On Game-Based Learning in the Classroom
Video games. The delight of children and the horrifier of mothers since the advent of the arcade in the 1970s. We are all at this point, likely familiar with at least one form of game. Perhaps you play on your phone. Perhaps you play on an Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo console. Maybe, like me, you even play old school pen and paper games like Sudoku or Solitaire.
But how, you might be asking, does this connect to education?
That question my dear reader has a very simple answer.
Get Meredith Buechi’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Through Game-based Learning!
The above YouTube video is a nice introduction to concepts of Game-Based Learning, though it is focused on corporate applications rather than education as this blog is focused on.
As an elementary school student, I remember going to the computer lab to play educational games. There was this typing game that I remember really enjoying because when you beat a level the characters from the game started singing/rapping and I found it really funny.
There was also a math game that I remember not enjoying because I was so far beyond my classmates that the game would give me harder problems, but the leader board was based on problems completed so I never got to be first place because my problems took longer to solve.
The difference between the two was that the math game was a worksheet first, but the typing game (like suggested in 5 Tips for Using Digital Games in Class) was a game first and a worksheet second.
While both of these games taught me skills and put them into practice, as was described as a core component of Game-based Learning, you need to remember that a game should also be at least some what fun to the student.
