Gaming

DimensionU Enhances Curriculum-Based Games

• By Michael Hart
• 02/15/16

DimensionU has made several enhancements to its video games used in teaching math and literacy. Perhaps most important is the news that its games will now be available on the Android platform and can be downloaded from Google Play and Amazon.

In addition, the Teachers by DimensionU app will give instructors more control over game use by students, including the ability now to set game duration in order to fit classroom schedules, create password-protected game environments so that their use might be limited to students, and to select the option of either individual or team play. The updates are designed to allow educators to more easily integrate game-based learning into their existing curricula.

Game enhancements for students include a new game map, new team-based play options and the ability for students with different types of devices (be it Web-based, Android or iOS) to play with one another.

"Making DimensionU games more accessible is necessary considering 40 percent of our usage currently extends beyond the classroom," said DimensionU CEO Steven Hoy.

Along with the game enhancements, Dimension U has released its spring schedule of live math-based game competitions, which began February 6 with the Dallas Independent School District's annual STEM Day.

The competitions typically are live events involving students of all ages with curriculum and skill level differentiated according to a student's grade or performance level. Twelve more live tournaments will be held throughout the spring in locations as disparate as Charleston, SC, and Honolulu.

"What is most significant about our competitions is that they can be a key to unlocking the academic potential in students who may otherwise not be engaged in the classroom," Hoy added.

DimensionU's games are available to individuals, classrooms, schools, districts and after-school programs. They can be used on a trial basis as well.