Over the past two years, the European project “Gaming for Skills” has created multimodal material for teachers in five languages regarding the educational use of video games.
Project partners created a booklet containing various information about the educational uses of video gaming, 100 pedagogical sequences (completed lesson plans), an implementation guide for using video games in the classroom and other documents, as well as a decision-making tool to help you decide what sequences best meet your educational needs.
Almost all of the material is already available on the website, and it will be completely updated (all content will be fully available in five languages) by the end of October with the last 12 pedagogical sequences added to the already uploaded 88 sequences that you can access at the online library.
In the same way as everything good has to come to an end, so does the creation of materials for the Gaming 4 Skills project.
After the conclusion of the Gaming for Skills project, does the educational use of video games end? No, of course not!
Firstly, you can expect to have access to the full content for a long time to come. In addition, with our decision-making tool, you can easily choose the best sequence for your educational needs.
Image 1. Decision-making tool for Gaming for Skills pedagogical sequences
Aside from the material and tools we have created, here we will present you with some hints on how to find new material, paths and tools for the implementation of educational activities using video games.
By following these tips, you will also be able to gain a more comprehensive and precise understanding of the concept of video gaming in education.
Finding games
A well-known Chinese proverb says: “Give a human a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a human how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. If you know how (and where) to search to find material related to video gaming, you will have the way to “feed” yourself constantly with new resources and create new educational content.
The idea is to find a game that interests you (and you can probably use it educationally), then learn more about it and finally try to find it (the specific game or a similar one) at a reduced price or even for free.
The Gaming for Skills website offers a wide range of pedagogical sequences with various themes and games. Almost every sequence mentions similar games to use with the same sequence.
But you can also find more similar games with these that are proposed in the sequences and in that way expand the possible uses of the pedagogical sequences that we have created.
A way to do the above is to use the website: https://gameslikefinder.com/
Image 2. games Finder
Besides finding similar games, you will find curated descriptions and reviews of the games on this site.
In order to learn more about the game you found previously, you can also use https://www.gamesdatabase.org/. Here you can find manuals, videos and more interesting information about the game you chose, in order to help you decide whether or not to use it.
Image 3. The games database
You can also find more information about a game in various game portals like the one you can see here: https://www.makeuseof.com/category/games/
Image 4. MakeUseOF Portal search field.
Likewise, you can learn more about that game through videos. The best way to do this is to search for YouTube videos about a game you’re interested in to find walkthroughs, gameplay, and game mechanics.
On YouTube will also find a lot of educational channels for creating new games and new levels with various platforms. (Using keywords like these in bold).
You can see more about game development channels by accessing this website: https://tinyhydra.com/game-development-youtube-channels/ .
An interesting way to help you find not only new games and ideas, but also free video games is to install and use a “Game Browser”. One good example of these is GX Opera.
Image 5. GX Opera Browser
You can access a selection of free games by clicking on the small picture of a game controller in the upper left corner of the browser, thus staying within the “river flow” of video games.
Image 6. A detail from GX Opera browser
Finally, you can use one or more platforms to be informed about free games or offers (free games or reduced prices) made from time to time.
Table 1. Platforms to find and download games
Game Development
Maybe some of you would like to create your own video games. Game creation is a creative and innovative procedure and maybe you would like to start to learn about developing games created especially for your educational needs. It would be best to start with a game creation platform (and their tutorials) like the ones you can find below in table 2.
Table 2. Online Creation Platforms
If you would like to go further and create your own game from scratch, a good way to start is to attend online courses in a platform like the ones that are listed below.
Table 3. Online Courses for Game Development
Make sure to check out the section of the Gaming for Skills website devoted to game creation, including several video games that have been created during testing workshops.
Each recommended website, tool or platform given here is an example; using a search engine you will be able to find many more game tools and platforms that you can use to expand your knowledge and experience in the field of educational video games.
We wish you a successful and enjoyable educational video gaming road trip!
