How to use mobile educational games as an educator
- Mobile Games Group
- Jun 15, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Jun 28, 2020
We live in a time where education can take place anywhere, with the help of mobile devices. Devices are accessible, portable and more convenient, than ever before. As Educators we have an incredibly vast and sometimes overwhelming amount of mobile games to chose in our classroom. As more classrooms move towards a 1:1 device ratio the possibilities are endless in the use of mobile games within the classroom.
Students are able to collaborate and challenge each other to move forward in mobile games such as platforms like Evanced kids. They use social skills and foster a sense of community in the classroom. Students will use critical thinking skills to problem solve and strategize in challenging situations. Games can become a medium in the classroom just like books to teach subjects such as calculus, art history, history and language.
We hope this page can become a starting place to incorporate some of our favourite mobile game apps into your classroom. With a rating system and checklist that allows you to filter through different ideas, choosing a game can be easier and less time consuming. These games can be inserted directly into any unit plan and topic where you see fit. Beginning may be the most challenging but once students are engaged, research shows that games can pique their deepest interests and meet the differentiated needs of all students. Further more, students can take the games home and bridge the gap between learning at school and at home.
Check out our ratings page for ideas to get started on mobile gaming in the classroom.
I read a chapter by Phoebe Chan, a Hong Kong based Applied Theatre researcher about Embodied Experiences entitled 'Fluorescent Raincoat into Yellow Umbrella: Social Responsibility Through Embodied Experience' in which she speaks about how an embodied experience can allow us to engage with ideas and material in a much deeper way. Linda, your comment reminded me of this. In a way, I suppose encountering new information whilst playing a game, and needing to apply it right away could really allow learners to absorb and understand that information more clearly. Although Chan refers to an 'embodied experience' as being one that takes place in the body, I'm curious if playing a mobile game could be seen as an extension of this…
Thanks for including the TED talk, surprised I hadn't seen it before but it places the use of games in learning in a much broader and more important shift in education. Very important in understanding an explaining the "why" for integrating games and game elements into learning.
Great TED talk to highlight the potential of games in education! I really liked the example of the Pokemon dual type attack table. It's interesting that memory retention is so much easier and longer-lasting for games!