It's a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make things simple.

Hi all! 

Hope you are fine and couldn’t wait for my next review 😉 how fantastic this would be!

What is it?

Today I am checking out gaming tools that can enhance teaching and learning and improve motivation of your students! Did you say “MOTIVATION” 🤩 ?? - I can hear you cry! Yes, there is something magical in motivation, isn’t there? It is quite powerful and can turn a mundane process into an exciting and successful adventure which can be helped by games. I checked out Voki, Triptico App. Kahoot, Deck Toys, Quizlet and Wordwall. So let me come straight to the winner – Wordwall 🏆, a web-based tool that allows teachers to create activities for their learners easily and quickly! And where can I start – it’s got tons of benefits:

• Easy to register. Not confident with technology? – no problem, you just need an email address to enter and you can start gamifying learning tasks straight away! 
•  Time saving! You can create an activity in minutes.
• Option to create printable worksheets
•  Option to edit an activity to meet your learners needs
• Variety of themes and graphics to match any purpose
•  Huge variety of game templates, such as:

screenshot

The free version gives access to 18 interactive templates which could be upgraded to 33 for a small subscription fee.

•  My favourite: available in many languages, not just in English! 

screenshot

 

Any concerns?

To be honest, it’s hard to find any really serious drawbacks... If I am really picky, I would mention these:

o   Internet connection required.

o    No import function to upload your content all in one go, but you can cut and paste your content.                                             

o   And yes, you have to pay a small fee to be able to access the version with more than 18 free templates and have an unlimited number of resources you can create. 

I have subscribed for a Pro licence - it's only £6 a month and it will allow me to create multiplayer activities. The subscription could be cancelled any time BUT you wouldn’t lose anything you have created. You can’t ask for the rules any fairer than that! 

Look what I have created in less than 5 minutes ⏳:

Wordwall Digital Learning Matching Game

Now you can ask me a professional question: What approaches to language learning or research underpin the use of this technology?

For Encouraging Engagement: class competitions, projects for students to create an activity for each other, self-study, individual tasks for fast learners.

 

Proved by Pedagogy: Interaction, differentiation, motivation and autonomy.

 

Support Solutions: versatile use in questionnaires and surveys, not just language related, starters, revision, online/face to face, feedback for teachers on students’ performance.

 

Conclusion

Overall, I can’t recommend it highly enough, but don’t take my word for granted – try Wordwall and its fantastic features and uses yourself! Hope you had enough information to feel encouraged to check it out, so please, come back and share your thoughts in comments below.