Online Educational Games and Teacher Collaboration

       At the beginning of the semester, the class was randomly dispersed into groups. Each group was given the task to evaluate an online educational game and to find a way to use it in our respective content areas. My group consisted of one special education major, one secondary major with an emphasis in English, and two elementary education majors. Our first challenge was creating a rubric. As students we have received many rubrics from our teachers throughout our educational careers, but my group members and I never had to make one ourselves. At first we tried to make a rubric from scratch, but it quickly became very stressful and we felt like we were not making any progress. With the deadline in mind, our group decided that it was easier to look for samples of online educational game rubrics and to adopt the criteria we felt would make an exemplary game.  

       Our second challenge was to find a game we could all agree on. As a group we decided to test out some games on our own time and share the ones we thought would best fit our rubric. During our next meeting we each had at least three games, but found that the games focused on different subject areas and target audiences. Due to the vast variations among the games we found it difficult to evaluate them fairly. From there we decided to find a game that focused on Language Arts for elementary students. After searching for a few hours we finally came across Word Out.

       Word Out is similar to Tetris but instead of connecting geometric shaped units to clear the game area, the player uses a minimum three of letter blocks to create meaningful words. As a special education major, I would use Word Out as a supplement to spelling lessons and a way to help students expand their vocabulary skills. TeacherVision stated (n.d.), “To develop students' vocabulary, teachers must encourage a curiosity about the meaning and use of unfamiliar words and promote the use of strategies that will help students find the meaning of unfamiliar words". As a student plays Word Out, there are incidents where the player will set down a letter block and create a word they are unfamiliar with. I would have the student write down unfamiliar words in a Vocabulary Journal and look them up in a dictionary after they have finished the game. After defining the new word I would also have the student use it in a meaningful sentence.

       According to TeachThought’s (2013) “6 Benefits of Game-Based Learning,” game based learning can help with fast strategic thinking and problem solving, and it develops hand eye coordination. Word Out challenges the player to think quickly to place the descending letter blocks in a strategic manner in order to create meaningful words so they can earn points. Using the arrow keys to create words can help students develop better hand eye coordination and fine motor skills because they would have to follow what is displayed on the screen while simultaneously controlling the game’s actions.

       While collaborating with others, open communication is the key to success for a well-executed task. Aside from e-mail our group used a Whatsapp Group Chat. By using Whatsapp, group chat members are able to send messages, see who is online, see who is typing, share media such as pictures and voice notes, and see when all members have read the sender’s message. I really liked that Whatsapp gave notice when all parties saw the sender’s message so users will not have to wait for confirmation or worry if their message was received or not. It gave the group a general idea that we were all on the same page.

       Working with three other members with different lifestyles and schedules, there were incidents where one or two members were not able to physically make it to meetings. Since all the group members had iPhones and were Mac users, we decided to use FaceTime to help us conduct our meetings. Unlike Whatsapp where it takes a while for users to respond, FaceTime allowed our members to provide instant feedback along with face-to-face interaction. This helped us resolve issues and make decisions as a group in a smooth and quick manner and allowed each member to contribute and participate while being at a different location.

       By completing this assignment I learned that there is an extremely wide variety of resources available to educators online. I was unaware of many of the educational sites we visited and if it were not for this assignment I would not have known where to look for them. I also learned that there are many ways to incorporate online educational games in any grade level or subject. I was able to collaborate with others and find a way to connect a simple game to each of our majors and was able to see how much it can benefit the students. Although games are a great way to learn different subject areas and develop new skills, I would only recommend it as a supplement to a lesson and not as a way to replace the teacher. This assignment allowed our group as future educators to get creative and use tools we were familiar with in new ways and the opportunity to use new resources. I believe that it is important for students and teachers to be aware of what resources are available and to become proficient with as many as possible because new tools, resources, and skills help provide more creativity and opportunities for growth in the classroom.

Resources:

TeachThought Staff. (2013, March 15). TeachThought. 6 basic benefits of game-based learning.   Retrieved March 06, 2016, from http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/technology/6-basic-benefits-of-game-based-learning/

 (n.d.). TeacherVision. Building vocabulary. Retrieved March 06, 2016, from https://www.teachervision.com/skill-builder/teaching-methods/48607.html?page=1