Krista Marshall -

EDU 551 – Games and Applications Assignment

1. CLASS DOJO:
Age: This program is established for classrooms ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Appropriate: I found this to be a safe-bet for youth as it is established for young learners, parents
and educators.
Accessible: This free application is available for educators, parents, individual students and
classroom-communities to access. It is technology-based, established for accessibility on any
platform and has audio sounds that enable classroom communities to know (hear) when an
educator has added incentive points, without the application being present on the projector
screens.
Bias: Students can add photos and videos which makes this application un-biased and allows
students to create unique representations on their own pages. All genders can create a page and
icon that THEY feel best represents them, versus being forced into a stereo-typed pre-set image.
Gender and ethnicity bias was not a concern.
Conclusion: I would use this merit-based application with my own students and have seen it used
successfully throughout my most recent Practicum placement. I appreciate that parents can join
and participate in this incentive system while students understand their own role in the
application.

Image retrieved from: https://www.classdojo.com/

 Marshall 2

2. ED TECH TEACHER:
Age: Adults, working within classrooms all grade levels and with students of all needs.
Appropriate: The material is important, appropriate, educational and informative,
Accessible: While this LMS makes the accessibility of educators using technology in the
classroom its focus, there is some cost associated. There is an assessment piece at a $75
Graduate credit fee which may make this program an unattainable budget expense for some. The
costs associated may make this unavailable to some educators and districts. I do like that this
technology in the classroom LMS makes educators more comfortable using the tools with
students and that it provides components for all modes (including ipads, chrome-books, etc).
Bias: The main bias I am concerned about with this LMS is that some financially struggling
districts would not be able to participate.
Conclusion: I would find this added instruction on how to have students / educators best
participating in technology-based education to be beneficial – as long as the district was able to
afford to supply the educators with the tools in which to use the training with their students. I do
like the assessment piece that ensures the educators are truly participating and learning from the
tutorials which may be paid for by a district – this provides educator/participant accountability to
the district providing the opportunity. I see students as interested in technology; therefore,
educators benefit from opportunities that keep them up to date and comfortable with new
applications and systems that engage youth positively.

Image retrieved from: http://edtechteacher.org/ipadebook/

 Marshall 3
3. PBS KIDS - APPS & MORE:
Age: This application site is established for pre-K through 8th grade (could be used well with
early elementary education students). The game, “Odd Squad Blob Chase”, for example, is
established for ages 5-8 (allowing the user to choose the appropriate level) and covers a wide
range of mathematics topics, including games on: addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division (and reading!). The game, “Vine Time” was easily navigated on my laptop and a fun
way to teach a child to count.
Appropriate: I found this site (and the associated apps) to be appropriate in nature and
established to attract parents/ families in a safe, educational format through technology based
games that
Accessible: I found this free site, and the games I tried playing, to be user-friendly, easily
accessible and noted that it has options for use on many different devices.
Bias: I loved that this site is clearly and purposefully established using images/ icons that are
non-stereotypical and non-gender-biased in nature. The fact that this is a free tool supports my
idea that it is established for use for all, and could even be accessed by a child/ family at a public
library. There was gender and ethnic diversity throughout.
Conclusion: PBS is television, digital media and community based programming
(PBSKIDS.ORG) that allows families, educators and individuals to trust that the material is safe,
appropriate and educational in nature. It would appear to me that the games on the apps-site are
geared to be educational yet simultaneously fun for students; therefore, I might use this as a
before-or after school tool. I did not find clear-cut assessment tools for educators who may be
assessing students through the games, which would be my main hesitation for use as a regular/
routine classroom program.

Image retrieved from: http://pbskids.org/apps/filter/app/

 Marshall 4

4. SCHOLASTIC KIDS GAMES:

Age: I did not love that this is not as easy to discern on the games page. I am unclear as to what
particular ages this is established for, although it appears to be grades 2-7 and it is clear that there
is a wide age-ability range.
Appropriate: I found this to be valuable, educational and safe. There is a sign-in process which
requires an information-sharing sign-up step, and this makes the users somewhat more
accountable
Accessible: This site has games and tools that are free, and easily accessible on multiple devices
with Internet access. This would be accessible at a public library, which I find appealing because
it allows for all to utilize.
Bias: I enjoyed that diversity and gender was a non-concern (young women and men are
portrayed as warriors, for example) and there was ethnic diversity in the games (animals were
also a main focus, which I loved!).
Conclusion: I really liked that there were polls for the children to complete on this site which, in
my opinion, gives youth a feeling of empowerment and a “voice” that may matter to the site
administrators. I would likely employ this site as a before/after school tool as I found it
engaging; however, I saw no employable assessment tools for an educator and was somewhat
concerned about the open forum of comments on the main page when you engage a game. As a
parent, I will likely welcome this app for very tech-engaged my third-grader to as a site to access
during her down-time, with adult supervision. I liked that gender and ethnicity was a non-
concern because there was no obvious stereo-typing or bias.
The fact that the games are diverse and include many skills was appealing.

Image retrieved from: http://www.scholastic.com/home/

References:
https://www.classdojo.com/
http://edtechteacher.org/apps/lms/#ipad
http://pbskids.org/apps/filter/app/
https://www.scholastic.com/kids/home/