Palm Beach County Gets Its Game On
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The School District of Palm Beach County is giving educational gaming a shot. Three of the district's middle schools will be deploying Tabula Digita's DimensionM in an effort to to make complex mathematical concepts fun to learn for students.
Tabula's DimensionM series incorporate algebra and pre-algebra lessons into a 3D environment in which players (students) carry out missions (lessons) in single-player or multi-player, tournament-style games. Palm Beach County will be rolling out three versions of the game in three of its middle schools: Dimenxian Algebra and Evolver (pre-algebra) single- and multi-player editions. The multi-player edition allows students to compete individually or in teams over LAN, WAN, or Internet.
"In the past, teachers often found it difficult to justify the use of simulation or adventure computer games during school time because their content did not align with state or national curriculum standards," said Gary Weidenhamer, manager of educational technology for the Palm Beach County School District, in a prepared statement. "Because the DimensionM games are designed as a supplemental tool, teachers will be able to easily integrate the games with a variety of instructional models--from classrooms to computer labs to extended day programs."
The three middle schools initially adopting DimensionM include Roosevelt, Bear Lakes, and Conniston.
In addition to teaching math concepts in a gaming environment, DimensionM provides performance tracking, support tools, diagnostics, and recommendations for remediation, among other achievement-oriented features. The software supports Mac OS X and Windows and is available in various license configurations from single-user to district-wide packages.
Palm Beach County School District is the 11th-largest district in the United States, with enrollments of about 169,000 in 185 schools, including 103 elementary schools, 33 middle schools, 23 high schools, 22 alternative schools, and various other centers. The district operates with a budget of $3.6 billion and has more than 66,000 computers.
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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at [email protected].
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at [email protected].