Early foreign language teaching has recently been made compulsory in Finland, making this an area open to development and innovation where policy-makers and teachers play a significant role in creating new kinds of learning environments, operating cultures, and pedagogy for foreign language learning. This article discusses the early foreign…

Gamification, the use of game design elements within nongame contexts, can be found across a wide range of digital products and is used to increase user engagement and simplify complex tasks for the user. While the use of gamification can be problematic with some content and contexts, these same strategies do have potential for engaging students…

Authors Kevin McCaughey and Rick Rosenberg demonstrate techniques for using board games to stimulate student-centered language practice that is flexible, productive, engaging, and fun. The article includes tips for efficient game play and for using games with a variety of levels and class sizes. The authors show that playing board games for…

This article describes how the authors developed the activity Speaqual to enable their students to "speak" about the "equal" sign and foster communication of their reasoning. The article explains how to play Speaqual and how the students were thoroughly engaged in a friendly competition, centralizing algebraic concepts and…

In the early years of school, pupils have a very positive approach towards any new topic. Very often, the first contact with mathematics in the Italian school risks giving a limited and somehow negative impression, generating long-lasting effects. In this paper, we report on a series of experiences carried out in a second-year class of a primary…

Technology is increasingly being used to foster engagement, enhance classroom dynamics, promote autonomy and improve the student learning experience in language learning environments. Many teachers have begun to employ digital apps and tools (e.g. Mentimeter and GoSoapBox) as a more interactive alternative to traditional activities. One product…

Game-based learning has been shown to promote active learning. We have designed a card game termed CountQuest, played on the online platform Zoom, to facilitate the revision of the effective atomic number (EAN) concept for metal complexes previously taught in lectures. This game was played by undergraduate and graduate chemistry students during…

This article discusses how the authors' 'Science Hunters' suite of projects uses the computer game Minecraft to engage children, particularly those from underrepresented groups, with STEM. Delivered by environmental scientists, Science Hunters projects link to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through offering inclusive…

At Play in the Cosmos is a game for University-level Astronomy courses. Designed as a collaboration between the Games + Learning + Society Center, an academic center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Norton & Company, Cosmos is intended to support a "game-first" model of curriculum in which students play the game before…

The field of education was distinctly affected by the development of information and communication technologies, as they can make education more efficient, interactive, and available. Today's students call for new innovative educational approaches. Digital communication technologies are the organic part of their life and they are group-oriented…

The "Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education" (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2020a) requires all teachers to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples', culture and history where there is scope to meaningfully do so. However, there is a general absence in Australia and internationally…

Modern trends lead to innovative technologies in education, including the birth of digital and gamified learning or gamification. In English language classrooms, meaningful teaching and learning are significant to developing students' English proficiency, focusing on linguistics and communicative competence. Various language activities and games…

Coding is a process often associated with computers. Nevertheless, coding is a thought process that can be mastered even without a computer. In NSW, primary students are introduced to computational and algorithmic thinking as early as Stage 1. Yet, teaching coding to young students is not always easy for teachers, mostly because the process is…

Physically Active Learning (PAL) is an approach that seamlessly integrates movement with learning. Research has demonstrated that PAL can: (1) improve classroom behavior and activity engagement; (2) significantly reduce sedentary periods of time; and (3) offer aggregated improvement in academic performance over time. This article describes…

Teaching in a traditional school setting is usually conducted via the direct instruction pedagogical model (DIPM). Unfortunately, this model was confronted with significant criticism and did not remain a popular choice among researchers, because of its narrow focus on physical education (PE) as sports technique and its one-size-fits-all design…