Digital Platforms: Blooket and Prodigy
Blooket:
Blooket is an online platform that allows students to play
games by answering educational questions. There is instant feedback following
each question. It is like Kahoot where you answer questions the more questions
you answer the point points you earn depending on the game. There are a bunch of
different games modes like Crypto Hack, Fishing Frenzy, Battle Royale and Deceptive
Dinos, these games can last for a set amount of time or a set number of points.
Most games are free but there are some you need a subscription for. Student are
able to test their skills and knowledge on different subjects. Teachers are
able to make their own question sets with different answers or pick from premade
sets on Blooket. When playing Crypto Hack, students are answering questions to pick
a box when they get the answer correct. The box reveals either X amount of crypto
or allows them to hack another peer playing. Students when hacking need to guess
the peer’s password and if correct will steal their crypto. The trick is
picking a password you think that peer might have picked (I only know this
because sometime I play with the kids) or if you get it wrong try to remember the
other 2 options for next time because one password will always be the same. While
play the game students often will talk to each other and highlight things on
the score board like student A is moving up or I just got hacked. Following the
game there is always talk amongst the students about questions or strategies used.
Playing competitive games likes this helps students work on sportsmanship. While
playing Blooket, students don’t think of it as academic work but more of a fun
game. Each question does have a read aloud button that students can use to help
them understand the question. Using Blooket is a good way to review material
that has been taught. Positive effects of Blooket are students forget they are
still practicing academic work like math problems or identify parts of speech
while playing online with each other. One negative impact I’ve experienced in
my class was behavioral outburst from students who don’t win, this can make a
really fun time turn bad quickly. For a while I had to limit playing Blookets
in class due to this. Student do not need to have an account to play Blooket
and can only join the game with the game code, which helps limit them being
able to play with other people who are not in our class.
Prodigy:
Prodigy is an online website that has
two different learning games, Math and English. In Math students are wizards that
battle. In English, students collect and harvest resources to build their very
own world. The questions align to the state standards and as they continue to battle
or build, questions will change to meet their academic levels and data reports
will be available in the teacher dashboard. As teachers you can go into settings
and cap where the academic levels go so that way student don’t get frustrated
when questions are too hard when they are just starting out. Questions are provided
to students in different formats like click the noun in the sentence, fill in
the missing numbers or multiple-choice questions. Information differs for each
student to best meet their abilities and help them be successful. Student’s log
in can be linked to Google Classroom, Clever or ClassLink. Students are able to
battle each other in Math and help each other in English, this promotes collaboration
with students as they have to meet up and find each other. There is a school
mode and home mode on Prodigy so students are able to take home their log in
and continue to practice and play at home. One positive effect is an increase
in engagement in Math and English topics during school and at home. Students don’t
see Prodigy as academic work but more of a fun online game where they can
battle and harvest and grow. Safety concerns to address with students is not
using their actual name because they are playing with other people online. There
is also no chat feature where students can talk to one another. I also do not
have my students accounts linked to Google Classroom due HIPPA.
Identify Required Literacies and Implications
Some required literacies students need to have in order to use
Blooket and Prodigy are basic computer skills, Network Literacy and Digital Problem
Solving (Vanek, 2017). Below how these skills will be needed:
- The ability to log into a computer and open up the internet
- Type in Blooket/Prodigy and right click to open up the website
- The ability to right click on join game and copy the game code from the board or input username and password
- Students need to be able to type
- Understand how to find the read to me button
- Understand the rule of the game (there is also an instruction prior to the game starting)
- For Prodigy: how to use the arrow keys and move around the screen
These required literacies are important as students will continue to use them as they grow up and continue in school. Being able to use a computer and search on the internet is an important concept that is also required in the workforce. Educators can effectively use Blooket and/or Prodigy to practice and build fluency in academic concepts. Parents can also log into Blooket and Prodigy at home and set up games for their children to play that align to what they are learning in school. This continued practice will help students retain the knowledge as it is being uses across different formats (i.e. written, electronic or tests) in a fun way. These two digital platforms are a hit in my classroom and are often played during freetime!
References:
Blooket Website: https://www.blooket.com/
Prodigy https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/teachers
Vanek. (2019). Digital Literacy. https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigital LiteracyBrief-508.pdf
Hi Delaney,
ReplyDeleteBefore this week, I had not heard of Blooket and only had limited knowledge about Prodigy. Exploring both platforms has given me a new perspective on how educational technology can shape learning experiences in K–12 classrooms. Both platforms aim to make learning engaging and fun. It is unfortunate that you had to limit Booklet from the classroom because of the competitiveness, but you mention a very important concept of student conduct and decorum. As you mentioned within your blog post, to use these tools effectively, students need foundational digital literacy skills such as navigating web interfaces, using login credentials securely, and understanding how to engage responsibly with online content. With Blooket, students also have the ability to return to questions that were previously answered incorrect (Khalip & Li, 2023). Returning to these incorrect questions further facilitates learning as students learn from their mistakes throughout the assessment (Khalip & Li, 2023). Digital tools like Blooket encourage repetition, foster a growth mindset, and allow students to learn at their own pace. Blooket and Prodigy can both be used at home for review and reinforcement of class content. Parents can create or guide their children through review games on Blooket or monitor progress and engagement through Prodigy’s parent dashboard. Data privacy can be an issue, especially since these platforms collect user information like names, progress data, and learning behaviors. Overall, Blooket and Prodigy have a strong influence on students' motivation to learn with gamification.
Reference
Khalip, N., & Li, K. L. (2023). TESL trainee teachers' perceptions toward implementing blooket in the online english language teaching and learning process. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 20(2), 96-109. https://doi.org/10.52696/XFYG1507
Hi Delany,
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of theses sites before but the sound often. I could definitely see myself using these as options during centers, or when the class earns free time. I can see students being excited about these games and even wanting to play at home, which is a great way to "trick" the students into learning. I think letting parents know about these games would be great because they can encourage them to play the educational option as opposed to mindless scrolling on Tik Tok or watching Youtube Shorts. I also love the immediate feedback that offered on Blooket. The only issue that I can see arising, is students pressuring their parents into purchasing the subscription to access the other games. Parents may be upset if they are asked to spend money on an app. That being said, I love the app allows parents to monitor their children's progress and think that perhaps a 15 minute HW assignment of Blooket would be fun for students while teaching them digital literacy and engaging them with academic content.
I appreciate your post being both entertaining and educational. I thought it was great how you described Blooket and Prodigy from the perspectives of a teacher and someone who plays the game and watches how the students respond. Your observation that kids "forget" they are working on schoolwork while playing resonated with me; gamified learning is a particularly effective way to increase student engagement!
ReplyDeleteYour explanation of Blooket's various game modes, particularly Crypto Hack, was quite instructive (and enjoyable!). I also value your openness regarding the behavioral issues that may arise; it serves as a helpful reminder that even with digital tools, we must assist students in learning self-control and sportsmanship.
Additionally, I think your description of Prodigy was accurate. I appreciated how you pointed out that teachers can modify the amount of difficulty to protect students from becoming frustrated, which is essential for maintaining their motivation. In the English version, allowing students to work together is a fantastic approach to promote social contact in addition to education.
Lastly, your list of necessary literacy skills was really practical and easy to understand. Reading instructions, navigating digitally, and interacting with online games are all fundamental abilities that are necessary for living in today's technologically advanced world as well as for academic success.
Hi Delaney,
ReplyDeleteBlooket and Prodigy both seem like fantastic tools for the classroom. My students use prodigy and they absolutely love it! They become so invested and they find it very exciting that they can see each other in the game! I have found real-time collaboration on many platforms such as splash learn, google slides, google docs, and more has sky-rocketed my students engagement. While we use prodigy in our classroom, we haven't used Blooket. We do use Kahoot, based on your description and as you mentioned, it seems to be a very similar digital tool. I really like how Blooket has different modes/versions as well. Kahoot seems to be upgrading its platform as well. The last two times I did a Kahoot with my students, it started off by looking like a video game and it looked as if we were in a game world on an island. The kids got so excited by this and were jumping at the chance to start the game to play! Its very important that students build their digital literacy to be best prepared for the world they are growing up in. In order to participate on these platforms, they must have various digital literacies, as you mentioned. To do so, they must have “computer, multimedia, network, and web literacy” (Z. Robinson & P. Robinson, 2021).
References
Robinson, Z. Z., & Robinson, P. A. (2021). Using social media tools for promoting critical literacy skills in the classroom. Liberty Magnet High School and Louisiana State University. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611606.pdf
Hi Delaney! I think you made a really great point that when using platforms such as Blooket, students can forget the academic aspect of it all and think they're just playing a game. As with any tech tool in the classroom, it is important to note the challenges, especially behavioral, that may come along with its usage. It's a clear reminder that though these tools can be fun and exciting for students and teachers, they still require being paired with effective classroom management strategies. Overall, Blooket is a really cool way to foster effective peer interaction and reinforce classroom content. Great post!
ReplyDelete