Reviews / October 11, 2021

5 Awesome No Prep Game-Based Online Learning Tools To Make Your Classes Fun and Exciting

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It’s always rewarding for us teachers to see students enjoying our classes.

There are a lot of digital tools that we could use to create a fun learning environment, but there are 5 tools that I personally use on days when I’ve got a tight class schedule and got not much prep time. But of course, I want my classes to stay awesome and worthwhile!

What I love about my top 5 game-based digital tools is that they are free* and all have Community-shared Resources. Just type what topic you want to teach and poof! – hundreds of games will pop up on your screen!

^{*extra features for paid accounts}

You can also use these games in both online and in-person classes!

1. Quizizz

Lessons: Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Listening Skills Practice, Trivias, Review Lessons

What I love about it

Aside from the wide range of community-shared resources and live quizzes, you can also make an interactive lesson on Quizizz!

You can add some various question types in between your slides,

and even import content from PDFs, PowerPoint, and Google Slides!

How it is played

Using any device (computer, tablet, mobile phones), students need to go to joinmyquiz.com and enter the game code, or you can send them the link directly to join the quiz.

During the live quiz, you can choose if students can play at their own pace (Classic) or Instructor-Paced, both with a given timer for each question. Players even have power-ups that they could use to level up their scores or use against other players!

You can also set the quiz as homework and send them the link! You will automatically receive a report once a student finishes the quiz.

2. Kahoot

Lessons: Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Trivias, Review Lessons

What I love about it

The game set-up is pretty cool as the students have to connect their devices as a game controller to choose their answers!

There are also various question types that you can choose when you want to create your own quiz.

How it is played

Unlike Quizizz, Kahoot doesn’t provide a direct link to join the game. Students must go to kahoot.it and enter the game code.

The quiz is paced with a timer for each question, and the teacher must click next to go to the succeeding questions.

3. Blooket

Lessons: Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Trivias, Review Lessons

What I love about it

There are over 10 fun game modes you can turn the games into, and the developers continue to update them!

So learning is never boring!

How it is played

Setting up Blooket is somewhat similar to Quizizz, although the game modes can be quite a little tricky to play. Check out this Blooket Game Complete Teacher Tutorial Youtube Video

Using any device (computer, tablet, mobile phones), students need to go to blooket.com/play and enter the game ID, or you can send them the link directly to join the quiz.

During the live quiz, the students will play at their own pace with a given timer for each question, they also have some power-ups to use against other players!

You can also set the quiz as homework and receive a report once the students finish the quiz.

Do you want to teach English anywhere in the world?

4. WordWall

Lessons: Warm-up activity, Speaking Skills Practice, Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Trivias, Review Lessons

What I love about it

You can turn a game into another template with just one click, and there are 18 of them!

So if you want to review a lesson, you can use the same game but as a different template – same same but different!

Wordwall is user-friendlier than Blooket as the templates are common childhood games.

How it is played

For in-class learning, you can flash the game on the screen and play with the class as a whole. If you have some available tablets or computers for the students, you can divide them into smaller groups, and they can play within their groups.

It would be similar online when you play as a whole class – just flash it on your screen. As for groupings, you can divide them into break-out rooms using the Zoom app, then you can send them the game link in the chatbox.

5. Baamboozle

Lessons: Warm-up activity, Speaking Skills Practice, Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Trivias, Review Lessons

What I love about it

It’s very easy to use! It only has one game template, but it has some exciting power-ups which allow teams to earn extra points, lose points, or other game-changers!

How it is played

I use the same concept as playing Wordwall.

For online learning, just flash it on your screen to play the game as a whole class. For groupings, divide them into break-out rooms using the Zoom app, then you can send them the game link in the chatbox.