As I was looking for new sites to write about in my blog, Ibegan to thing about the different educational games that I have utilized in myteaching career, and why students always seemed to return to them. Most of the games that I had studentsuse were related to geography, as many of the games for other topics in socialstudies were not engaging or little more than quizzes. During this past year, I took over aclassroom for a teacher on maternity leave, and I noticed that she had herstudents take incredibly difficult map quizzes, but did not have any onlinehelp listed for them. After someresearch and testing, I found a simple website that offered simple, buteffective games to help students learn the names and locations of countries forthe map quizzes. I posted links tothe games on my teacher webpage, and within days I had comments from parentswho said that their students were engaged in the game at home, and it washelping them prepare for the map quizzes. I received multiple comments from parents of students who had attentionissues that they were engaged and their scores had improved as a result ofusing the site.
Attention: While the initial website is clearlydated, once learners choose their individual level, the game begins andlearners are engaged. The sitesetup is nearly the same look as the test students will be taking, and studentsare asked to identify individual countries by name (the name of the country iseither spoken or written). If theyanswer incorrectly, the country turns red and the learner has two more attemptsto get the correct answer. Thegame moves quickly from one region to another, and the learner’s score and timeare posted in the corner of the page.
Relevance: The information and skills demonstrated in the game is set up in thealmost exact same manner as the quizzes that the students will take. When students take the quiz, they havea list of countries and geographic landmarks, and a quiz with countries andlandmarks that have numbers associated with them. Students must recognize each area based on their geographicboundaries, and then list the name of the country or geographic landmark. While the online game does not offer aquiz on geographic landmarks, the section on countries used are all on thequiz.
Confidence: The games offers multiple levels that students can choose from, andstudents can start at a level above or below what is necessary for them toprepare for the quiz. The firstlevel gives the learner the name of the country when they click on it, andhelps build confidence in their ability. As the games become more challenging, they learners can have multipletries to get the correct answer, and learners can retry individual levelsmultiple times to improve their score.
Satisfaction: Learners have the ability to choose their levels when they start, butthe game will only move them up to the next level if they score above a 90%. The levels become more challenging aslearners move up, and require different skills for each level. As learners progress, they earndifferent badges, from beginner to advanced up to expert plus, geographer, andcartographer.
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