I was really excited to try this website! I fully bought into Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies and had inflated expectations.
However, it fell flat for a serious gaming experience. As Bates wrote, there are 4 essential game elements:
- Learning
- Storytelling
- Gameplay
- User experience
I feel like Gizmos is lacking quality that improves user experience, and would disengage learners. It is missing several aspects of effective game design such as realism, feedback, and surprises. I feel like game-based learning is still missing the quality and realism that makes games fun. As Bates mentioned there is some debate about game-based learning and the impact on learning outcomes, and it is mostly studied to improve the affective domain. The Gizmos lessons I explored did nothing to engage me. I am a recreational gamer, and I think the biggest limitation is that these lessons are in isolation without a backstory and do not have high production.
Another factor is the alignment of Saskatchewan curriculum. Gizmos, like most educational sites, are aligned to United States curriculum. It can be hard to align these concepts by grade level and topic. If there was an option to select and deselect sections in Gizmos, it would be easier to align to the curriculum, but as it exists, it doesn’t match curricular outcomes. You can watch my walk through below and hear my disappointment as I continue exploring.
I think there are better options available, and that this hasn’t been engaging enough for me to try it out in my classroom. I could see using it as a quick demo for my students for us to manipulate and discuss as a class, but I do not see the added value of elementary students manipulating these ‘serious games’. If anyone loves Gizmos, please change my mind!
I love the humor and relatability that are threaded throughout your post. The audio and visuals of Gizmos were interesting, clean, and looked fun to explore. It is clear that there are some flaws that may lead teachers to find comparable tools that may be better suited to Saskatchewan students.
Leah,
I appreciate your honest review and critical engagement with Gizmo. In addition, I love that you screen casted the website and spoke over it… A great way to add to a blog post!
You make an excellent point regarding the content and outcomes. They do not align with the Saskatchewan curriculum, making it difficult to find those connections. The lack of backstory and theme makes each activity feel disjointed. However, I do see potential in this site, but it would be in need of some serious updating and rethinking the tools in each activity… and also making sure they function smoothly! I wonder if teachers in the states have a similar view of this tool and if the activities really align with the curriculum they follow.
Hi Leah,
Yes, Gizmos has a plethora of content, and can certainly be daunting to work through the types of activities. I used certain aspects of it during some online portions of my math courses, and that was a tricky part to find exactly what I need and to make sure it was effective for what I needed.
I do agree, it requires a substantial amount of energy to find what you want, and in there there’s plenty of things that you do not need (trash), so I would concur the hype is not fully justified for worth of the individual activities that I wanted.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Leah, thanks for the honest review about Gizmos. I’ve experimented with this program before and I have found it to be challenging for students to engage with. I agree with your assessment that Gizmos is really designed for American based curricula and neglects provincial curricula in Canada. I too have pondered about the benefits and drawbacks of gamification and have struggled to find use for it in my classrooms.
Hi Leah,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Gizmo. I really enjoyed your screencast. I personally hadn’t heard of it before. Many of my students enjoy gaming so I appreciate your honest review regarding this tool. Do you use any other “gaming” type tools for learning in your classroom that you find more engaging and competent?
Thanks,
Kendra
Hello Kendra,
Yes, I love to find games to use! I love using Prodigy for Math, Splash Learn for Math, Dreamscapes for reading skills, and of course Minecraft.
Perfect, I won’t look into this one. I value our time as educators and if we can work together to make the list of choices less daunting than we’ve saved each others time.
I agree, I thought to myself that this was a really negative outlook. However, I know I’m not going to use it. I figured honesty is the best policy!
Awesome post! Loved your use of humor and critical review. Also, appreciate the alternate options.
Scott