Product Review of PaGamO – The Tech Edvocate

Learners must complete a “mission” assigned by the teacher. These missions involve answering questions (either pre-set from the game or created by the teacher and saved in the question bank). Teachers can decide what kind of reward each mission brings, how many learners can get it, etc. Students can use these rewards to strengthen and expand their territory, including attacking other players. However, all players get an initial “grace period” during which they are not attacked. If you make the attack yourself, you lose that privilege.

Teachers need to set up classes, invite learners, and prepare question banks for learners. There is a small selection of pre-made questions (mainly provided by Saddleback) or you can purchase question packs from Evan Moor (starting at $7.99). You can also take your time and create your own question bank. The bad news is that entering your own questions takes time, but that means PaGamO is highly customizable. It’s probably best to start small and add incrementally, targeting what the learner needs to know for the next assessment. Teachers can set up class leaderboards and tournaments to encourage learners to play games. After learners have finished playing, educators may host discussions about strategy and creative thinking.

The concept of PaGamO is interesting and seems to be used in online MOOCs such as Coursera. The problem for many educators is the lack of available questions. There is very little built-in content unless you contact PaGamO and consider purchasing Evan Moor’s question packs (starting at $7.99). If you don’t want to buy question packs, expect to do a lot of initial setup to suit your content and needs. However, it is not as sophisticated in terms of interaction design and sophistication as the games learners are likely to play at home. Students will enjoy continuing to use this tool for practice, but educators should be aware that learning is limited to traditional multiple-choice question banks. However, it’s a step up from flashcards, given the more engaging context and additional layer of strategy provided by territorial expansion.

Website: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.boniotw.global.pagamo

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1114434167?uo=4&at=10laCG&ct=website

User’s overall consensus about the app

student involvement

Game-based incentives and colorful animations make learning time more fun, but learning itself is just a multiple-choice question.

Curriculum and instruction

Additional strategic thinking is required to expand the realm, but content learning still boils down to fact-based memorization.

customer support

A brief tutorial pop-up gets the user familiar with the game board and dashboard quickly, but after that the user needs to figure things out or message PaGamO support.