A look into childrens educational games.

Today's entry is for about a look into childrens educational games, the game we took a look at was a shape game on the bitesize website.

Here is a link to the game : - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/shapes/index.shtml
 

We had to analyse the game and form a evaluation of the game based on various merits.

The merits are as follows :-
- Interaction
- Goal

- Struggle

- Structure

- endogeous meaning

- overall evaluation

Interaction -

Interaction is the selecting the shapes, and a purposeful selection of the correct shape.

Goal -

The goal of the game is to select the correct shape for every stage, in which there are 5 in total. After all 5 stages are completed your reward is to see whats being created behind the curtain.

Struggle -

The struggle of the game is to choose the correct object out of the 3 objects, though there are no bad consequences for the wrong answer other than having to repeat the question.

Structure -

The structure of the game is very linear, as in you answer the question you move on to the next question, guess the wrong answer you repeat the same question again.

Endogeous meaning -
The objects that have meaning within the game are the shapes that you have to select to answer your question and the suprise behind the curtain. 


Evaluation -
My evaluation of the game is that it is very basic and simple, It is educational although children could just keep selecting until they come to the correct answer which doesn't really teach the children, I think a solution to this problem is that it could tell you why the answer you selected was wrong and try to help you come to the correct answer, Also a reward system would add more longevity to the game such as a point system if you got all the answers correct you should get a little reward such as a bonus mini game or maybe a little print out certificate.