Our district, as shown in the video, Huntsville City Schools Digital Initiative, adopted a 1:1 digital initiative in 2012. All students in grades K-2 were provided with iPads to use in the classrooms; while students in grades 3-12 were provided with laptops. Our district took a giant step in activating students' prior knowledge and experience by purchasing these technological tools. So, the teacher and I decided I would help her use these technological tools provided to activate students' interests. The first thing that came to mind when thinking of this topic was using academic games in the classroom. Just as a majority of children these days are surrounded by technology, many children have prior knowledge of and interests in gaming. The "outline" of our coaching stages is detailed below.
Not Using (0) to Beginning (1): Before I expected the teacher to begin incorporating digital gaming into her classroom, I had to help her understand the research behind this idea that gaming could be beneficial in the classroom when incorporated properly (Marzano & Simms, 2013).
Gaming does not only motivate and engage students, though. The research below indicates how technologically-based games can actually effect student achievement.
- According to Spaniel (2015), "a well-designed video game can improve learning between 7 and 40 percent over a lecture."
- Shin, Sutherland, Norris, and Soloway (2012) determined that game technology positively impacts elementary students' learning in arithmetic. The student showed that students who were provided with technology-based games outperformed students of similar abilities who were provided with paper-based games.
- Chee, Mehrota, and Liu (2013) created a web-based game, Statecraft X, to explore the effectiveness of game-based citizenship education in today's technological era. Their findings imply the exposure and implementation of their game helped students form deeper understandings of citizenship and governance.
- Katmada, Mavridis, and Tsiatsos (2014) reported that Digital Game-Based Learning (which combines digital game-based activities and educational content) is an effective instructional method for the current generation because their abilities and interests are greatly impacted by the technological world.
It is evident that research backs the use of gaming in the classroom. However, a teacher must be able to incorporate these games effectively in order for them to deem beneficial to her students. She cannot simply allow students to play free-choice games whenever they choose. There must be a set time and reason for students to be playing the games. For example, if students were practicing with fractions and decimals, the teacher may require students to play the game Puppy Pull, because these skills are actually practiced within the game. In the past, as I have shown to the teacher, I have created Padlet pages for each skill I am teaching. On that page is a variety of games students may choose from (because not all students enjoy the same games) which all provide practice on the specific skill being taught. Here is an example of a Math Padlet I created to encourage my students to play games to help them practice geometry skills.
Beginning (1) to Developing (2): The teacher must execute the gaming strategies without errors or omissions (Marzano, et al., 2013). I gave the teacher a list of educational gaming websites that could be beneficial to her instruction. Some of the sites are listed below.
- http://roomrecess.com/
- http://topsites.primarygames.com/
- http://www.funbrain.com/
- http://www.cookie.com/
- https://www.mangahigh.com/en-us/
Developing (2) to Applying (3): The teacher must monitor her students' responses to the gaming sites by watching to see if the incorporation of the gaming sites is producing the desired effect of students attaining learning goals (Marzano, et al., 2013). The teacher must gather evidence to determine whether or not the gaming is benefiting her students. If the sites are not helping, she may be incorporating them in an ineffective way, or the games may not be academically appropriate for the grade level. "The Applying (3) level is the minimum goal that teachers should aim to achieve when working on their growth-goal areas" (Marzano, et al., 2013, p. 155). Hopefully I can help the teacher move even further through the growth stages by helping her create her own educational games using sites such as Zondle. With this gaming site, the teacher can create her own educational games to meet the needs of all of her students individually.
References
Chee, Y. S., Mehrota, S., & Liu, Q. (2013). Effective game based citizenship education in the age of new media. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 11 (1). Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=gamebased+learning+in+elementary+school+pr=on&id=EJ1012864
Huntsville AL Chamber, (2012). Huntsville City Schools Digital Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KGmpx8_MiY
Katmada, A., Mavridis, A., & Tsiatsos, T. (2014). Implementing a game for supporting learning in mathematics. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 12(3), 230-242.
Marzano, R. J., & Simms, J. A. (2013). Coaching classroom instruction. Marzano Research LaboratoryL Bloomington, IN.
Petkov, M., & Rogers, G. E. (2011). Using gaming to motivate today's technology-dependent students. Journal of sTEm Teacher Education, 48(1). Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JSTE/v48n1/petkov.html
Shin, N., Sutherland, L. M., Norris, C. A., & Soloway, E. (2012). Effects of game technology on elementary student learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(4), 540-560. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01197.x
Spaniel, D. (2015). Hacking the gaming experience: The (non-virtual) reality of cybersecurity video gamification. Educause Review. Retrieved from http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2015/10/hacking-the-gaming-experience
