When it comes to game-based learning, the more resources teachers have at their disposal the better. Like any other ed tech endeavor, gaming can be tricky if you're unsure of how to go about it. Luckily, there are plenty of experienced teachers out there who have tread these waters before. Many of them have been kind enough to use their hard-won experience to develop extensive classroom gaming resources for other interested educators. It's all part of sharing knowledge and building community.
Such are the three classroom gaming resources we present for you below. They're informative, exploratory, and above all, made with the teaching community in mind. If you're wanting to explore game-based learning for the first time or just need some new insights, pick any one or all of the resources below. You won't be disappointed.
The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning [PDF]
This is a definitive guide made by educators for educators. It's absolutely packed with valuable insights and information. It covers pedagogy, implementation, and assessment in detail. It's also full of practical tips for first-timers and veteran tech teachers alike.
Here's how Mindshift describes this terrific guide:
"The MindShift Guide to Digital Games and Learning started as a series of blog posts written by Jordan Shapiro with support from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the Games and Learning Publishing Council. We’ve brought together what we felt would be the most relevant highlights of Jordan’s reporting to create a dynamic, in-depth guide that answers many of the most pressing questions that educators, parents, and life-long learners have raised around using digital games for learning."
Epic Guide to Game-Based Learning
Epic is right! This one comes from one of our favorites, the Cool Cat Teacher blog hosted by Vicki Davis. It contains over 100 classroom gaming resources to help you get started, or to continue your journey.
Vicki warns us (correctly) that properly educating ourselves about gaming in the classroom is the key to success:
" ... just because an activity has points and is called a game doesn’t make it an effective game-based learning tool ... we educators need to educate ourselves on game-based learning. We should learn how to do it right. We should also learn how to avoid the pitfalls of poorly implemented game based learning."
Included in her wealth of gaming resources are posts, links, and a list of Vicki's own personal notes compiled into a nifty infographic for quick reference.
Made With Play: Game-Based Learning Resources
Made With Play is a joint effort between Edutopia and the New York City's Institute of Play. As you would expect from these two educational heavyweights, it's a game-based learning educator's dream. In an article on their website, here's how the institute describes the result of this partnership and what it means for game-based learning:
"Featuring resources developed by the Institute and our partners and field-tested by students and teachers at Quest Schools as well as other schools across the globe, Made With Play is the place to start for tried and tested ways to make learning more engaging, exciting and empowering for all students."
Explore links, articles, videos, planning and designing resources, and practically anything else you need to help you on your journey. This is easily one of the best classroom gaming resources out there.
What are some of your favorite classroom gaming resources?
