This week’s topic was on gamification and coding in classrooms. I think that the gamification of the curriculum is an amazing way to motivate and engage students. Additionally, using games such as Minecraft or Roblox in the classroom is a good way to connect with your students (as long as you know the right lingo!). I think people underestimate the learning that can happen with games, although they do need to be effective games. A danger with using games can be that you don’t actually focus on leveraging the curriculum and instead just choose fun and cheerful games. While those can be a good way to get kids engaged and excited, it is really important to choose games that are effective and educational.

Here is a video I found about the use of games in the classroom, and although it contains a paid partnership it still has some good reasons to use games and some examples. I would love to hear others thoughts on using games in the class.

Video by Pocketful of Primary on YouTube (includes paid partnership)

I think I would want to bring in games early on into my classroom. I’m hoping to one day teach K-3 and I think that is such a great age to use games. I wonder what others think about using games in the classroom? Let me know in the comments!

Bringing in coding is another really great way to engage students. Additionally, I think having at least a passable knowledge of coding is practically essential in today’s society. Many jobs nowadays are in technology sectors and even jobs in other sectors often include some sort of technology aspect whether it is website designing, social media promotion or something more complex.

Micro:bit is a very useful resource that I was introduced to a little earlier this semester when Science Venture came into our Science Pedagogy class. I love how it is such a straightforward interface that even with no coding knowledge you can start working with it. This means that not only is it easy for students to use, it is also simple for teachers to incorporate in their classrooms. It would not take too much learning for a teaching to have a proficient understanding of the technology. Technology is often a very scary thing for teachers to bring into classrooms, usually because they are not confident with it. Therefore, having easy to use resources can make these topics more accessible which I believe is a huge benefit to students.