Introduction
Learning takes place every day and in many ways. We sometimes find learning situations to be quite boring. Let's scour the web for some fun ways to learn while playing games!
Task
Your task is to seek out educational games and give a review of at least four games with key facts such as: the name of the game, grade level, subject, fun factor, graphic quality, and price (if any).
Give each review as if you are writing for a game review magazine and not just filling out a form.
This is a made-up game, but here are examples of the same game with the right way and wrong way to complete this assignment.
Right Way-
Galaxy Speller is a great new game from Spellbound productions! It was made for grades 3-6, but even an 8th grader can enjoy it for its retro graphics from the 1980s and the sometimes difficult spelling words. Crank up the sound so you can hear the required word and get ready to defend the world from the invasion of the Bad Spellers! The game gets harder as you move through the levels. It is a bit repetitive as you mostly spell words to fire the laser on your space ship, but I felt that it was fun to see what the next word would be and if I could spell it.
For 99 cents, it is a bargain for anyone looking to improve their spelling or just kill some time. The game is available on iOS and Android as well as on the PC.
Wrong Way-
Name: Galaxy Speller
Grade level: 3rd- 6th
Subject: English spelling
Fun Factor: Good
Graphic Quality: Fair
Price: $ 0.99
Process
Search the internet using Google, or any other search engine. Write a review of each of the games you find and give the website where you found it.
Evaluation
| Beginning 1 point |
Developing 2 points |
Qualified 3 points |
Exemplary 4 points |
Total score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correct number of games | The list contains only one game. | The list contains only two games. | The list contains only three games. | The list contains 4 games. | |
| Information about games | The information does not include all the required facts for each game | The information includes only half of the required facts about each game. | The information includes most of the required facts about each game. | The information includes all of the required facts about each game. | |
| Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Etc. | The information has so many spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors that is is unreadable. | The information has many spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. | The information has a few spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. | The information has very few spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. | |
| Creativity games presented | Games look like the first Google results. | Game selection is fairly creative. | Game selection is somewhat interesting. | Game selection looks like the best choices online. | |
| Organization | The information is not organized at all and cannot be read. | The information is not well-organized and difficult to read. | The information is organized and somewhat easy to read. | The information is well-organized and very easy to read. | |
| Total Score: | /20 |
Conclusion
Explain the benefits that simulations and games can offer to a learning experience, and the challenges associated with them. Then, examine how simulations and games can motivate learners, how they can promote thinking skills, and how you think they could be used with a JIT approach based on the literature about games and simulations that you have read for our course. Are you more likely to be motivated by training that includes an element of competition or simulates real-world application? Include the resources you found through your WebQuest that support your reasoning.