While I'm skeptical of the overuse of technology in classrooms for game and "free time"-related purposes, I also know that on a day-to-day basis, teachers need a bank of self-explanatory and highly engaging resources for students to use when they are finished early or when you're working one-one-one with other students. Here are two tools that fit that need, but also build upon students' global awareness, problem-solving skills, and vocabulary.
1. Freerice
This website has been around for more than 10 years now, so it's nothing new in the EdTech world. It is, however, still a quick and effective way for teachers to pair rote memorization tasks, like memorizing multiplication facts, with a larger humanitarian goal.
Freerice allows players to play multiple-choice quiz games in certain subject matters. For every question that a player answers correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to populations in need via the United Nations World Food Programme. The questions will start off fairly easy, and progressively get more difficult the more a player chooses correct answers. Quizzes are available in a variety of subjects, including English grammar and vocabulary, multiplication facts, world capitals, and even the periodic table of the elements.
2. Geoguessr
This app and website is a game that plops players down in the middle of nowhere in Google Street View, and based on evidence from the local surroundings, players have to figure out where they are in the world. This game can definitely get students to employ problem-solving and research skills to triangulate their location. They might come up a street sign in a different language, or a phone number of a real estate add, or a significant landmark that they can use to research where they are in the world. Each "game" is five rounds long, and players can set time limits on how long they can spend figuring out their location.
Using any other games/tech tools with a global focus in mind? Comment below (I actually think the comments work now!).
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