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In kindergarten, games are used very often. In grammar school, they are used a lot less and tend to disappear altogether
in Junior High School.
However a game can be an interesting educational tool for all levels. In grammar school and even more in Junior High School, teachers think you can't work seriously by playing. On the other hand, some game purists believe school and games are incompatible. Children are in school to acquire knowledge, know-how and to learn behavior manners. After school, they can play at home. But when are they the most concentrated ? Is it in front of a math or grammar exercise, or in front of a video game or the last fashionable game card ? Even if video games are to be played with moderation (which is something often difficult), at least it captivates children and teenagers. They are certainly not more useful then english or mathematics and you can ask a teenager how useful video games are, when at the same time, he will ask you the same question about grammar rules. In front of a video game, a teenager can stay concentrated for hours on. And when you play board games, lots of them require patience, memory and concentration. So then why shouldn't we use games at school ? |
 
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A game can't be a lesson in itself and it must not be used as a grading system. But
it can be presented to apply new knowledge or to get more confortable with it. For a long time, there has been a big gap between board games(100% fun) and educational games. For the latter, the educational side was too often put forward and the esthetic side more or less forgotten. Many games were in black and white, with few drawings, and not many people would have wanted to buy the game just by looking at the box. By creating the games Addi Cat's and Multipli Cat's, François Petit wanted to fill in this gap : present games with an educational vocation (learning mathematical tables) while keeping the design of a "real" board game. The next games, Conju Cat's and Ortho Cat's, are on the boarder : a very educational side (recognizing french conjugation tenses and many grammar and spelling rules) and a 100% fun design. The name put aside, it is impossible to tell just by lookinbg at the box that Conju Cat's is a game on french conjugation which means educational. The design is fondamental. It is not uncommon to use games in Junior High School, but in that case you want the students to think they are really great. |
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| If you put aside the design aspect, what's left is the educational aspect. You must be able to use the games in school only if they have
a real educational purpose. Of course, playing monopoly to learn grammar rules is kind of useless. Some educational games are used by speech therapists. Some of them are often very expensive for what they are. Some others are very good but the design is too babyish to please teenagers who don't want to play with games they would call "baby games". Lets take a well thought educational game with a nice design. It can be used in the classroom after a lesson as an interactive exercise. Of course, the teacher has the possibility of changing the rules or inventing variants depending on what he wants the children to learn. And a game is an excellent tool for remedial courses. Indeed, it is useful for presenting or explaining principles or new information that hasn't been learned or mastered. Repeating 10 times the same thing the same way will only block the children who haven't understood even more. It is better to present the subject from a different angle, using something different then another text book. In that case, the game becomes a real educational tool, it is a way of discreetly reintroducing what was already seen in school. It is also a way of becoming confortable by playing and seeing if you have understood. If a student loses at one time in the game, he will notice he hasn't understood everything. And another student can explain his mistake to him. The games can also develop competition between students. Indeed, a game isn't assimilated to work but most players don't want to lose, so they have to develop their memory, their attention and their concentration. For studying after lessons, if students know about fun educational games, the teacher or the supervisor can let them play provided they do so in silence and without getting all excited, so they respect the others students working. And when students are disappointed because they have to stop playing with a game on a subject such as conjugation, then you have won. |
 
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