Where are the Games?

Managing technology in the classroom

I was in Grade 2 and Grade 4 classrooms yesterday and the eager students were awaiting their new devices and APPS. I completed some primary care and feeding orientation on how to treat these new devices and finished giving them a lesson on choosing a memorable and safe password — then we handed them out! The students dived in and configured their password and reached the desktop background. “Where are the GAMES?” asked one eager scholar. I pleasantly replied that we are not going to use these to ‘play games’ — you could hear his heart sink.

To be fair though I did ‘gamify’ the next step of the lesson. We used a popular website “Kahoot” to play a game that I used to help me determine how well students were able to navigate the keyboard and trackpad functions. There was math, geography and science all peppered into the ‘game’ that we played and we often stopped to talk about the correct answers to the quiz questions my Kahoot presented. The lesson is also designed to help the teacher see how they can take what I have seen many teachers use as ‘eduTainment’ and use it as a real learning activity. After the Kahoot we embarked on a writing project and then got into some keyboarding drills — the hunting and pecking in the room was enough to make my typing teacher cringe and run for the hills! (More on this in another blog)

“But teacher — can I download a real game?” — Sorry no. The entertainment factor of technology is addictive. So much so that real “work” software also includes gamified elements in the hopes that the developers can lure you into using their tools. Education isn’t immune to this — many of the apps have serious game elements in them to keep the young ones amused as they learn. Earn stars, and level up are all tactics used in the name of engagement. The jury is out on whether this methodology is a useful learning pedagogy. I am confident that someone can comment that they have a study that proves it isn’t, followed closely by the post of the research that shows it does — either way, I am using my ‘teacher’ senses to help prove or disprove this right in the classroom.

I advocate that NONE of these apps should be used to keep kids ‘busy’ until the teacher is ready to move on to the next lesson. The deployment of tech in the classroom should have a purpose, meaning and should be treated like any other learning objective. The primary question should always be “Does using this APP help move the student forward in their learning journey?” Screen time in the classroom is ‘precious’ learning time not to be wasted by playing another round of Bejewelled or watching that YouTube video of people smashing into walls for the 100th time. I help educators control the tech in their room. iPads only have the APPS on them that the teacher wants the students to use and we use management tools to help guide student learning on their Chromebooks. It may sound a little “Orwellian” and it invites the cries of “where are the games??” but these tools help teachers do what teachers have always been in charge of — maintaining a guided learning environment.

Where are the games? I am sure that they are on your device at home (or in your pocket!), but here in the classroom, the tech we use is here to help you learn. Sometimes they might feel like a game, and sometimes the app you are using is just a means for you to tell me a story or paint me a picture. I value the screen time you have here at school, and therefore I will choose to make sure its used wisely.

Where are the Games? was originally published in edTech-coach on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.