Why Online Games?
Online gaming has negative attention for being addictive, time consuming and non-educational. But what if we simply were not using this technology to its full potential?
Most teenage students would prefer to play a game than sit and listen to a teacher talk at them for an hour and thirty minutes. With revolutionary technology evolving constantly students are becoming more distracted by said technology in the classrooms. So why not use them to engage students and emphasize key points of learning developing toward mastery?
Benefits
An online game is a game that is played over a computer network, or the internet. Most can now be accessed a variety of ways including:- Computers or Laptops
- Smart Phones
- Tablets
Examples
How in-depth and interactive an educational online game is depends on the learning target and the duration of the game. Some games are fast paced and can come to an end within a few minutes whereas others may take multiple playing periods for a conclusion to feel more like a real online game and to enable critical thinking.Cell Craft is an example of an online game that can take a longer period to play. In the game you are actively constructing a cell starting as a single-celled organism containing only a centrosome and plasma membrane. Throughout each step the major organelles and biomolecules are explained to help the student build the cell which furthers understanding of the content. There are roughly 8 sections to be played but this is what the first section would look like when students play this game.
An example of a shorter online game would be Extinct! Are You Smarter Than a Plant? which happens to be a strategy-based game. The game can be as long or as short as the student wants depending on the strategies taken to insure the survivability of a plant species. The link to this game can be found below.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Harissa/extinct-are-you-smarter-than-a-plant
Final Thoughts
It is almost crucial with the abundance of technology today and student interest in the cyber world to utilize the internet for student engagement and mastery learning. If we can't hold student attention by traditional methods then making the shift to accommodate a technology dependent generation should prove beneficial. The important thing to note here is that online games should not be used to replace teaching but rather act as a supplement to support mastery learning. 
This is too cool!!!! Gaming is moving into the classroom and is becoming a staple learning tool in the classroom. One needs to be careful though. Some developers will stay true to scientific principles while others will claim to stay true to scientific principles but they take a lot of artistic liberties. You'll need to play the games first to make sure they don't fuel student misconceptions. In summery, this is awesome no matter what!!
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