In this highly evolving era, we often come across new technologies every now & then. It has made its way into our daily lives. Education is no exception.
There are various current and emerging education tools, becoming a blistering topic among educators and educational institutions. Some may view gaming as interference to learning, but its role in education is way beyond one's imagination. Irrespective of any age, the introduction of educational games to kids helps increase their motivation and engagement, enhance visual skills, improve students' interaction and collaboration abilities with their peers, and apply gaming values in a real-world situation; most importantly, it improves learning.
Focusing students in high-school, solely, they are at a stage of learning where they need to take complete control of their learning to make it as effective as they can. Each has different learning capacities, different comfort zone, different career choices, etc. At this stage, rather than restricting them to textbooks, they should be allowed to widen their perspectives and look for new and reformed ways for better learning. In high school, they already look for various learning resources beyond the reach of their curriculum for better, advanced, and informed learning; educational games could be an add-on.
Here, we enlist the best educational games shaped, especially for high-school students.
Minecraft Edu
It is a game-based learning platform which promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment. Approximately educators in more than 115 countries are using Minecraft: Education Edition across the curriculum!
It has a set of tutorials and game features that brings subjects to life in Minecraft: Education Edition and supports educators in classroom management and formative assessment.
From computer science to mixed reality, Minecraft: Education Edition provides endless opportunities for exploration, storytelling, and digital learning. It also helps students build critical 21st-century skills like collaboration, creative problem solving, and digital citizenship.
RoomRecess
Developed by an elementary teacher to reinforce fundamental learning concepts in math, reading, spelling, language arts, typing, and problem-solving, RoomRecess.com comes with over 150 learning games. This platform is dedicated to providing children with free learning games that are fun and easy to fortify essential elementary students' skills and the educational process.
Since it is available at zero cost, students do not need to sign up or have an account. They can load up an activity and have fun learning online while they play!
Nanoquest
They are designed especially for 13-15-year-old students interested in nanotechnology and science. This game has two main characters going on miniaturized adventures while learning physics, chemistry, and biology.
At Nano quest, students go on a 3D adventure through the world of Nanotechnology and discover how properties change at that scale while visiting a Nano Lab and a Nano Gallery.
Nanoquest is a Discover Science and Engineering Project that offers information on Nanotechnologies and links to the curriculum. It teaches a lot more about nanotechnology and how the elements that make it up play off each other.
NASA STEM
Available for students of all ages, NASA STEM allows students to explore the moon, design a crew module, new space station, and more while sitting back at their home. With this game, they learn fascinating information about space and know what it is like to live there as they answer questions to help build a new space station.
GimKit
Created by a high school student, Gimkit is an interactive review game where students answer questions on their devices at their own pace. They get exposure to the questions multiple times to ensure mastery and earn in-game money for correct answers that they can use to buy upgrades and power-ups!
With gimkit, remote learning seems a lot more doable. It engages students and makes them curious to learn more and more. Assignments are taken care of and graded. Also, remote lesson plans with content are created in minutes.
BBC iReporter
As the name suggests, the BBC iReporter, a browser-based game is more like a journalist/reporter working in a news agency. In the game, users choose-their-own-adventure game where they experience their first day on the job on the news agency's social media team. Their goal is to investigate a breaking news story about a nationwide social media outrage and gather updates in time for four newscasts a day. They would navigate news from a variety of sources, including video chats from colleagues, messages from parents, and of course, several social media channels. Over the day, they would earn or lose points for accuracy, impact, and speed. It is a refreshingly modern way for students to learn and explore how to filter and interpret information and media during breaking news events.
BBCireporter is free and most suitable for grade 7-12.
Liyla and the Shadows of War
Liyla and shadow of war is an extraordinarily evocative and concise game; it is a 2D side-scroller offering a powerful lesson about the horrible consequences of war for families. Here, the events are based on family's war, but not specifically on Gaza's 2014 invasion by Israel, giving students' knowledge about the invasion. Liyla feels more like Limbo, featuring silhouetted figures running against a dark, monochrome war-torn background.
When it comes to games, Liyla subverts some expectations, but this works thematically. It is impossible to predict which choices lead to what, therefore, students have to rely on trial & error and memorization to sequence the correct moves that help them reach to the end. This uncertainty, however, is the whole point. Some students may find Liyla too brief to be impactful. While, for some, such a long game may be more meaningful and exciting.
Parable of the Polygons
Parable of the Polygons is an extremely interactive website game that stimulates thought and discussion around the connection between people's biases and segregation. It presents itself as an interactive blog post based on Thomas Schelling's 1971 paper Dynamic Models of Segregation. It is an academic concept that's explored here in a visual way with small, movable shapes that frown or smile, depending on how "happy" they are in their "neighbourhood." The shapes represent two different racial groups, and each interactive simulation portrays how is an individual biased, their individual choices about where they live can drive others away from diverse neighbourhoods, which can lead to more segregation.
In a nutshell, we may say, the parable of polygons has activities that engage students in active thinking about social issues like bias and segregation.
Trigonometry Minigolf
Learning trigonometry has never been more fun. This game uses correct answers to power learners' golf swing as they aim for a hole in one! When they miss an answer, the other best lets them know what they did wrong and provides another shot.
Did you find any favourite game on the list? If yes, do share in the comments.
