasting time — they're forging a "networked self": adaptability, vigilance, creativity across games and Sask remote's grind.
Reading, math, basics
Trials with no safety nets, balancing pulls for true autonomy
Adult edge where cunning beats candor, amplified by brotherly code over distance
In a post-truth world, these kids simulate statecraft early.
Stagecraft is the deliberate design and control of everything the audience sees, hears, and feels in order to produce a specific interpretation of reality.
It is not the performance itself.
It is the system that makes the performance believable.