Online Educational Games and Incorporating It Into Classrooms

Online educational games can be used to provide students with extra practice on specific areas of a subject. Also, many online educational games can be used to enhance students critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. “Games offer also a secure and contextual environment that foster different skill acquisition. Basic skill level starts with eye-hand coordination skills and continues to more complex skills e.g. problem solving skills, communication and collaboration skills” (“The benefits of game-based learning”, 2016). So, in addition to enhancing critical thinking skills, students who play online educational games will also be able to communicate much better with others, and problem solving skills will be much easier for students. The purpose of this assignment was not to just find a game and play it, but to showcase the game to fellow classmates through presentation tools and evaluate it as a group for future use.
Although this assignment was assigned as a group project, Dr. Cyrus first wanted everyone in the class to look for their own educational game, then come together as a group and decide which game would be used for the presentation. Coming together as a group and selecting one game was probably the greatest challenge during this assignment because my group thought all the games that were suggested were great games, so my group had a hard time deciding what game to use for the presentation. Next, creating the rubric for the game that was selected was not that challenging because my fellow group members and I seemed to instantaneously agree on each category that was brought up during group discussion times. One factor that may contribute to the ease of the creation of the rubric was that my group members and I have seen rubrics since middle school, which made it easier for the my group to select the necessary categories for the rubric. After evaluating the game, my group members and I thought that the game was exemplary because of the critical thinking and strategic aspect of the game being the main attraction.
“Alarmy 3”, is an online strategic educational game that is gaged towards students from 2nd to 5th grade. Although this game is not directly related to no particular subject such as math, science, or reading, this game was created to teach students the importance of strategy, enhance critical thinking skills, and improve analytic skills. As a future social studies teacher, I believe that critical thinking is important when thinking about certain situations throughout history. For example, The Boston Tea Party did not just happen out of nowhere for no particular reason. Certain events in U.S History lead up to the Boston Tea Party happening and it is important for students to critically think about what events and situations happened that made the Boston Tea Party happen. Alarmy 3 is a game that I would incorporate into my classroom as certain moves in the game leads to the clock making different maneuvers while en route to the monster. After students are finished playing a level, I would ask them why they got that certain score in the game, and what would happen if they made a different move in their strategic plan. Overall, the concept of cause and effect is an important element in the game “Alarmy 3”, and incorporating this game into my classroom would strengthen my students knowledge of cause and effect, which would lead to better critical thinking skills in regards to U.S History.
For the presentation of the online game, my group members and I decided to use the online presentation tool called “Prezi”. Since Dr. Cyrus wanted the class to stray away from using powerpoint in her class, my group members and I tried out some different online presentation tools such as Google slides, and Canva. Canva was a very confusing tool to use, so my group members and I tried out Google slides, but we felt that Google slides was too dull and simple. In the end, my group members and I decided to use “Prezi” because of the different slide customizations, the many different themes it offered, and the ability to embed a video into Prezi was much easier than Google slides. Also, Prezi offered an option to make the presentation public for anyone to see, which we thought was a great feature because it would help let game become more popular.
One of the main tools my group members and I used as a means of communicating with each other was the cellphone app called “Whatsapp”. Whatsapp allowed my group members and I to communicate with each other through online text or calling when none of us were able to meet face to face. A challenge that my group members and I faced after completing the content on Prezi was finding a day to practice the presentation. Finding a free day to practice was a problem because some of my group members had a class when I was free and some of them were free when I had a class. Although my group members and I did not practice enough for the presentation, I felt that we did a good job in getting our points across to the class, but that does not mean that my group members and I should not stray away from practicing presentation because there is always room for improvement. Bill Rosenthal (2013) supports my claim by pointing out that, “Many presenters read a script silently to themselves until they’ve got it down. But it’s much better to rehearse the presentation the way you’ll deliver it—standing, aloud, and with the passion, pacing, and movement you’ll actually use” (para. 1).
Online educational games is a great tool for students to use as it allows them to practice more on certain subjects, and it enhances their critical thinking and problem solving skills, while staying engaged with the lesson. Selecting one game as a group proved to be a bit challenging because we thought that each game was too good to be left out of the presentation. My group members and I selected Prezi as our presentation tool because of the many customizable features it offers and the ability to make our presentation public for anyone to see if they need more information on the game. Although my group members and I were not able to meet that often outside of class, Whatsapp was a great tool for us to keep in touch for further discussions on our presentation. As technology usage is growing at an incredible rate, it is important to incorporate technology into schools in order for students to gain a better understanding of how to use certain tools that might be necessary in their future careers.
References
The benefits of game-based learning. (2016). Retrieved from
https://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/article/The-benefits-of
-the-game-based-learning
Rosenthal, B. (2013, June 19). The only way to prepare to give a presentation.
Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadership
forum/2013/06/19/the-only-way-to-prepare-to-give-a-presentation/#6d3

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