Selma Middle School class tests educational games with international developers
A class at Selma Middle School has been providing feedback on a new teaching assistance program launching soon. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, the students are the only ones in the world working directly with the developers.
Jason Dudley is a sixth-grade science teacher at Selma Middle School. He uses the teaching assistance website Wayground often, so developers gave his class early access to a new set of educational games. The students get to serve as game testers, trying and sharing feedback directly with the India-based developers in online meetings.
Dudley said students have been more engaged in class as they see their feedback worked into the games in real-time.
“They’re really excited. They really want to do it, which they like it to begin with,” Dudley said. “But I think even more so, their interest and has been sparked, their engagement level has definitely increased, knowing that they’ve got direct feedback and input to the company.”
Each student gets to make their own avatar called a Qbit, and during a feedback session, the class asked the developers for more customization options. The next time the students logged on, they saw an option for Qbit auras had been added to the website.
Silas is one of Dudley’s students. He’s thankful some adults are finally listening to what kids have to say.
“I like that we got to be heard, and people would like, they take our advice, because usually as kids, nobody really thinks to ask, and these adults make things that they thought were fun. And then it’s not that fun,” said Silas.
Dudley said the students will be able to access the website from their personal smart devices, giving students a fun way to get some additional learning done in their down time. It includes single-player and more competition-focused multi-player games.
Silas says his favorite game features his Qbit climbing a mountain, where he has to answer multiple questions correctly to progress and eventually reach the top.
Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu
