The Games in Education program is dedicated to helping teachers learn to use social games in their classrooms. GAMA believes that games are excellent educational tools and works to help teachers find appropriate ones for their curricula.
Games In Education Pamphlets
In 2003, GAMA produced a number of Games in Education brochures. These documents pinpoint games that teach specific skill sets or concept, and help educators find appropriate games for their classrooms. No new brochures are planned at this time, though we do have a list-serve where teachers help each other with using games in the classroom. Sign up for the list-serve below.
GAMA is on the cusp of another positive change with a program to offer lesson plan outlines and lists of matching standards in the next printing of our Games in Education Pamphlets.
The Educators Hall Pass program (previously the Teachers Hall Pass) is an outgrowth of the Games in Education program. EHP is held annually at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus OH. Admission to the convention is free to any educator with a valid license. A series of seminars by hobby-games and educational experts shows teachers how to use games in their classroom in hands-on fashion. Concepts are taught, discussion is held, and actual game-play tutorials occur all to help teachers find ways to use these powerful educational tools — games — in their classrooms.
Since 2006, the Educators Hall Pass Program has been officially open to Librarians and School Administrators, which increases attendance and helps get the word out about the positive and educational nature of many of our games.
For more information on the Educators Hall Pass program or to help sponsor it or volunteer as a speaker, please send an e-mail to GAMA's Program Coordinator at events@gama.org.
Game Publisher Information
Some game publishers have pages on their Web sites dedicated to using their games in the classroom. Below is a list of links to such sites.
Publishers, when looking at your games with an eye toward use by educators, Chris Allen has been nice enough to provide us with this list of learning skills. These skills are what teachers need to show that activities in their classroom provide. Thanks, Chris!
Learning
Skills
Observing
Using your senses to learn about
something in detail.
Comparing,
Contrasting and Classifying
Looking for similarities and
differences and assigning labels.
Organizing
Understanding and using
structures to create order.
Finding
Patterns
Detecting repetition
Understanding
Main Idea
Grasping the essential/major
point
Predicting
Determining what will happen and
why.
Communicating
Sharing and developing ideas with
a range of audiences.
Finding
Evidence
Locating proof to support a
statement
Questioning
Posing problems and asking
"what ifs."
Examining
Breaking into parts.
Sequencing
Arranging things in an order.
Solving
Problems
Selecting and generating
alternative strategies to resolve a situation.
Drawing
Conclusions
Using clues and evidence to get
meaning from information.
Elaborating
Expanding on ideas by adding
detail and connecting to other learning.
![[]](/extras/spacer.gif){kind=spacer}
The Games in Education program is dedicated to helping teachers learn to use social games in their classrooms. GAMA believes that games are excellent educational tools and works to help teachers find appropriate ones for their curricula.
