Integrating games into the classroom engages, motivates, and improves learning outcomes in most cases. If you look around when you go shopping, to any event public or private and there are younger people there, you will see their faces stuck in a phone or a tablet playing games, watching a video, or surfing the internet. This brings them joy, calmness, and satisfaction. Why not capitalize on this engagement in school? A collaboration between top developers, designers, and curriculum developers in education, could change education and the transfer of knowledge and skills to our students.
According to research technology inclusion is becoming more common in early education (Danniels et al., 2020). This research postulates that the push to integrate technology into classrooms across the globe is a thrust to gain equity in education. Game-based learning is a teaching method that incorporates games to increase student achievement outcomes. Game-based learning can include digital resources as well as non-digital resources. For the sake of this blog and website, we will associate all game-based learning references with digital resources. Game-based learning gives students opportunities to develop critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and it boosts their creativity. Using game-based learning in the classroom also helps students to develop their active learning and sometimes simplifies challenging concepts. The number one benefit is that game-based learning engages and motivates students to learn through ways that bring them enjoyment.
Teachers play an extremely important role in implementing game-based learning. They serve as facilitators and coaches during gameplay. The teacher is not exempt from teaching concepts and materials, the traditional teaching methods work in conjunction with digital tools. Teachers have to have buy-in and take an active role in planning and implementation, for the technology integration to be successful in the classroom. According to a study teachers need to be educated and professional development should be offered to improve teacher beliefs and values (Salleh, 2016). You cannot simply put students on the computer, walk away and expect to maximize learning. As with traditional instruction, digital instruction has key elements that make it effective. Nousiainen et al. (2018) contend there are four competence areas in that teachers should have the training to implement game-based learning effectively, those areas are pedagogical, technological, collaborative, and creative.
On this website, I have included some of the best digital resources to support game-based learning in the classroom. These resources can be used cross-curricula and accessed for free during school and at home. The top three resources that I found, engage and motivate students the most are; starfall.com, abcya.com, and turtlediary.com. Each of these digital learning resources is free, offer various levels of learning material, the graphics are bright vibrant, and visually pleasing, and are child-centered which makes it easy to use.
Starfall was created to help struggling readers in kindergarten. Since it arrived in the digital world (2002), it has expanded its content and offers materials for up to third grade. The academic areas covered include literacy, math, music, and art. Students can easily access materials by topic or they can just explore. Starfall offers lesson plans, practice worksheets, and other resources for teachers and parents. Though most of the material is free, the site does offer additional resources for a fee. In addition to using Starfall on a computer, they have a mobile app that can be accessed on any mobile device or tablet.
Abcya’s academic resources support students in grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. This application was started in 2004 by two public school teachers who struggled to find resources to support their classrooms. They intended to gamify education. Over the years they developed more games and introduce the internet to their stand-alone application. The site offers users literacy and math games to support learning. They also offer games that support skill and strategy in these areas. The best part of this tool is that is common core aligned. Teachers can search and identify games and resources based on the common core standard. Another great feature is that it offers teachers and parents supplemental printables to accompany lessons on and offline. The application is free but does offer the premium feature for a fee.
Turtle Diary is the third resource in my top three. This online resource is dedicated to supporting students and teachers in math and literacy. In addition to math and literacy, they offer activities in art, science, geography, typing tutorials, and sports. Its audience is students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. This online tool offers over 1000 learning games and activities to enhance academic skills. In addition to the learning games, there are resources such as videos, printables, and experiments. This application aligns with the common core standards. Teachers and parents can browse its resources by standard, subject, or grade. Turtle Diary took it to the next level and provided options for teachers to create and assign tasks, make custom worksheets, manage students, create assessments, and generate progress reports. Turtle Diary is completely free. Their platform is funded through advertising, so ads pop up as you use the free version. Becoming a member (for a fee) will eliminate pop-up advertising. But if you can tolerate the pop up free is worth using.
Many more online tools can be used from early childhood to high school. Click the link below to go to my Mural page, to view more resources and collaborate with other educators who are interested in integrating technology into the classroom. Click the link below it may inspire you to use a new tool or share an idea that has worked for you. Let us help our learners achieve their highest potential!
Mural link:
https://app.mural.co/invitation/mural/yancy3546/1680527359670?sender=ua2f4c5265434059f13fd0966&key=ba2cf92e-2692-4324-9ef7-97282d9e39d9
References
ABCya! • Educational Computer Games and Apps for Kids. (n.d.). https://www.abcya.com/
Danniels, E., Pyle, A., & DeLuca, C. (2020). The role of technology in supporting classroom assessment in play-based kindergarten. Teaching and Teacher Education, 88, 102966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102966
Educational Games | Educational Games For Kids | Starfall. (n.d.).
https://www.starfall.com/
Educational Games | Educational Games For Kids | Turtle Diary. (n.d.). https://www.turtlediary.com/
Ehri, L. C. (2022). What teachers need to know and do to teach letter–sounds, phonemic awareness, word reading, and phonics. The Reading Teacher, 76(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095
MURAL. (n.d.). App.mural.co. https://app.mural.co/
Nousiainen, T., Kangas, M., Rikala, J., & Vesisenaho, M. (2018). Teacher competencies in game-based pedagogy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.04.012
Salleh, S. (2016). Examining the influence of teachers’ beliefs towards technology integration in the classroom. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 33(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijilt-10-2015-0032
According to research technology inclusion is becoming more common in early education (Danniels et al., 2020). This research postulates that the push to integrate technology into classrooms across the globe is a thrust to gain equity in education. Game-based learning is a teaching method that incorporates games to increase student achievement outcomes. Game-based learning can include digital resources as well as non-digital resources. For the sake of this blog and website, we will associate all game-based learning references with digital resources. Game-based learning gives students opportunities to develop critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and it boosts their creativity. Using game-based learning in the classroom also helps students to develop their active learning and sometimes simplifies challenging concepts. The number one benefit is that game-based learning engages and motivates students to learn through ways that bring them enjoyment.
Teachers play an extremely important role in implementing game-based learning. They serve as facilitators and coaches during gameplay. The teacher is not exempt from teaching concepts and materials, the traditional teaching methods work in conjunction with digital tools. Teachers have to have buy-in and take an active role in planning and implementation, for the technology integration to be successful in the classroom. According to a study teachers need to be educated and professional development should be offered to improve teacher beliefs and values (Salleh, 2016). You cannot simply put students on the computer, walk away and expect to maximize learning. As with traditional instruction, digital instruction has key elements that make it effective. Nousiainen et al. (2018) contend there are four competence areas in that teachers should have the training to implement game-based learning effectively, those areas are pedagogical, technological, collaborative, and creative.
On this website, I have included some of the best digital resources to support game-based learning in the classroom. These resources can be used cross-curricula and accessed for free during school and at home. The top three resources that I found, engage and motivate students the most are; starfall.com, abcya.com, and turtlediary.com. Each of these digital learning resources is free, offer various levels of learning material, the graphics are bright vibrant, and visually pleasing, and are child-centered which makes it easy to use.
Starfall was created to help struggling readers in kindergarten. Since it arrived in the digital world (2002), it has expanded its content and offers materials for up to third grade. The academic areas covered include literacy, math, music, and art. Students can easily access materials by topic or they can just explore. Starfall offers lesson plans, practice worksheets, and other resources for teachers and parents. Though most of the material is free, the site does offer additional resources for a fee. In addition to using Starfall on a computer, they have a mobile app that can be accessed on any mobile device or tablet.
Abcya’s academic resources support students in grades pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. This application was started in 2004 by two public school teachers who struggled to find resources to support their classrooms. They intended to gamify education. Over the years they developed more games and introduce the internet to their stand-alone application. The site offers users literacy and math games to support learning. They also offer games that support skill and strategy in these areas. The best part of this tool is that is common core aligned. Teachers can search and identify games and resources based on the common core standard. Another great feature is that it offers teachers and parents supplemental printables to accompany lessons on and offline. The application is free but does offer the premium feature for a fee.
Turtle Diary is the third resource in my top three. This online resource is dedicated to supporting students and teachers in math and literacy. In addition to math and literacy, they offer activities in art, science, geography, typing tutorials, and sports. Its audience is students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. This online tool offers over 1000 learning games and activities to enhance academic skills. In addition to the learning games, there are resources such as videos, printables, and experiments. This application aligns with the common core standards. Teachers and parents can browse its resources by standard, subject, or grade. Turtle Diary took it to the next level and provided options for teachers to create and assign tasks, make custom worksheets, manage students, create assessments, and generate progress reports. Turtle Diary is completely free. Their platform is funded through advertising, so ads pop up as you use the free version. Becoming a member (for a fee) will eliminate pop-up advertising. But if you can tolerate the pop up free is worth using.
Many more online tools can be used from early childhood to high school. Click the link below to go to my Mural page, to view more resources and collaborate with other educators who are interested in integrating technology into the classroom. Click the link below it may inspire you to use a new tool or share an idea that has worked for you. Let us help our learners achieve their highest potential!
Mural link:
https://app.mural.co/invitation/mural/yancy3546/1680527359670?sender=ua2f4c5265434059f13fd0966&key=ba2cf92e-2692-4324-9ef7-97282d9e39d9
References
ABCya! • Educational Computer Games and Apps for Kids. (n.d.). https://www.abcya.com/
Danniels, E., Pyle, A., & DeLuca, C. (2020). The role of technology in supporting classroom assessment in play-based kindergarten. Teaching and Teacher Education, 88, 102966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102966
Educational Games | Educational Games For Kids | Starfall. (n.d.).
https://www.starfall.com/
Educational Games | Educational Games For Kids | Turtle Diary. (n.d.). https://www.turtlediary.com/
Ehri, L. C. (2022). What teachers need to know and do to teach letter–sounds, phonemic awareness, word reading, and phonics. The Reading Teacher, 76(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2095
MURAL. (n.d.). App.mural.co. https://app.mural.co/
Nousiainen, T., Kangas, M., Rikala, J., & Vesisenaho, M. (2018). Teacher competencies in game-based pedagogy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.04.012
Salleh, S. (2016). Examining the influence of teachers’ beliefs towards technology integration in the classroom. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 33(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijilt-10-2015-0032