In UDL we talk about providing students “practice with supports” and “opportunities to practice with new concepts without adverse consequences for initial failures.”

Whether high-tech or low-tech, games are a great way to address both of these Best UDL Practices. We know that kids love games - it is that simple!Games are engaging, fun, motivating and depending on the game, involve teamwork and social skill-building situations. Games, delivered in a controlled environment, provide students with opportunities to flex their mental muscles, while adhering to rules, contexts and scenarios that replicate “real world” experiences or provide escape into fantasy lands where imagination and creativity rule.

During “Technology Time” and in follow-up e-mails to UDL participants, I often recommend interactive websites and on-line games that provide learning content in multiple media, while providing the supported practice without adverse consequences.Some of the resources we discuss include Digital Game-Based Learning or DGBL.
When selecting to use DGBL environments for student learning, the experts say to be surethat you’re notusing the gaming tools astime killers, fillers, stand alone activities, or even as rewards. Amy Adcock, an assistant professor of instructional design an technology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia says, “the game should be integrated into the lesson and should be used inconjunction with otheractivities.” She goes on in an article I recently read in LMC: Library Media Connection, that “choosing the right instructional game for the right instructionalsituation is the difference between gaming with a purpose and gaming as a time waster.”
In the sidebar of the article,Adcock lists several books and websites to help teachers get started with DGBL. I’ve linked a few below. The article I read is called, Making Digital Game-Based Learning Work: An Instructional Designer’s Perspective, by Amy Adcock. Library Media Connection (LinworthPublishing), February 008: (p.56-57).

Just a Few Websites:

• SuperKids - reviews on DGBL http://superkids.com/
• Gamequarium the “site that swims with learning fun!” http://www.gamequarium.com/
• QuestAtlantis for kids ages 9-11. A 3-D, multiuser environment, built on role-playingstrategies that is able to connect to local standards for learning. http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/

Enjoy!

Tags: dgbl, digital game based learning, Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

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