GOAL METHODOLOGY

Games for Active learning methodology MetMethodology

What is Active Learning?

Active learning is a process whereby learners engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving, instead of sitting quietly and listening. Active learning is the opposite of passive learning, and it is much more effective. It promotes active participation from the child in their own education. This means the child will be involved in the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content to ensure better outcomes in the future. For example, the child will come to understand which methods of learning they enjoy most, and which methods they are most challenged by. Using this, the child can adjust their approach and openly discuss their preferred methods of learning. Going forward, teachers and practitioners can mould their teaching to be more effective for the student.

Games for Active Learning

Playing is not something children do between learning activities, playing IS the learning activity! Games are an important part of active learning because the level of engagement is led by the child. With this kind of active participation, the child makes discoveries about all kinds of concepts which they can apply to other scenarios and develop their skills.

Because games are interactive unlike books or movies that involve more passive consumption they may also encourage students to explore new topics and approaches to learning that they otherwise would not consider.

Games encourage players to collaborate effectively in teams—a building block for creating strong relationships and skills like cooperation that will be valuable as they progress through school and life

How do you use games in class?

Games can be used in every school subject. They can be introduced either at the beginning of the lesson to introduce a new topic, in the middle of the lesson to practise the new knowledge or skills or at the end as evaluation of the lesson. It is necessary for the pupils to understand that there is a difference between playing with my friends at break time and playing games in the classroom or outside the classroom during the lesson. Games during the lesson are part of our teaching so the children have to participateactively.Thepupilsshouldn’t formtheir groupsontheirowntoavoid theexclusion of kids from vulnerable groups. The teacher forms the groups before the lesson and prepares the pupils to accept the less competent children in their group, with the advice to help them. The teacher can keep score, but the games shouldn’t be very competitive. The aim is to enjoy learning and promote social and intercultural awareness, empathy and understanding.

Types of games

There are different forms of games:

forthewhole class inacircle withtwo groups withsmaller groups(4 5 pupils)

According to the objectives of the lesson, the teacher chooses the form of the game. It is important to follow routines for each form of game. The teacher introduces one form of game each time and repeats it in the following lessons with new objectives. If the pupils learn the routines and instructions for each form it’s very easy to use it any time and save time.

● Games for the whole class: Pupils follow instructions to play. Everybody participates. If someone doesn’t understand, watch the rest of his classmates offer help. e.g. Simon says…

Bingo

● Games in a circle: Games in a circle can be usually used to practice the new knowledge. Pupils follow instructions to move quietly and quickly and make a circle.

e.g. 1. They listen to playback music. The teacher can give cards to the pupils and they carry them to the next pupil clockwise until the music stops. When the cards stop the pupils read or say what is on their card. If they don’t remember, all the class helps.

2. The teacher starts throwing a softball to the pupils with a question or an incomplete sentence. Pupils answer and throw the ball to another pupil. The rule is that all pupils must take the ball and they help each other when they are blocked.

● Games with two groups: It’s a more competitive form of game and more likely to have problems with acceptance and inclusion of all pupils in the group. The two groups take turns to play the game. The teacher makes sure that all pupils participate and not only those who raise their hands. If someone makes a mistake the teacher must be prepared to handle the reaction of the pupils belonging to this group or even if the pupils of the opposite group make fun of him.

e.g. Pantomime

Tic Tac Toe (To win a square they have to answer something from the lesson)

● Games with smaller groups (4-5 pupils) The teacher divides the pupils in smaller groups. They take turns to play the game. They need to support the kids that have learning difficulties in order to continue the game. e.g. 1. board games designed to follow the objectives of the lesson

2. Kaboom

The teacher writes on ice cream sticks something from the lesson and puts them upside down in a jar. There are also many sticks with the word ‘Kaboom’. The pupils take turns in their group to pick up a stick and answer. If the answer is correct they keep the stick. If the stick has the word ‘Kaboom’ they place all their sticks into the jar. The winner is the one with the most sticks in the end.

https://gamesforactivelearning.com/

During our Erasmus project we designed, explored, summarized and played a variety of educational games in order to motivate and engage our students from our schools. and to promote social and intercultural awareness, empathy and understanding. The games are organised on four main topics : “ Where do we live? “ "How do we play?", "Who are my heroes?" or "What makes me happy, sad or angry?".

In our project we have created a large collection of 91 games of all kinds : digital games, board games, card games, role play games, action games, movement games etc.

In the playground games children had the opportunity to communicate, work in groups, understand each other and learn in a fun way outside the classroom.

Through the board and card games we created, children increased their knowledge and boosted their language skills for the topics we studied, learned to be patient and the most important, ALL children participated in the learning procedure without the fear of making a mistake.

Digital games developed in the project not only improved children’s technological skills and knowledge but taught them that all these skills they use are not only for entertainment but they can be transferable to the real world to solve everyday problems. All the games created for the G.O.A.L. project can be found on the website: https://gamesforactivelearning.com/activities or .in the GAMES FOR ACTIVE LEARNING COLLECTION https://issuu.com/ciobanunicoleta/docs/games_for_active_learning_collection_ .

Guidelines for the use of the digital tools used to create the digital games can be found in the Digital Tools for Teachers: A Teacher’s Guide https://issuu.com/ciobanunicoleta/docs/digital_tools_for_teachers .