​Benefits of Gaming in the Classroom

Digital ​Literacy

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-Game-based learning provides students with the opportunity to improve their digital literacy by teaching them how to use a mouse and keyboard, general internet navigation, and how to use a trackpad (Learning Lands, 2020).

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-Student gain skills such as problem solving, analytic thinking, collaboration, and creativity when playing games (Learning Lands, 2020).

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​Social and Soft Skills

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-Games can promote soft skills such as communication, team collaboration, and leadership (Learning Lands, 2020). ​

-Players often work together or compete against each other, which refines their ability to develop relationships and translates to better self-esteem, motivation and engagement (Learning Lands, 2020).​

​Benefits of Social Networking in the Classroom

​Communication Channel

-​Social media allows all users to effectively communicate. Social Media can be used as a way for students to communicate with their teachers, but also their peers and other students in different areas (Gola, 2020)

-Students become active participants rather than passive consumers of content (Gola, 2020).​

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​Research Tool

-Information is constantly flowing on social media. Students and teachers can quickly and easily find high authority research material using social media (Gola, 2020).

-Using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, teachers and students can find relevant material on any topic (Gola, 2020).

-Joining groups related to topics can also increase knowledge and be used as a research tool (Gola, 2020).

-It also provides teachers an opportunity to talk about reliable sources and how everything on the internet is not always true.​

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​Other benefits include but are not limited to: learn new digital literacy skills, improve knowledge retention, build community, become an effective member of an online community, improve student attitudes towards content, digital citizenship, global competency (University of Toronto, 2022).

​Ethical Implications

​Use for Wrong Reason

-Students are on social media and gaming all the time, but for different reasons than education, creation, and consumption. To use social media and gaming as a true digital citizen, teachers need to model and use social media and gaming in a pro-social, creative, and responsible way (Higgin, 2017).

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​Parental Consent

-It is extremely important that teachers receive parental consent when/if they start using social media in the classroom (Higgin, 2017).

-"Parental consent is assent on the part of the parent or parents of a minor child which allows the child to engage in certain activities" (McMahon, 2022).

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​Protect Students

-Don't share students' faces or names without parental consent.

-Don't make any grades, assessments, or any other part of a students educational record public to the community or to the other students.

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​Equitable Access

-Teachers need to make sure that all students have the same access to social media and gaming. If required to use at home, all students should be able to complete.

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​Safe and Acceptable Uses

​Using online applications for review

-Using websites like Blooket, Quizizz, Kahoot, etc. are great for reviewing topics in the classroom. ​

​Using Online Applications for Pre tests/ Post test

-Just like using gaming websites for review, these websites can also be used to pre assess student knowledge before beginning a unit of study. Alternatively, these websites can also be used as a way to assess after a unit of study. ​

Use for Student Projects and Creativity

-Allowing students to create and make online review games can improve their engagement and content knowledge.

-Using games like Minecraft for projects can increase student engagement substantially. ​

Sharing Information

-Teachers and students can use social media to share across platforms with peers or other students around the globe. This allows them to learn from one another​

​Gola, M. (2020, January 17). 15 benefits of using social media in education industry. Curvearro. https://www.curvearro.com/blog/15-benefits-of-using-social-media-in-education-industry/

​Higgin, T. (2017, September 19). Protecting student privacy on social media. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/protecting-student-privacy-social-media

​Learning Lands. (2020, May 4). The benefits of gaming in Education. Learning Lands. https://learn.culturalinfusion.org.au/the-benefits-of-gaming-in-education/

​McMahon , M. (2022, October 4). What is parental consent? My Law Questions. https://www.mylawquestions.com/what-is-parental-consent.htm

​University of Toronto. (2022, October 1). Teaching with social media. Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation. https://teaching.utoronto.ca/resources/teaching-with-social-media/

​References