Cooperation and Challenges Faced

In the project assigned to us, we were tasked to find an online educational game to use in the classroom. The purpose for this was to evaluate and critique the game based on how well it assists the education of young students. the class was divided into groups of three or four to work together on this assignment. The first challenge that arose, in my opinion, was getting out of my comfort zone to work with my group. We all had different ways of approaching this assignment, and we had to work together to agree on how to choose and present an online educational game. After suggesting many games, we came to a consensus. The game selected was Shot Clock, a basketball game that allows students in the 2nd and 3rd grades to practice their mathematics. The game featured different types of mathematics, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

As a student, I never realized all the work that goes into creating a rubric for any given assignment. I am used to receiving rubrics, not creating them. This part of the assignment was especially difficult for me. I must admit that I didn't help much in creating the rubric. I was glad to see, however, how my groupmates helped where I fell short. Though I wasn't able to wrap my mind around making a rubric for my game, my groupmates helped me to understand what types of things we were looking for, such as understandable instructions, easy navigationHi!, visual appeal, and the benefits of learning.

When I become a teacher, I plan on using online educational games for most, if not all, of my assignments. According to Stanford panelists, "using games such as an online educational tool provides opportunities for deeper learning" (Mackay, 2013). Many people think that gaming needs to end as soon as a child is old enough to go to school, otherwise it rots their brains. Especially in the world we live in today, games in education is "not a matter of dumbing down," it is simply a way of engaging the audience, otherwise known as students, to learn. Students get very distracted at school and can get bored and tired of listening to the same things over and over again, but this is exactly why educational games proves beneficial. With something exciting, such as shooting a basketball into the hoop of the correct answer to mathematical problem, students will want to learn instead of dreading it.

Aside from using an online educational game, my group chose to use Prezi as a way to present our findings for our project. Prezi is much more interesting than using PowerPoint or another simple presentation tool. Prezi is more interactive and visually appealing, therefore, it grabs the attention of the audience more than the usual PowerPoint.

In the end, this assignment helped me believe in the purpose of online educational games. At first, I had my doubts about the effectiveness of games in the classroom and whether or not it truly benefits the student. After completing this assignment, I am now more convinced than ever that online games, along with online tools, help the student's desire to learn by engaging their interest with interactive and fun means of learning.

References:

Mackay, R. F. (2013, March 1). Playing to learn: Panelists at Stanford discussion say using games as an educational tool provides opportunities for deeper learning. Stanford News. Retrieved from https://news.stanford.edu/2013/03/01/games-education-tool-030113/

capture1admin. (2017, June 20). 5 Reasons to use Prezi for your Presentation. Retrieved from https://www.capture1.co.uk/5-reasons-prezi/