Mandy and I have been investigating mobile games with a particular focus on assessment, since we are both secondary teachers and often think about how to check for understanding in meaningful and engaging ways. For this project, we chose to make a resource to evaluate 4 mobile games that include assessment features: Kahoot, Wayground (Quizizz), Blooket, and Gimkit. To keep our work consistent, we created a rubric that helped us compare the strengths and limitations of each game.
In addition to looking at these current platforms and the history of mobile games, we also considered where mobile game assessment might be heading. We explored ideas such as the use of augmented and virtual reality, summative assessment, and the influence of points, badges, and leaderboards (PBLL) in motivating learners. We hope our post sparks some thoughtful discussion about how mobile games can be powerful tools, not only for engagement, but also for assessment.
This website is accessible and functions both on mobile devices and computers. Either follow the arrows at the bottom of each page to guide you through or feel free to explore! We aimed to use multimedia to make this resource collaborative, so it can change over time to reflect the new tools being created. We encourage you to engage with the multimedia as you move through the site!
https://sites.google.com/view/mobile-gaming-and-assessment/home
Here are the Discuss and Reflect questions:
- Do you think mobile games can ever replace traditional quizzes or tests as summative assessments? Why or why not?
- Have you experienced mobile game-based learning in your own education, either as a student or educator? What worked well, and what did not?
- What features do you think make a mobile game feel educational but still engaging?
- How could educators balance the fun of mobile gaming with the seriousness of assessment?
- Imagine the future: what would an ideal mobile game for both learning and assessment look like to you?
- Do you think the timeline missed any important moments in the history of mobile gaming? If so, which one(s)?
Thanks for your sharing, I really enjoyed exploring your site, it is so well-designed that I didn’t even realize it was made with Google Sites at first. The layout and visuals are so engaging.
Regarding your discussion question, I agree that mobile games and PBLL can be powerful extrinsic motivators. They give learners instant feedback and a sense of achievement, which definitely enhance their engagement. But as we’ve also seen in training settings, these elements can sometimes make learners focus more on chasing points rather than truly mastering the content, given that they could earn more points if they answer questions faster. I’ve used Kahoot in my own sessions too, and I’ve noticed that while it’s great for engagement, the question formats and feedback options can be quite limited. It’s hard to promote deeper reflection or experimentation through it. I think it would be really exciting if future platforms could include scenario-based tasks or adaptive simulations, so that mobile games could support more authentic and meaningful summative assessments.
I love the site your team made — it’s creative, well-organized, and shows a deep understanding of how mobile games can be used for learning and assessment. Educators can balance the fun of mobile gaming with the seriousness of assessment by using gamification as a source of motivation, not as a way to quantify learning. Learning can be challenging, even painful at times, but when students can measure their effort and see small achievements—like reaching goals or completing levels—they feel encouraged to continue. However, assessment should move beyond points and scores. True understanding grows through dialogue, reflection, and collaboration, as described in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and constructivist learning theory. Educators should design game-based learning experiences that promote discussion and shared problem-solving rather than simple competition. In this way, fun becomes a bridge to deeper thinking and authentic learning rather than just another measurement of performance.
Thank you for sharing such an interesting and engaging resource! You really brought to life how games can be authentically integrated into lesson planning and classroom experiences. I also think your site highlights an important point that games are entering the sphere of replacing traditional classroom assessments like quizzes and tests. At the forefront, it really does involve a shift in perspective and the viewpoint that games do have value, and just because an assessment is gamified, it doesn’t mean that the content being evaluated is not just as important as having that question on a quiz. The general connotation with assessment is that it cannot be fun; we often equate assessment with high-stakes tests and anxiety-inducing exams. However, with the widespread use of technology and diversification of digital tools, particularly in educational contexts, there is space for engagement and fun within assessment, and games would be a perfect way of balancing this. Although there are constraints on the time and effort it may take a teacher to develop these games, keeping them up to date with changing subject areas, and accessing funding needed to support their implementation, it is worthwhile to begin exploring their value and implementing them in small ways to support classroom engagement and provide students with alternate ways of demonstrating their knowledge.
This is one serious Google site; it looks so cool! I didn’t know Gsites had this kind of capability, and it makes me excited to start digging in to our own creation. Nice work folks.
I’m super curious to know; did you folks make that mobile-game timeline yourself!? Must’ve taken ages.
I’ve added to your collaborative mind map and put a few discussion posts on your Padlet on your site. Hope to meet some others there for discussion on the future of mobile gaming.
Let me know about that timeline!
Thank you for sharing! It is interesting to see from the timeline that starting in 2011, many more mobile games began integrating with education.
Personally, I think one of the main challenges in replacing traditional assessments with games is sustainability, especially the amount of effort required to update a game compared to quizzes or traditional assessments. For example, developing a game requires additional time, cost, and labor to design the gameplay and create assets such as graphics, videos, and sound.
Some subject areas also require frequent updates, for example immigration law, so using a medium that is harder to update can be challenging, especially in times of budget cuts.
That being said, looking to the future, as AI can now generate creative assets in a short amount of time, it may become possible to create educational games as easily as we currently create online multiple choice quizzes.