In the previous tab entitled, "Civic Mirror", I introduced a game-based learning program that was quite complicated. Not all GBL programs are as complicated! Some are even free. Here is an example of a free GBL program which allows students to work on spelling and word recall. It's a bit like Scrabble. Try it out yourself - it only takes a minute!
Click on the following link (and hit play!):
http://www.y8.com/games/spiderman_2_web_of_words
How did you do? Did you manage to climb a 100 foot building? What was your score? Did you manage to spell some polysyllabic words?
IF you played the game, you might have noticed a few things that are intrinsic to GBL:
- It's fun!
- Information is delivered just in time - Doc Ock threw some letters at spiderman, and you could choose to read the instructions or not.
- The difficulty level increased slowly
- Tasks are repetitive
- Skills are practiced as part of the game - no drill and kill
- Instant feedback is provided - WOW - great word
- A score is kept automatically
- Multiple attempts are encouraged
- It's self-paced
- It's SPELLING!
For example, the Civic Mirror game is quite involved and I think leads itself well to LA and Social Studies. Students need to write a lot in CM, and they do so without realizing it's LA.
Another example, and one which the literature points out is particularly strong, is the use of games in Mathematics. Games and math have always gone hand in hand, but the literature supports a particularly efficacious result when game-based learning and mathematics are combined. Check it out in the paper section! Or, play another round of Spelling Spiderman!
