Best Educational Videogames

Currently, no one can be surprised by the use of "video games" and "educational" in the same sentence and proposals based directly or indirectly on these digital leisure products are becoming more frequent. Numerous studies gather the fact that, used according to pedagogical criteria, videogames can bring interesting benefits to the educational world , which allow complementing (and sometimes even replacing) more "traditional" resources.

From the practical point of view, we can choose a videogame that in its conception was not designed with a clear educational objective and adapt our didactic proposal to make use of it, or choose a video game specifically designed to be used as an educational tool, taking into account It counts the needs of its recipients and offers a complete didactic proposal (contents, didactic objectives, monitoring of the progress of the students and even a didactic guide for its use in the classroom). Below we present a series of varied proposals and through which you can get an idea of ​​the potential of these tools for the educational field.

1. Minecraft : Minecraft is an example of video game that, in principle, was not intended to be used in education, but whose characteristics allow multiple uses. A group of programmers and educators have decided to create a version to be used in classrooms around the world . Along with this version, a lot of exercises and activities are also offered to take advantage of the full potential of this videogame.

2. Hakitzu : Perhaps it may be strange to include a fight videogame in an article on educational videogames, but Hakitzu proposes a robot fight tournament in which it will be necessary to learn to program in order to win. Through increasingly sophisticated scripts we will be able to proclaim ourselves champions of the tournament, an entertaining and motivating way to learn to program . At the moment, it is only available for iOS, although they promise an Android version in a short time.

3. Kokori Project: This videogame puts players at the controls of a small ship, a "nanobot" capable of entering a cell to study it, as well as identifying and solving problems that may be encountered. Biology in the first person divided into several short missions with different levels of complexity that allow to work with contents related to the area of ​​biology.

4. Dragon Box : This video game is designed to work with mathematical contents (algebra, more specifically) in a different way than we are used to. For this, in the first steps of the game the problems are represented by objects, and thus the player can start learning the basic rules. Little by little, the objects are replaced by variables and numbers so that, at the end of the game, we will be able to solve complex equations without much effort.

5. Cap Odyssey : A game developed by the French company KTM Advance for the French Ministry of Agriculture. Players discover the principles of the agricultural economy, the evolution of prices, how to improve production or face climatic risks, sustainability, etc. This videogame proposes us to enter the agricultural world and learn content related to a field that, unfortunately, has lost the interest of the youngest.

6. SimCity Edu : SimCity is a well-known simulation game in which players must create and manage a city. Electronic Arts, the company responsible for the game, together with Glass Lab, specialized in educational games, have opened an online community that surely teachers and educators will find very interesting. It provides a large number of educational proposals to take advantage of the educational value of this game to work on topics such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, citizenship, politics, conflict resolution and economics.

7. Simple Machines : This simple game has been designed by the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago and presents a nice robot to which we will have to lend a hand to collect the necessary parts to build a machine. During the tour in search of these pieces, we will be presented with certain challenges that we will have to solve by putting basic notions of physics into practice . As we overcome the challenges, the game will offer us theoretical notions that will help us better understand applied physics.

8. Naraba World : This videogame proposes a trip to Naraba, a fantasy world, in which, mysteriously, a series of islands have appeared. With an "open world" dynamic, the user will be able to explore these islands and solve the mysteries and riddles that are presented to him by practicing his knowledge . The game has been designed taking into account the curricular contents referring to the infant and primary stages (5-12 years).

9. Immune Atack : The objective of 'Immune Attack' is to save the life of a patient suffering from a serious bacteriological infection. To do this, the players are introduced into their body by a tiny ship to try to find all the foci of the infection and return the patient's health . Along the way, players access and put into practice knowledge about the biological processes that allow macrophages and neutrophils (white blood cells) to detect and fight infections.

10. Discover Babylon : Discover Babylon will pose a series of challenges and mysteries that can only be solved by developing an understanding of Mesopotamian society, business practices and transactions. For this, the game presents realistic environments to move to Mesopotamia (located in present-day Iraq) and discover the traces of this ancient civilization . It is a videogame aimed at players from 8 to 14 years old. What do you think? Have you tried any of them? Do you have any other example that you would like to share?

​Thanks Trucos de Videojuegos