Tablets for tween, iPod Touch, netbooks...with all of the tech advances, it seems like we should be sold on the educational value, but how often do we find our tweens navigating their ways to games? Too often! Maybe.
Especially in the touchscreen environment, there seem to be a lot of mindless arcade games, but growing up as a teen in the age of Atari, I find myself just as drawn to silly games, at times. Playing an occasional game actually provides me with some insight into educational value of these apps and programs, though, and I actually find a lot of value in these arcade games. Not every game, mind you, but in many cases, yes! There is value.
For example, Tic Tac Toe is a popular game for the ages. Variations can be constructed by increasing grid size, increasing the number of players, or by changing a single rule or objective. If three in a row leads to a loss, for example, the player alters his strategy. Kids games like Connect Four are examples of variations on that theme.
Take this into the app world, and one of my favorite iPhone apps is Fuzzle, which is a variation on lining up game pieces. Played as a solitaire game, achieving a row, column, or diagonal of 5 like colors scores points. Additional wild pieces help when a given color isn't available, and another type erradicates all of the given color from the playing field. There is much of the same strategy involved, problem solving, and thought. You don't see formal math concepts built, necessarily, but rather strategy and problem solving skills, along with spatial relationships. Meanwhile, for the tactile student, the touch screen activity is a means of augmenting learning. Mathematical relationships are in the background, but working their way in, nonetheless.
Another popular game of late is the famous Angry Birds. Playing a few times, I've found that it's a great model for parabolas, and while it isn't teaching quadratic equations, it's giving a fantastic picture of different parabolas. Enough experience with Angry Birds, and your tween will find the Algebra 2 units on parabolas amazingly familiar. Is Angry Birds a gaurantee of success in math, or in Algebra 2? No, but perhaps the connection will be enough to hold a student's attention, and perhaps the concepts won't be as disconcerting to the reluctant math student who has played the Angry Parabolas...I mean, birds!
Tweens go through some extreme swings in attitude, and many apathetic moments are to be encountered. I definitely don't object to touchscreen apps that are simple, fun, and great for building strategy and thinking skills. Check out Angry Birds in the iTunes app store, or for Android, and keep in mind many of the touchscreen devices that make these simple strategy games easily accessible: iPod Touch, ereaders (tablet versions), and tablet computers for tweens are some of the best devices for app activity.
