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1. Developing Math Knowledge and Computational Thinking Through Game Play and Design: A Professional Development Program.

   Smith, H. (October 2020, Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   null (Ed.)

   The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms. 

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2. The WearableLearning Platform: A Computational Thinking Tool Supporting Game Design and Active Play

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-022-09601-1  

   Arroyo, Ivon; Closser, Avery Harrison; Castro, Francisco; Smith, Hannah; Ottmar, Erin; Micciolo, Matthew (August 2022, Technology, Knowledge and Learning)

   This emerging technology report introduces the WearableLearning (WL) platform as a tool to exercise computational thinking and STEM learning for 5-12th grade students through mobile technology-augmented active game play and game creation. Freely available at WearableLearning.org, it allows students and teachers to play, create, debug, and manage multiplayer, active games. To date, WearableLearning has been used in schools and afterschool programs by roughly 500 students and 25 teachers to create games covering STEM curricular content. WearableLearning enables the creation of physically active and social games, while offering possibilities for research on computational thinking, embodied cognition, collaborative learning, game-based learning, and practical applications of technology in STEM classrooms. 

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3. Augmenting Embodied Mathematics Classrooms with Mobile Tutors.

   Arroyo, I. (April 2021, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   We present the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), a web-based platform that supports embodied educational game creation, play, and math learning in real classrooms. WLCP is a novel learning technology that supports students’ exploratory and active movement within learning environments, blending hands-on activities and collaborative games within classroom culture. We present preliminary findings from several experiments that show that a variety of embodied games created via the WLCP helps students learn mathematics in real K-12 school settings and afterschool programs. 

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4. Augmenting Embodied Mathematics Classrooms with Mobile Tutors

   Arroyo, I. (January 2021, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   null (Ed.)

   We present the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), a web-based platform that supports embodied educational game creation, play, and math learning in real classrooms. WLCP is a novel learning technology that supports students’ exploratory and active movement within learning environments, blending hands-on activities and collaborative games within classroom culture. We present preliminary findings from several experiments that show that a variety of embodied games created via the WLCP helps students learn mathematics in real K-12 school settings and afterschool programs. 

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5. How Classroom Gameplay Changes Teachers: Perceptions and Takeaways on the Use of Computer Games After a Classroom Intervention

   https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8302924  

   Torres Castillo, Ruth (January 2023, Journal of advanced technological education)

   While teachers are consistently asked to investigate new forms of technology, the use of computer-based games provides additional, unique issues. This research describes the changes in 12 elementary teachers' perceptions of games in the classroom after participating in an early algebra game-based intervention. Teachers implemented two computer-based games and one interactive tool as part of their daily mathematics lesson. They were also asked to guide their students through specific supplemental activities for out-of-game learning, which directly related to the content in the games. Surveys, classroom observations, self-reflection logs, and interviews documented teacher-student interaction during Math Snacks games. Findings reflect how the intervention changed teachers' views of games; their orientation to using inquiry in the classroom; their facilitation of technology; and their perception of including students with different abilities in gameplay. Participating teachers saw games as a tool to let students explore and introduce a topic with minimal initial guidance. Some teachers also noted the value of computer-based games in supporting low-performing students' integration and participation with the rest of the class. Teachers reported that students' collaboration and discussion skills were the primary competencies noticed while students were playing. Most of the teachers noted that their role as facilitators is essential n in the students' learning. 

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