Facilitating the Discovery and Use of Learning Games

The learning games community has begun to develop its own marketing and distribution vehicles. Some sites offer browsable game databases. These include the Games for Change website and The Educational Games Database. Review sites such as the Common Sense Media site and Institute of Play’s Playforce vet for quality and sort by content and use scenario. They may also rate attributes such as violence, safety and learning potential. Sites like Playful Learning and Educade provide support materials to help teachers discover, explore and use educational games. In the following, I’ll discuss BrainPOP’s GameUp - a curated collection of games with related materials and alignments - focusing on the selection process and teacher supports that ensure successful implementation in the classroom.