This week, in our tech class, we talked about a piece of software that is specifically designed to excite kids with the prospect of a video game that has mathematical learning weaved in at every passing moment. The game is an adventure game that takes the player through RPG-like battles that are perpetuated by answering math questions. Prodigy is such an excellent piece of software that I have actually used before and personally find to be an awesome tool that is both exciting and engaging for kids.
Prodigy opens with a tutorial that teaches students the basics of how to combat enemies and capture pets by answering math questions that are specifically tailored by the teacher to be their grade level and unit level. Prodigy would be an incredible way to pep up your students, even if it was only 10 or 15 minutes a day, the students would be excited and would actively participate if a video game was involved. My thought was that the class could have a single account wherein we could have an ongoing game going, and we would answer the math questions as a class in an energetic way. Once I felt the students were comfortable enough with the game and feel they could tackle it themselves, only then would I introduce solo play during class. I would also heavily encourage that students play at home to earn additional rewards. How extremely effective that this software could be used to further at home learning.
While Prodigy is an excellent application, that gamifies the curriculum, one thing that I, a huge gamer, has to keep in mind is that not all students are going to be as obsessed with video games as others. It’s also possible that students might complain that the graphics aren’t very good, in comparison to more recent games like Call of Duty or Fortnite. That being said, students don’t seem to have any issues playing the pixelated art style of Minecraft, so it’s possible that my previous comment is off base a little. Another concern I would have is that students would be engaged with the portion of the game that includes dialogue or exploring different areas, they may shut off when the math questions arise, because ultimately, it’s not why they want to be engaged with Prodigy. They want to play the game.
I have loved using Prodigy, and while it feels experimental in concept for a classroom, I still think that I would want to implement this type of learning in the classroom while closely monitoring student engagement and reaction. While I have not try the literacy version of Prodigy, you can bet that it’s on my to-do list to see if this type of unique learning experience can translate to other subjects.