For this learning lab, I had to look outside of my provided links—a lot of them focused on elementary-level games. I thought I might be in a little trouble if my administrators walked in to find my kids playing games from PBSKids.
As I sought to find good games for students, I kept a few key ideas from the course in mind. First, I thought a lot about Gabe Zichermann’s Ted Talk (2014) in which he emphasized gamification and, more specifically, simulation as a means of teaching. A few of the games I will discuss are simulation-based games. Second, I considered Megan Ellis’ strategy of gamifying by incorporating the elements of gaming into her content and classroom (2014).
As I sought to find good games for students, I kept a few key ideas from the course in mind. First, I thought a lot about Gabe Zichermann’s Ted Talk (2014) in which he emphasized gamification and, more specifically, simulation as a means of teaching. A few of the games I will discuss are simulation-based games. Second, I considered Megan Ellis’ strategy of gamifying by incorporating the elements of gaming into her content and classroom (2014).
The first game I found was from the list of games suggested in the module, which was iCivic’s Newsfeed Defenders. This is a simulation game that places the player in the place of a social media moderator who has to monitor site submissions for accuracy and relevance. I chose this game because Zichermann emphasizes simulation as a means of learning. One point Zichermann made in his TedTalk was that “we don’t make failure as easy as it needs to be.” I liked that in this game, I was able to fail with minimal consequence. Surely if I continued failing, my site’s metrics would fall, but my one mistake was easily corrected and I was given appropriate feedback to fix my mistakes.
The second game I chose was a game that I found during a course I took over the summer (Advanced Online Teaching). This game is called MediaSmarts’ Allies and Aliens. In this game, students are introduced to a futuristic world in which the Earth must choose whether or not to join a confederation of planets in order to ensure it can receive aid should its water supply run out. I chose it for similar reasons to why I chose NewsFeed Defenders; it’s an interesting simulation game that allows for failure. Students are tests on their recall of the confederation’s propaganda and receive aid if they mess up. However, they must pass their recall tests in order to move on in the game. They are tasked with reading propaganda and news articles about these alien planets to decide whether it is safe for Earth to join.
The third game I chose is more of a creative exercise than a game. It is called WordMover and it is an online magnetic poetry game. Students are given a word bank, which they can refresh whenever they want. They use it to help create poems. I think this game goes along with Zichermann’s claim that creativity fuels learning. If students are being creative while playing WordMover, then any control of the language that they gain while having fun and making poems will translate into their everyday writing.
The fourth game I chose was not a simulation game; instead, it is a very simple game with great real-world impact. It’s called Factitious, and it “gamifies” the process of checking your sources. Students are given an article to read, shown the headline image, and can choose to see the source website. They then “swipe left” on fake news and “swipe right” on reliable sources. I think this goes along with Megan Ellis’ idea of adding gaming elements to content. While the site itself may not be a fancy simulation, students are still used to the swiping metric and associate it with gaming, which increases their interest in the topic.
Finally, the fifth game I felt used good gaming metrics was EReadingGames’ Orpheus the Lyrical. I use this game as an early finisher game in my secondary English classes. It has a retro-arcade feel, but requires students to answer simple figurative language questions to progress through levels. I like this game because it gives my students a lot of examples of figurative language, which they really need to see. The metrics are simple, move using the arrow keys and progress by answering questions. I do, however, think the game is best used as an introductory activity or an early finisher assignment. I would not use it as a basis for learning because it does not do much to foster creativity (Zichermann).
References
Ellis, M. (2014). Classroom gamification tips for even the non-gamer [Video file]. Retrieved, September 9, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDn5FM7aX1s
TEDxTalks. (2014, February 25). The future of creativity and innovation is gamification: Gabe Zichermann at TEDxVilnius. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZvRw71Slew&t=6s
Ellis, M. (2014). Classroom gamification tips for even the non-gamer [Video file]. Retrieved, September 9, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDn5FM7aX1s
TEDxTalks. (2014, February 25). The future of creativity and innovation is gamification: Gabe Zichermann at TEDxVilnius. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZvRw71Slew&t=6s