The last decade or two has seen the rise of simulated realities and games. The education industry is no exception to this trend. Gaining more and more respect as a new and powerful means of education, sims (simulations) have become a standard way of training workers in various industries, education not the least important. In this field, researchers and teachers have tried to use games to better engage students and increase learning. However, in the end, not all games are created equal. Some are much more effective at entertaining and educating.

It is no secret to parents or teachers that games have expanded this generation of youngsters, and it is this very fact that makes educational games such a potentially powerful tool. If you’ve ever seen a child play the popular math game Math Blaster, a PC platform game where you have to complete math tasks, you probably know what I mean. Students can spend hours running through the levels trying to get ahead, while doing math!

So what qualities make a good educational game? What is it that Math Blaster does so well? What separates it from some of the less effective math games out there? Before answering the question, let’s look at some common experiences players have. All of us who have played video games know that some parts of a game can be much more fun than others. (Personally, I get really tired running around the world of Zelda in some of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series!) Well, in an educational game it’s important that the education is directly integrated into the ‘fun’ rather than the boring parts of the game. match. It is the fun parts that will be most memorable for the player. For example, consider a fictional game called “Zombie Math Shooter.” In this poorly designed game, imagine running around and shooting zombies, something most kids would probably enjoy doing for hours on end. Also imagine that, among zombies, a math question appears and you have to answer it to earn points. Well, as you could probably notice, this imaginary game does not integrate education into the entertainment of the game! The educational part is just an annoyance and is divorced from the enjoyable part of the game, not a quality educational experience. In the end, the effectiveness of a game comes down to its ability to engage students with its intended educational goals. (1) In other words, is the ‘fun’ of the game based on learning? The answer to the question also answers “Is this a quality educational game?”

There are a few different sources of quality math games. Some are neither entertaining nor educational; some just educational, but let’s look at an example or two of the successful ones. Although Math Blaster is good, this game is not available online so you have to buy it and play it from your PC. Something I recommend for students who want to improve their arithmetic. Of the various sites on the Internet, TheMathGames.com is the only one that seems to have the same mix of high-quality education and entertainment as Math Blaster. The games on this site are primarily aimed at middle and high school students trying to understand the order of operations, the meaning of a fraction, or the value of the decimal place; In the end, what sets this site apart from others on the Internet is the way in which the educational and entertainment goals are indistinguishable.