Utilizing Research-Based Online Math Games for Remote & Blended Learning
2020 has been a year marked by teachers who faced challenges through embracing creative innovations and connections, alternative teaching practices - and learned that Zoom was more than a PBS TV Show.
As educators seek new methods to ensure their students don’t fall behind during COVID crisis, there is special attention being paid to new ways to approach math education. Education Week’s Executive Project Editor Liana Loewus wrote in a recent article, that teachers are “ditching answer-getting math tests, which invite cheating, in favor of assessments that ask students to explain how they reached a solution, often using videos or photos. They’re turning to digital math games and apps, which experts caution are uneven in quality, to supplement instruction.”
Shayl Griffith, an assistant professor at Florida International University in Miami, concurs. As reported in a recent review paper published in the Journal of Pediatrics many of the currently available digital math games and apps haven’t been tested. Griffith notes, “School districts and even parents at home are going to be having access to programs and games that don’t have the evidence behind them yet.”
Indeed, not all math games are created equal. There is a critical need for vetted, researched-based tools - combined with formative assessment and evidence of learning.
That’s why FableVision is particularly happy to announce that we’ve done just that with the launch of FableVision Games - where we are curating a carefully-selected collection of research-based learning games that have proven efficacy. The online platform expands students’ learning experiences and supports teachers and administrators in making classrooms and remote instruction more engaging and accessible - and easier to manage with embedded, formative assessment tools.
FableVision Games is dedicated to providing classrooms with best-in-class, game-based learning, along with customized professional development to integrate the games into curricula. “For some teachers, adding game-based learning is a new experience, so we’ve developed a lot of resources to support implementation and to support formative assessment to show how these games are moving the meter,” FableVision’s CEO Paul Reynolds shares.
FableVision Co-Founder Gary Goldberger explains, “FableVision has been providing development and thought leadership around game-based learning and research for over a decade, so we’re thrilled to create a safe harbor for quality games - in a way that makes it easy for teachers to make available to their students and to provide evidence of growth while students are learning - and enjoying themselves.”
For further reading: Digital Math Games and Apps: What Works and What Doesn’t? (Education Week), Games with impact, Psychology-savvy video games address health education and social-emotional skills (American Psychology Association), and Apps As Learning Tools: A Systematic Review (Pediatrics).
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Two of the first learning math games now offered by FableVision Games:
Cyberchase Fractions Quest
Grades: 3 – 4
Blast your students’ fractions skills into Cyberspace with Cyberchase Fractions Quest, now available for classroom play. Experience the world of PBS KIDS’ popular math series Cyberchase. Third and fourth-grade students embark on an immersive journey that integrates an interactive adventure with a research-based approach to fractions contexts.
Cyberchase Fractions Quest is a result of a 2.5-year-long research project as part of the IES Department of Education SBIR program. The game also features additional professional development and game integration resources that are fully customizable to each classroom’s needs, allowing for maximum fractions learning fun and success.
Formative assessment and cumulative review are also embedded in the game through the problem sets that students encounter. In the state-of-the-art teacher dashboard, educators can track students’ progress through the four CyberSites, how they performed in mini-games (out of three stars), and scores in the formal assessment pieces of the game.
The game (complete with educator dashboard for student performance tracking) and corresponding Teacher Guide are available for purchase now on FableVision Games.
Zoombinis
Grades: 3-8
The little blue guys on a logical adventure have found a new home!
The award-winning relaunch of the classic, beloved ’90s game Logical Journey of the Zoombinis is now available for classroom use on FableVision Games. Created in partnership with TERC, a not-for-profit leader in K-12 math and science education, and the Learning Games Network, a not-for-profit game company, Zoombinis is an engaging and entertaining logic puzzle game designed to teach pattern recognition and logical thinking for middle school math.
Zoombinis uses implicit learning—learning that can’t be necessarily articulated on a test or in a question, but that manifests itself as behaviors or practices within a game. Throughout gameplay, players learn important life skills including algebraic thinking, data analysis, and theory formulation in a fun and engaging setting.
The classroom version features additional educator materials and guides, as well as tracking and assessment that allows educators to collect data as their students play Zoombinis, and—through the use of detectors—identify when players demonstrate the four fundamental practices of CT: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithm design, and abstraction as they appear within the puzzles.
The game and corresponding Teacher Guide are available for purchase now on FableVision Games.
For more information about implementing the games with your students contact us at fvgames@fablevisionlearning.com