Short student attention spans are one of the most often mentioned challenges that educators face while teaching new generations of young learners.
Adjusting to and hopefully remedying this phenomenon is widely discussed, and one of the most common approaches to addressing issues with student engagement is introducing educational games into curricula. Specifically designed for learning, the games we would like to recommend offer fun and useful ways to conduct your class and make each session more compelling.
The easiest way to play games on your BenQ interactive display is through a web browser. This doesn’t require any software installation, and you do not need to worry about the availability of the related app on the BenQ App Store*.
You can go about it in two ways.
You can launch games via the Firefox browser on your BenQ display. To do so, tap the address bar at the top of the screen, and type the web address of the game you would like to play via the on-screen keyboard. This works just the same as with any other browser you use.
Alternatively, you can run it on your computer and mirror it to your interactive display (see this article for tips on how to mirror your computer screen to interactive displays). And don’t worry, you can control the screen on the display with touch functionality!
* On certain devices, BenQ App Store can be found under name "BenQ Suggests"
We would like to offer our recommendations for fun web-based games you can play on BenQ interactive displays and improve the student engagement in your classroom.
Kahoot is one of the world’s most popular educational websites and apps. This quiz site allows you to test your students’ knowledge in a fun, competitive way. Kahoot is great for teaching pretty much any subject, with a vast availability of functions and expert-made quizzes for you to use. As an official partner of BenQ, the Kahoot application (optimized for your interactive display) is also available via the BenQ Appstore*.
* On certain devices, BenQ Appstore can be found under name "BenQ Suggests"
Quizlet is the go-to application for reviewing vocabulary and definitions. This quiz-based site allows you to review learned words and concepts via games like matching, memory quizzes, and others. The list of vocabulary used can then be shared with students so they can review it at home using the list view or flashcard features.
GoNoodle is an awesome way to get your students alert, motivated, and excited about learning in a more tactile and active manner. GoNoodle introduces fun physical exercises to your classroom. Particularly useful in early grades, this can be used as a morning warm up or a break activity for your over-energized students to better channel their excitement. In addition, many of the exercises posted on GoNoodle combine physical activity with vocabulary teaching, so you get to bring together the useful with the fun.
Poptropica is a familiar game with an educational twist. The format here reflects the online games students play in their free time quite well. After creating a character, students go on various adventures with their avatars while solving different challenges. Progress can be saved. You can use this as a daily reward for good participation in class, for example, for a class well done five minutes of gaming at the end of the session.
ABCya is a platform containing a multitude of educational games, divided by appropriate grades and topics. The games also offer multiplayer modes, introducing a competitive aspect into the classroom and engaging more students at once. All free to use!
There are still some that believe that games in any form are a waste of time, and do not provide educational value. We say that’s wrong. By introducing the mentioned games to your classroom, you can find more engaging, fun ways to teach concepts, words, and other skills. In addition, this format of teaching is much more attractive for students than paper handouts and memorization. Rewarding good behavior and school performance with play is also a great motivator for improvement, a perfect way to improve student engagement, and has been around for centuries or longer. We would like to challenge you to try this approach with your younger students, and believe you will notice changes for the better right away.
Introducing gamification and improving engagement can be easy. Here are 5 simple yet fun games you can play with your students via EZWrite cloud whiteboard.
Kahoot! is a great tool to create fun classes and improve students engagement. Learn how to get started with Kahoot! on your BenQ Interactive Display.
Wondering how to use your favorite apps and software on your classroom BenQ board? Read more for some tips.