The objective of the educational game project was to choose and evaluate an appropriate online educational game. Initially, we were individually assigned the task of finding an online game after which we would need to share our findings with our peers. Although there were thousands of games to choose from, we were given a task to find a challenging online educational game. For this project, we were also randomly assigned a group to work with. I was placed in Group B with five other members. After showcasing our findings to our group members, we had to decide on one particular game that we would evaluate together as a group. My group and I chose the game entitled, “Math Man.”
The first part
of our group project was to create a rubric that we would use to evaluate the
game with. We decided on eight criterias and three score levels to evaluate the
game on. Coming up with these criterias and score descriptions was not an easy
task because we did not want our rubric to be too complex. After all, the game
itself was simple and straight-forward. Creating the score descriptions was
also very time consuming and needed to fit everyone’s needs. However, we were
eventually able to agree on our final criterias and appropriate descriptions through
contributions from everyone in the group.
Although my
group and I agreed that “Math Man” is a fun educational game, its academic
level may pose as a greater challenge for younger students. Being an Elementary
Education major, I would not use this game for the primary levels, Kindergarten
through third grade. Rather, its difficulty would be more appropriate for the
upper grade levels, such as fourth or fifth grade and above. There are many
ways to introduce “Math Man” to students. According to Miller (2014), “As teachers formatively
assess their students, they may find that some students didn’t quite get either
the content knowledge or 21st century skill they were focusing on. Educators
can use games as a tool to support either revisiting the material or pushing students
farther on new material.” In my classroom, I would use “Math Man” as a way for
students to review the content we have just learned, whether it is about
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or a mix of all four
components of math. Additionally, I could use this game as a pre and post
assessment in order to see growth in the student’s ability and understanding of
these math components.
Depending on the amount of
technological resources available in my classroom, I would revise an assignment
that involves the individual use of technology to a group effort assignment.
For example, “Math Man” is a game that encourages group collaboration in order
to effectively and rapidly carry out the tasks. An article written by the
Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies (2015) states that one
advantage of teamwork in classrooms is that students are “engaged in active learning, enhancing their own
learning and understanding as they help each other learn the course material.”
For our presentation, my group and I took the opportunity
to utilize Emaze as our main
presentation tool since we were not familiar with it. We were able to explore
this tool more and actually see what it has to offer. I was also able to create
simple flash cards using an online study tool called "Quizlet" and integrate it into our presentation as a warm up for the
audience. Furthermore, we used Google Sheets to create the rubric for our game.
Tools that we used to communicate with each other as we worked on the project included
emails and an app we were all familiar with called "WhatsApp." WhatsApp was most convenient for us since it allowed us
to be instantly notified and up-to-date with information concerning our project
through our cellular devices.
Technology is constantly evolving and the use of it is
globally promoted. Therefore, it is essential that teachers learn how to
incorporate technological tools, such as online educational games, in their
classrooms. Through this project, my group and I were able to utilize
technological tools to enhance our presentation. This assignment has increased
my awareness of the variety of tools available online that we can use to
improve and enhance not just our educational experiences, but our future
students’ as well. These online educational tools help provide quality
education as we are constantly adapting to an ever-growing technology-based
society.
References
Centre for Teaching
and Educational Technologies. (2015, September 21).
Advantages of Teamwork. Retrieved October 03, 2016, from
http://ctet.royalroads.ca/advantages-teamwork.
Advantages of Teamwork. Retrieved October 03, 2016, from
http://ctet.royalroads.ca/advantages-teamwork.
Miller, A. (2014,
October 08). Small, Safe Steps for Introducing Games to the
Classroom. Retrieved October 03, 2016, from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/small-safe-steps-introducing-games-
andrew-miller.
Classroom. Retrieved October 03, 2016, from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/small-safe-steps-introducing-games-
andrew-miller.
