Parents and teachers often complain about the amount of time students spend playing games on the computer. So, why not use kids' love of games to the best advantage? Age-appropriate online games can boost academic skills by keeping students focused on content. In moderation, games can be an engaging and beneficial learning tool.

Online games can be used for remediation, enrichment, or acceleration. The activities can fill a few minutes when one student is done with her work, when a lesson is completed and there's still 10 minutes left in the period, or when you're working with one group of kids and others are getting restless. Best of all, games don't require a lab full of computers. Just one classroom computer will do!

General Tips For Selecting and Using Games

• Know students' aptitudes and attitudes. If a game is too easy, students lose interest; if too difficult, they get frustrated and go off task.
• Be sure that games, as well as on-site and linked ads, are age-appropriate. Even the most educationally sound game for kindergartners is useless if it includes ads designed for more mature audiences.
• Make sure a Web site is what the industry calls "high in usability." In a recent study, The Nielsen Norman Group found that students ages 5-17 on the Web:
  • give up easily.
  • rarely scroll down "past the fold" (below what you can typically see when first opening a Web site)
  • love mouse-overs (text, graphic, or audio that is activated when you point your mouse, but click on an object on a Web page less often.
  • click ads.
  • enjoy animation.
  • like simple tools, like Google.
  • read more instructions than adults (surprise!).

Next: Selecting games for pre-school and primary students.