Online Bingo as Review Tool in the Sciences

Bingo’s proven ability to enhance memory retention makes it a powerful revision tool for students whose subjects demand total recall of facts and formulae. An online bingo application designed to test the memory of students in which randomly selected scientific terms and facts replace numbers would be a welcome addition to a student’s study regime.

Variants of bingo have already been used in the school lab (1) as a means for testing the retention of facts before an exam. The success of this method points to a need to explore an online version which can be made available to the growing number of students studying online.

Discussion on Incentives to Study via Online Bingo

The offer of rewards has long been a feature of encouraging students and pupils to study. Currently, free online bingo games in their commercial application offer customers cash prizes via jackpots and bonuses as a means of attracting players. A similar model could be set up with educational bonuses linked into accredited curriculums being the incentive to attract players.

Online bingo also has the potential to offer every participating student the chance of being a “winner� in that they need not necessarily compete with other classmates once online. The technology available to online bingo applications means the student would be playing the programme and not competing against other students. This would increase the chances of bingo success for each player and subsequently enhance the educational progress made by each player.

Online Bingo as a Way of Fostering a Sense of Student Community

One of the more obvious benefits offered by online bingo as a potential education tool is its recognized “chat� function making it possible for students in various locations to communicate in real time while playing. This feature alone hints at online bingos’s potential inter-cultural applications and offers a means by with cultural interaction can be facilitated.

Online bingo in its commercial form is noted for its “community spirit� in which online bingo hall members often communicate with each other during online games and events. The establishment of educationally-driven online bingo halls offers a chance to mimic the success of online bingo communities by bringing students of diverse backgrounds together under a unified educational subject.

End of Part 2

References

(1) T. Trimpe 2001 http://sciencespot.net/

Bibliography/References

British Council BBC: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/young_learners.shtml

Teaching Ideas: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/

Online Gaming Research: http://www.freewebs.com/mick15/home.htm

The Standards Site: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/?version=1

Written by John Witherspoon - Play bingo online at http://bingostreet.com/ and read our online bingo blog.

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