Fostering a Love for Technology in Classrooms and at Home through Active Gaming Engagement.

Overview of the Importance of Interactivity and Engagement 

Student engagement in the classroom and at home is impactful because it reiterates key fundamentals, and through technology implementation, it can allow students to access resources from anywhere. In fact, “from kindergarten through high school, innovative educators use various aspects of game theory to promote participation and learning in their classrooms” (Lynne & Sandi, 2018, p. 66). The concept of game theory is to allow students the ability to access interactive educational games that supplement their learning and promote problem-solving and collaborative/ cooperative learning skills (Lynne & Sandi, 2018). Nearly seventy percent of students who were analyzed in one study noted that their overall motivation to learn and retain the material that was presented through a gaming lens was exponential. These students felt they were able to maintain the information longer (Chapman & Rich, 2018). Furthermore, when educators utilize gaming in their classroom, it helps students learn how to participate with peers cooperatively, fosters the students' overall social-emotional skills, and allows students the ability to take risks without the fear of failure (Nguyen, 2021). These skills are vital for students when working through real-life events. 

The ability for students to access technology-based websites also supports the independent learning (or the Personalized Learning) component that many school districts have adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are naturally driven to complete interactive and engaging activities online now more than ever. The use of various social media platforms like Google Classroom, Newsela, Scholastic for Education, Minecraft for Education, Kahoot, Nearpod, and Flocabulary enriches the curriculum and assists students. This allows students the ability to interact with topics they may not have considered before because of the way the content was originally delivered. 

This type of supportive education is fostered even more with the deployment of one-to-one student laptops and Chromebooks (Herold, 2016). Students who once could only access these supplemental resources while at their brick-and-mortar school building now have access to them at the tip of their fingertips 24/7. To go even further, many school districts have purchased publicly funded hotspots for students with socio-economic and/ or technological issues so these students can access the programs at home. This allows for the impact of technology education to be inclusive and proactive for every school system in America. 

Top Three Application Tools 

Lucid for Education — Founded in 2020 with nearly 50 million users and 10 million educational users, Lucid for Education is an interactive, user-friendly technology platform that allows students and educators to interact with one another through various diagrams, chat features, and engagement (Lucid for Education, 2022). Students who utilize Lucid for Education can access features that will allow them to collaborate, integrate information, and engage with one another (Lucid for Education, 2022). Using various templates, students can create and incorporate assignments with their classmates even if they are not on the same continent. Lucid for Education is an ideal interactive platform specifically for middle to high school students. This educational platform is available in nearly ten different languages, with more coming on board yearly (Lucid for Education, 2022). It is free to use and offers several different interactive tutorials for educators and students. This system will work on any operating system, including mobile devices. 

Nearpod — Nearpod is an interactive, user-friendly technological platform that allows students and teachers the ability to create and share lessons. Students can receive instant feedback from their teachers and peers. Students can also access several thousand pre-made lesson plans to assist in supplementing their studying. This program is free to use for educators, administrators, and students. It offers tutorials on how to create your own Nearpod lesson, utilize the Nearpod lesson for a flipped classroom, and even have students interact in real time with one another (Nearpod, 2022). Students can create their own Nearpod lessons and share these lessons with their friends and classmates (Nearpod, 2022). The limits are endless with Nearpod because students can compete in interactive gamification, watch videos, and attend lessons. Students have access to close to 10,000 interactive Nearpod pre-made lessons, with more lessons arriving daily from educators and fellow student collaborators. According to Nearpod, 2022, this program is suitable for students in K-12+. Nearpod will work on any operating system, including mobile devices, so students and educators can access this program anywhere in the world. 

Kahoot — Kahoot is an engaging and user-friendly interactive technology platform that allows students to review concepts taught in class through assessments, player-paced challenges, and ready-to-use resources (Kahoot, 2022). Teachers and students can either create their own Kahoot interactive assessment game, access one of the many thousands previously created, or have a student develop their own review game. With the use of a fun musical background during the interactive gaming session, exciting player-paced challenges, and student access to many different learning apps, Kahoot is an engaging supplemental activity for students in grades two through twelve, due to the complexity of one-to-one devices. Students and educators can access this technology through all operating systems, but it is harder to use on mobile devices. Kahoot Basic is free for students to access. 

Closing Thoughts and Reminders 

Incorporating technology into the classroom or at home is never an easy task, but it does offer numerous benefits when implemented correctly. Student engagement, comprehension, problem-solving capabilities, and collaboration are just a few of the ways technology can positively impact our students consistently. I encourage you and your student to try one of the previously discussed educational technological tools.  

Explore and have fun with each program — remember what it was like being a kid when you went to the computer lab every other day—the excitement each program brought you. Now think about how your student can use these programs or similar programs when they use technology outside of the classroom to apply and reinforce the concepts they have learned throughout their school day. 

Written by: Dr. Shauna Korn, EdD