Memphis Schools Adds Gaming for Math and Science -- THE Journal

Gaming

Memphis Schools Adds Gaming for Math and Science

By Dian Schaffhauser
02/25/13

Memphis City Schools has signed an agreement with a Web-based service that provides math- and science-based games. The district has begun making Penda Learning available for students in grades 4-10.

Penda, which is intended to be used as a supplemental resource, has the student pick an avatar and specify friends. The user chooses what activity he or she will work on, and the social nature of the program allows the student to get into friendly competitions with those friends. The service specifies what standards a given set of exercises aligns with and delivers between 10 and 15 minutes of activities, which are scaffolded to continually crank up the difficulty level as the student demonstrates proficiency. When the student misses a question, the service provides hints. Progress summaries are reported to users and teachers.

The company's lessons align with both Common Core State Standards in math and Florida's standards in math and science.

The service is being used in Maple Heights City Schools in Ohio, Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, and Tennyson High School in Hayward, CA.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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