Gamification in Classrooms

  Gamification in classroom refers to the use of different types of games the teacher displays in class to teach content to students or check their perceptions and undestanding. A webinar entitled "How can teachers prepare games for their classrooms" hosted by Randa Mikati who is a Senior EdTech Specialist discussed three games that she implemented in classroom and found them effective. A brief review about these three games will be presented below.

 The first game she introduced was prepared and presented using Microsoft PowerPoint. She created a game related to the World Cup which was a trend in that time to attract students' attention and included some question for student groups to answer in a competition manner similar to the concept of the World Cup. I think this game would be actually useful in classrooms since the teacher can adjust the theme based on students' interests which ensures their involvement. Moreover, such a game would be presented to all students at once on a white board using a projector so groups would be competing and interacting together, team members would also be discussing answers and socializing which is better than a game completed by students' individually. This type of presenting games is also efficient due to the fact that most of the schools in our region do not include digital devices for students in class to integrate technology into learning.

 Regarding NearPod, I actually new this game previosly and I found it interesting and fun due to the variety of features availabe. However, I got to know more about it in this webinar which made me more interested in using it in my future classes. The host prepared a game where every student should choose a character and proceed to answer the questions included until the student with the highest score wins the game. This website allows teachers to create games, quizzes, videos, formative evaluations, content presentations and many more types of activities with many interesting features. It allows teachers also to track all the movements and answers of all students at the same time. NearPod is a highly effective tool as it promotes students engagement and collaboration in classroom games and activities.

 

One last tool called Genially was presented in the webinar, this was actually my favorite one so far due to the large number of different types of games that can be created within each activity chosen by the teacher. I was actually surprised by the type of games that are now available online such as escape room. The host presented a brief description on how to create an escape room activity. Such games in classroom would be really fun and enjoyable for students as well as the teacher. Those games would also ensure discussions and interactions between students instead of interacting only with the teacher.

 Overall, I liked all the presented tools and knew more about them. I actually believe that geme-based learning would be highly effective.

 
Below are some additional tools that can be used in game-based learning.

 WordWall is an effective tool also to create games for students whether to complete in class or at home. It contains a quite large number of activities that can be used to create games for students to check understanding or teach them concepts. It is colorful and has interesting designs and templates. It encourages students to participate and engage in the learning process.

 Another efficient tool is EduCandy. This tool is highly interesting for students and maily kids as it is colorful and contains animated cartoon characters that interests them. It is also challenging as it has a timer to complete the different games available which promotes more motivation and engagement for students. It stimulates thinking and collaboration among students.

 Finally, I would also like to introduce ToyTheater. It includes a large number of challenging, engaging, and collaborative games. It provides teachers with easy ways to prepare simple interesting games for their students without high effort and waste of time. It is suitable for different grade levels and can be used to be conducted online or in class.