As an education model, game-based learning allows students to achieve the acquisitions identified in the education process by means of games. In this model, the students are active and guide the students. There are two main themes that are common in the development of educational games namely:
1 The desire to harness the motivational power of games in order to ‘making learning fun’. 2 A belief that ‘learning through doing’ in games such as simulations offers a powerful learning tool (Kirriemuir & Mcfarlane, 2004).
As a part of game based learning environments, digital educational games use digital technologies to motivate, engage and equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills in respective teaching domains. These interactive learning environments support the development of various significant skills such as strategic thinking, planning, communication, negotiation, decision-making and data-handling.
Source: https://wordwall.net/
WORDWALL
One of the most popular online platforms ( https://wordwall.net / )for organizing quizzes and fun learning activities, Wordwall allows the development of tests/games to motivate students, to teach or review topics and engage students in the classroom. Custom lessons can be prepared with Wordwall and the Community section allows users to play ready games prepared by other users as well.
How to create content:
- Create a profile. Registration is free.
- Click on the Create Activity button at the top of the page.
Pick a template. There are various options to choose from and depending on what you plan to teach, you can select one of the following: match-up, quiz, random wheel, missing word, group sort, matching pairs, unjumble, random cards, find the match, open the box, wordsearch, anagram, labeled diagram, gameshow quiz, flashcards, crossword, flip tiles and whack-a-mole among others.
Source: https://wordwall.net/
- Enter the content suitable to what you plan to teach. You can use images and audio as well. It is available in various languages. Set the theme and timer for your activity.
- Wordwall can be used to create both interactive and printable activities. Most of the templates are available in both an interactive and a printable version. Print out your activities or play on a screen. Interactives are played on any web-enabled device, like a computer, tablet, phone or interactive whiteboard. They can be played individually by students, or be teacher-led with students taking turns at the front of the class. Printables can printed out directly or downloaded as a PDF file. They can be used as a companion to the interactive or as stand-alone activities.
- You can switch templates and edit your activity later.
- You can assign the activity as homework. Click on the Share button on the activity page and select the method of sharing.
- You can also share the activity with the public on the Community page or embed it on a website.
This study explored whether WordWall improved English as Second Language (ESL) learners' vocabulary performance. The findings pointed to a significant improvement in vocabulary scores after using WordWall as a vocabulary learning supplementary tool.
Hasram, Syafiqah & M. Nasir, M. Khalid & Mohamad, Maslawati & Daud, Md Yusoff & Rahman, Mohd & Mohammad, Wan. (2021). The Effects of WordWall Online Games (WOW) on English Language Vocabulary Learning Among Year 5 Pupils. Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 11. 1059-1066. 10.17507/tpls.1109.11.
The tool is free however some features require paid subscription. The preparation requires time and equipment but there are ready products on different domains in the Community section (https://wordwall.net/community).