When students are younger, their attention is set on games that attract them and that are fun. With this notion in mind, Monique Liles is advocating for teachers to use this as an advantage while listing her “top 6 gaming resources for STEM teaching.”

“Motivating students and keeping students actively engaged in lessons is becoming frequently more challenging for even the most creative teachers,” says Liles in her ESchoolNews article. “At times it can seem we’re competing with smartphones and video games for students’ undivided attention. Perhaps the best strategy is to embrace the technology and harness it for learning.”

There are many distractions that occur in a classroom and it may be heightened as technology becomes more available to students. Liles insists that instead of the students becoming distracted by games unassociated with the source material in a classroom, why not use the gaming addiction and replace those games with those geared to educational material?

The six gaming resources that Liles chose to present are from The Institute of Play and 3D Game Labs.

“The Institute of Play provides resources that teachers can use to plan and create games, and align them to curriculum and standards,” says Liles. “3D Game Labs provides an affordable platform for gamifying the classroom. Teachers can take content and create quests, badges and an online platform for students to engage with the content in fun and exciting ways.”

As for the six gaming choices given the list is as follows: Glass Labs, Cell Craft, Pandemic II, ChemGame Tutor, Ayiti The Cost of a Life and Ellen J, McHenry’s website.

The sites touch upon important topics such as organelles and cell structures, the role of viruses in the world, chemistry calculations and challenges facing other countries in the world.

Liles list is a great way for educators to start if they are considering the use of added ed-tech tools to combat apps and games that may hold little or no education value.

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Article by Navindra Persaud, Education World Contributor