DimensionU Enhances Curriculum-Based Games
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.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.