Using Games in the Classroom

Using Games In the

Classroom

Can using games be a way to review material or even teach new material or is it just a way to keep

them busy?

This presentation is coming from the
perspective of a high school teacher. I am
going to introduce a couple of games that
I use in my classroom and talk about the
pros and cons of using this method. I will
explain how each game works then we
will take a look at some research to see if
it backs up or negates my claim. So what
is my claim? My claim is that in this
information age which is full of students
that have a very small attention span the
use of games as a means of teaching
and/or reviewing material is imperative for
me to reach my goals as an educator.

The games that I am going to present on today
will be Gimkit and Quizzez. Both games offer
ways to assess the student’s knowledge of
material in a fun and engaging way. They also
allow me to be able to document their progress.

Pros
●

Many different game modes
such as Don’t Look Down,
Jeopardy, Fishing, Snow Ball
Fight, The Floor Is Lava and
many more.

●

Engaging

●

Fun

●

Generates reports

Cons
●

Must pay for premium features.

●

Can turn into winning the game
rather than learning the material.

●

Does not offer much
differentiation.

●

Requires student to have a
device.

GIMKIT

Quizziz

Pros
●

Can be done both synchronously or
asynchronous.

●

Can use for games but also has an
option to create slides.

●

Can imbed questions into the slides
which allows for formative
assessment.

●

Different question options allows for
differentiation.

●

Generates reports.

●

Fun

●

Engaging.

Cons
●

Must pay for premium
features.

●

Requires student to have a
device.

●

Can get redundant and
kids start to lose interest.

Multiple Select

What two games am I reviewing?

• GimKit

• Kahoot

• Quizzizz

• Quizlet

I compared the two games
that I chose but that isn’t the
primary purpose of this
presentation. My purpose is to
explore if using games in the
classroom is a valid way of
teaching? We need to look at
some data to make that
decision.

In a 2003 article titled Use of Computer and Video Games in the Classroom,
teachers completed a survey about their experience implementing games in
the classroom. Here are several of the challenges cited by these teachers:

●

“Verification that the game is suitable for learning purposes, i.e. that the
content is accurate and appropriate, is required, possibly through
recognised independent branding”

●

“More contemporary games require either new and expensive PC
hardware, or expensive (and unjustifiable) upgrades of existing
classroom PC technology.”

●

“Teachers have a lack of time to familiarize themselves with the
educational components of the game.”

While this study may be slightly dated, most of today’s teachers can relate to
these challenges.

Based on an article from May 2010 entitled “Students’ perceptions about the use
of video games in the classroom” - “ In this study, a path model to examine and
predict student acceptance of video games is proposed, and empirically tested
by involving 858 secondary school students. The results show that students’
preference for using video games in the classroom is affected directly by a
number of factors: the perceptions of students regarding the usefulness, ease of
use, learning opportunities, and personal experience with video games in
general.”

It goes onto say “The purpose of this study was twofold. Firstly, assumptions
underlying the digital natives debate about students’ immersion in video games
and their preference for digital game-based learning were tested. Secondly, a
model for explaining students’ acceptance of video games, based on the
technology acceptance model (TAM, Davis, 1989), was proposed, validated and
tested based on data gathered from 858 Flemish secondary school students.”

In the previous two slides I have provided some
research that suggests that there some inherent
obstacles when using game play in an
educational setting and some research that if a
student can see the usefulness of the game and
the game is easy to use then they have a good
experience but I want to take a deeper look at this
concept. The goal of secondary education is not
simply to have students memorize material but
also for them to learn skills. The next question I
want to research is “does game play offer an
opportunity to learn skills or is it just a way for
students to learn material and keep them
engaged in the short term?”

Image attribution flickr user gustavodevito and flickeringbrad;
How To Prepare Students For 21st Century Survival

A short answer to that question comes from looking at a test
performed by Karen Shrier at MIT.

In this research, she asked students to take part in a simulation
game to test if students could learn 21st century skills from a game.

Her conclusion was that students did actually have higher abilities
with 21st century skills after taking part in the game, showing that
students can in fact learn skills from games, not just material.

After looking over this presentation and examining the data I have provided
I am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter. Do you
think the use of game play as a means of teaching or reviewing material in
a classroom setting is a viable option or is it just a way to keep the students
engaged for the short term but they don’t learn the skills or retain the
information they need?

Resources:

Jeroen Bourgonjon, Martin Valcke, Ronald Soetaert, Tammy Schellens,
Students’ perceptions about the use of video games in the classroom,
Computers & Education, Volume 54, Issue 4,2010, Pages 1145-1156, ISSN
0360-1315, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.10.022.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131509003121)

Kirriemuir, JK, McFarlane, A, [2003] Use of Computer and Video Games in the
Classroom. Proceedings of the Level Up Digital Games Research Conference,
Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands. Available from: http://www.silversprite.com/

Schrier, K. (2006). Using augmented reality games to teach 21st century skills.
In ACM Siggraph 2006 Educators Program (pp. 15-es).