Prodigy Education is an educational gaming website that allows students to work on their literacy and math skills through gaming.
My Experience
In class on Tuesday was my first time ever exploring Prodigy. At first glance, I think it is super cute. It gave me some peace of mind when it made sure students were unable to use an inappropriate name by giving them options they have to choose. It was also really cute how I was able to create my own little avatar! I played around with both the math and literacy options. The literacy one was not as fun for me. It felt like there was almost too much instruction. When I ran out of “energy” I had to answer like, 10 questions to get it back and I feel like that would turn students off. The math one though was a lot of fun. You get to battle other creatures and level up. The questions are spaced out more, so I believe it would keep students more engaged. Overall, I really like this website!
What it Has to Offer Teachers
This platform can offer a lot to teachers. I feel it could help students who may struggle behaviourally get their learning in by using a fun game. Another thing I thought of was for students who have a home life where they just go home and are thrown in front of a screen until bedtime. This game is something they could play in that time after enjoying it in class and would help them advance and practice their math and literacy. This platform also allows teachers to take a “break” to catch up on things. It is not just a useless game to fill time, it has lots of educational aspects easing the worry of if the principal were to walk in.
Benifits of Gamifying Math
Math is a difficult and not well-liked subject for many students. But playing fun games on the computer is an “easy” and well-liked thing for many students. Creating a game like this that is fun and helps with math skills is AMAZING. It is an easy way to get students who refuse or really struggle to get their practice in. Lots of students also have access to play this at home, giving them some outside-of-the-classroom practice as well.
Negatives
In my eyes, there are few negatives to this platform. The fact that it is a game can be a turn-off to parents and some teachers making them less likely to give it a try. I know that it is almost always a struggle to transition from playing on the laptops to classroom work, so maybe this is an end-of-the-day or before lunch activity. The last one I can think of is the fact that it is just a website online and there is a potential threat of pop-up ads or it crashing and not working.
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