Do Games Really Have a Purpose?

Some educators still cringe when they hear the word "games." It conjures up memories of when they were in school and their teachers berated classes with axioms like  "school and fun are not synonymous." Some educators feel that many games do not have a purpose. I agree. Do games have a purpose in education? In my opinion, absolutely. They have to be designed with for a purpose to have a purpose.

Fast forward to the 21st century and many educators think games are the equivalent of a Jeopardy PowerPoint template. I hate to break it to you, but our kids are past that! Many of our students feel that PowerPoint Jeopardy is the equivalent of trading in their iPod for a Walkman. It's old school!

Purpose Games is a site that allows you to create your own custom games or play existing games. It's free and all you need is a username and password. Do you want to create your own Geography game where students identify African countries? Do you want your students to identify the different parts of the human scull? 

The site gives you different options when creating a game. You can create a multiple choice game, a quiz where you have to identify different parts of graphic using dots, or a game using shapes. You can compete against other people and even participate in a tournament. Purpose Games has purpose and the ability to customize the learning experience for all students. I strongly recommend that you give it a try!