“Why were games chosen over other somaesthetic approaches? How complex a concept can this approach accommodate?”
“Cannot be applied universally to all games or concepts”

We chose games because students would do anything to get out of their seats and love having fun! PT periods are the most fun out of the entire timetable and that’s because you get to have fun and move around and enjoy with your classmates. Everyone loves to play, and the concept of ‘play’ itself is quite powerful! As for how complex a concept can be introduced in this manner, we’re not too sure. It is quite an experiment to see what concepts and games can be put together, and we think that if there’s teachers from all over the world contributing and ideating together, it would be fruitful in making as many associations as possible. There probably are concepts that cannot be converted to games at all, but maybe those can be taught/learnt better in a different way or maybe there are games that will be invented in the future that would explain it!

“I feel the games can be unfamiliar to some students at first, but they can learn about it in a few minutes. Also for some concepts, there were already several easy to understand explanations existing, on youtube videos like asapscience, but really like the concept of creating a repository of these concepts and their explanations.”

Youtube videos are a great asset to understanding concepts and theories, especially with the animations and graphics getting better as technology improves. We used them in our school days as well and know how helpful they are, despite being short and concise. But no matter how concise and descriptive the videos are, at the end of the day, they are still videos on a screen. We wanted to introduce a new way of learning that involves the body as well, an embodied way of understanding concepts that don’t involve sitting and animations.

“Not everyone is familiar with games. In a world of all tech, I doubt kids would be willing to play games that would otherwise be considered old-fashioned. Some games may overcomplicate things.”
“Use of augmented/virtual reality, universal games can be used instead.”

In a world of tech, isn’t it important to have kids play physical games? Even if the games are ‘old-fashioned’, they are still fun and competitive, not to mention probably nostalgic (either they’ve played it or have heard stories from their parents of how they used to play it as kids). The point of these games is to get the students moving and active to engage their body and activate their minds, and to get them to interact with each other, the teacher, and the subject.We did try to choose games that aren’t particular to India, but that’s quite difficult for us to do since we’re exposed mainly to what’s popular here. Apart from a few games that may be known all over the world, many games are regional. The website would help us collect various games from all over the world as we get feedback from teachers. Also, this may also be a fun way to get introduced to new games and cultures around the world!

“Its application in the long run for a wider syllabus is still questionable. Hoping they come up with a better framework and task flow so it's a more grounded system”
“Nice idea. Their topic really would help kids in real life. Only concern is if such techniques are implemented in real life for all topics, the time might be an issue.”

Our goal is to give teachers access to a repository of games that they could have their students play and concepts that they could teach them via using the analogy of the game. We will have structured information on the website that includes the concept overview, diagrams, notes for the teacher, explanation of the analogy, discussion points. The “Framework” that the teacher could use to introduce this into the class is based on what suits them and their school environment. It could be as simple as “Good morning class, let’s start class with a game of carrom!” or “Today we’re going to play a game of carrom to understand the Ideal Gas Laws!”

The idea isn’t for this to be implemented in schools as part of a mandatory curriculum, but rather for teachers who want to engage their students in exploratory and interactive activities that make them eager to learn and help them understand concepts better with tangible analogies and props instead of textbook examples. It’s in the teacher’s interest to introduce a concept through games.

“The nuances of the situation like physically disadvantaged children etc. Were not explored and accounted for.”

This is a very valid point that we didn’t really account for in our presentation! Thank you for pointing it out!

We discussed it after we read this feedback and realised that we cannot really ideate on the best way for specially-abled students to interact and play. We can make guesses and assumptions, but the best responses and ideas would come from teachers and educators who work in schools that cater to these students. They would have a better understanding of how these students could play and understand, while keeping in mind their safety needs. We hope that our website encourages them to give in their feedback and suggestions so that we include those into the repository as well!

“Is there a way teachers can add activities to the repositories? over time they may have some more ideas while teaching over years.”

Yes! One of our main goals is to make a website that teachers can give feedback and suggestions on so that games can be improved and added to the list. This would create a community space for teachers who are passionate about giving their students a really strong base for understanding concepts.