PAK!

**By Kaitlin Fisher, Pedro Barinas, and Adham Hamid**
WORKING DEFINITION: Game-based learning is an effective teaching technique used by educators--educational games not only motivate, but educate.

INTRODUCTION Games are often seen as a distraction, but we're here to show you that games are actually a great asset in the classroom. The key asset to educational games is their ability to motivate. Like Yeats once said, "education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." Educational games provide training in the skills needed to react quickly in a variety of situations--not just rote memorization. Its risk-free environment lets users experiment and actively learn as they progress through the levels. Just like any good lesson, being able to draw connections between the learning and real-life situations is a powerful asset in knowledge retention: "good game-based learningapplications can draw us into virtual environments that look and feel familiar and relevant. According to Dr. Susan Ambrose, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, this is motivational because we can quickly see and understand the connection between the learning experience and our real-life work" (Trybus 2012). In a nutshell, game-based learning an effective way to teach content and skill mastery because of its ability to create risk-free virtual environments where users can experiment and explore as a means of learning.

COMPARISON CHART



LINKS All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn. || K - 5 || Math, Spelling, Grammar, Spanish, etc. || [] || Working with child experts, developmental psychologists and educators, it produces games loved by parents and children alike. The fun educational games created by Knowledge Adventure have won many awards, including the iParenting Media Award, the Toy Man Award of Excellence and the National Parenting Seal of Approval, to name a few. || 1 - 6 || Math || [] || It is also one of the few zoos in the world that houses the giant panda. In this site kids can learn about animals through fun and visually stimulating video games that capture the imagination and reflect the quality that you come to expect from this renowned zoo. || K - 12 || Zoology || [] || your kids to solve problems and then, depending how well they do, tells them their probable brain mass or weight. In the Nintendo DS version, kids can practice, play against a friend, or get right down to business assessing their brain weight in test mode. Questions fall into five categories: Memory, Math, Identify, Think, and Analyze." || K - 12 || Math and Problem Solving || [|http//www.bigbrainacademy.com] || More great links can be found in the [|Wikipedia link page]. Time Magazine published an [|article] with a recommend list of educational games played in consoles like Wii and Playstation.
 * **SITE** || **DESCRIPTION** || **GRADES** || **SUBJECT** || **URL** ||
 * **ABCYA** || Contains free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web.
 * **Knowledge Adventure** || knowledge Adventure has been making educational games for kids for over two decades.
 * **San Diego**
 * Zoo Kids** || The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California housing over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies.
 * **Big Brain Academy** || Educational game played on the Nintendo Wii console system. According to Time Magazine"//Big// //Brain Academy// challenges

BLOGS: ​[|Teach At-Risk Students in Leadership and Language Arts with. . . World of Warcraft?] [|Game-Based Learning to Teach and Assess 21st Century Skills] [|The Role of Video Games in the English Classroom] [|Stars, Sparkles and Praise: Motivation in Kids' Apps?]

OPINION ARTICLES:
 * Articles about educational computer games:**
 * [|Are Video Games Educational?]
 * [|An "Educational" Video Game Has Taken Over My House]
 * [|Eight Ways Gaming Is Good for Your Kids]
 * [|Nine Ways To Review Games for Your Kids]
 * [|New Research Shows Video Games Stimulate Kids' Imaginations]

VIDEO LINKS
 * **Can online Gaming Be Educational?** || ** What Does Game-based Learning Offer Higher Education? ** ||
 * media type="youtube" key="kgEoG04IcOc?version=3" height="315" width="560" || media type="custom" key="21510358" ||

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES ​
 * **Changing the Game:**
 * What Happens When Video Games**
 * Enter the Classroom** || **A Learner-Centered Game-Design Approach** ||
 * [[file:Changing the Game - What Happens When Video Games Enter the Classroom.pdf]] || [[file:A Learner-Centered Game-Design Approach.pdf]] ||