Among the games we explored in class today, two of them stood out to me, which I will delve into down below:
- GetBadNews.com was definitely a cool concept and I loved the intention behind it. It encourages students to be wary of fake news and ensure that their information sources are trustworthy and accurate. The game is meant to expose what happens behind the scenes of fake news and teaches students what not to do. However, it could be counterintuitive for students who might learn and adopt bad habits when using the internet to potentially manipulate peers or prank friends. Moreover, the game felt quite repetitive and formulaic after a while. Once you figure out the pattern that leads to the most follower gain, it becomes relatively simple.
- The creation of Digital Escape Rooms is a fantastic activity for students. Instructors can assess collaboration and communication skills as students work collaboratively and assign themselves different roles. Digital Escape Rooms are also flexible and can be adapted to a variety of subjects, whether it be for a math lesson or a history lesson. If done correctly, this flexibility promotes student choice and independence when working on a project. Moreover, on the teacher’s end of things, Digital Escape Rooms can be a tool to facilitate differentiated learning. Instructors can design rooms that cater to the needs of each of their students. This can be especially helpful for a teacher navigating a variety of IEPs. For instance, if you decide to use a Digital Escape Room to assess your student’s understanding of a recent math unit, you may decide to create 3 versions of the escape room (easy, medium, hard) and allow your students to decide on the difficulty that best suits them. If a student feels that they are not being sufficiently challenged, they can try a harder room, and vice versa.
In our Educational Psychology class, we recently watched a video by Shelley Moore titled “The End of Average”, which explains why the notion of “average” in classrooms should not be present. She notes that a lesson should be adapted to fit the needs of a student, and not that a student should change to fit a lesson. With this in mind, I feel electronic games can allow students to set their own pace and not feel pressured to keep up with their peers.
I’ll link Shelley Moore’s video down below:
