Lesson Three: Video Games and Mobile Apps as Teaching Tools and Aids

How Can I Possibly Choose Just One?

You're probably starting to think I'm a little single-minded so let's take a look at a few additional examples of lessons being enhanced with some games and apps that aren't Gone Home.

Minecraft

The game all the kids are playing (watch the video above if you're not familiar with the concept) has proven to be a huge hit in classrooms. Some of the ways that teachers have creatively hacked the game to meet educational goals include (Spoiler Alert: all kinds of amazing stuff):

Portal

If you've ever played this puzzling game before then you're probably a bit incredulous that it could be used as a teaching tool but with the help of some educationally minded game developers Portal has been tweaked to only include parts of the game that teachers might find helpful in the classroom. Intrigued? Here's a site with even more great ideas and lesson plans for you to consider.

Duolingo

I'm completely and hopelessly addicted to this game. It's my version of Candy Crush except instead of making matches I frantically try to recall my high school French skills while trying to gain more points on the leaderboard each week than my friends. One of my favorite elements about this app (which is available for android and iOS devices) is that it takes you back to the skills you've "learned" every few days and walks you through a refresher of weak areas. This then solidifies the topic more thoroughly and your recall gets better and better as you continue with the game. It was also named Apple's App of the Year so they must be doing something right.

SimCityEDU

As a kid I spent (let’s be honest) an inappropriate amount of time playing SimCity. Perfecting my town, building stadiums, adding parks, and maintaining the roads of “Erin Land” was an extremely important part of many a Saturday afternoon. These days though clever game developers are leveraging the same planning and project management capabilities, that you have to master from the original game, into new SimCity scenarios where you actually solve real world issues and problems. SimCityEDU: Pollution Challenge allows students to act as the mayor of a pre-created Sim town. As they play they can see the consequences of their decisions and actions in their quest to solve the environmental issues plaguing the city and make adjustments accordingly. Take a look at a preview:

Optional Additional Articles and Resources to Peruse

• Now Teachers Encourage Computer Games in Class

• 5 Reasons Why Schools are Embracing Video Games

  • Using The Walking Dead Video Game for Ethics Class [Note: This video is recorded in Norwegian so you'll need to turn on the english closed captioning feature to read about the lesson]

  • Educade.com is also a fantastic website to bookmark for innovative gaming/game involved lesson plans

In the next section, we'll work on one of the pieces of your final project so please start to narrow down which app or video game you might like to try.