One of the most common ways teachers are using Prodigy is as an online math station (Morrison et al., 2020).
There are many benefits that come with using Prodigy in the classroom. This may be why many educators are turning to Prodigy to help motivate their students and enrich the mathematics curriculum.Ĭritique and Implications for Education Benefits (2020), found that students playing Prodigy were highly engaged in the storyline, and were motivated to work on math questions in order to increase their levels in the game. In a study of Grades 1 to 4 students in two different elementary schools, Morrison et al. Studies show that math apps help to improve student learning and specifically help struggling students lessen the academic gap (Zhang, M., Trussell, R. Prodigy is appealing to young students because it uses game-like elements, such as colourful digital aesthetics, diverse avatars, meaningful choice, game points and leaderboards in order to increase motivation (Albertazzi et al., 2018 Ferrara, 2012). Gamification uses “game design elements in non-game contexts” (Deterding et al., 2011, p. Prodigy is an example of a popular math app that is based upon the idea of gamification. With an increase in households and schools having access to tablet computers, math apps are becoming increasingly popular to engage students in mathematics (Zhang et al., 2015). Prodigy offers questions that cover a wide range of thinking skills including fluency, knowledge and interpretation, with the ultimate goal of not only understanding content but in the independent application of knowledge (Prodigy, n.d.). The game’s content also aligns with curriculum in the United States, Australia, India and England. In Canada, the content students are challenged with aligns with the Ontario mathematics curriculum. The math questions are aligned to curricular standards based on a player’s geographical location. The ability to cast spells to battle wizards and move up levels requires students to accurately answer mathematical questions. The concept of the game is centered around a mythical fantasy world, where students are challenged to conquer quests in order to defeat the evil Puppet Master. Prodigy is an online, self-paced mathematics game for students in Grades 1 to 8. Some kids have beaten the Titan, but I haven’t beat him yet.Summary: An online math game for students in Grades 1-8 that is based on curricular standards. Every time there is a new season, the game updates the different worlds to match the current season. If you have gone through all the worlds in Prodigy, you would know that there is a buried world that has the biggest and hardest enemy of all time called the Titan. If you pay attention to the main screen where you log on, you will notice different seasons. The creators decided to make it educational so that schools could use it. Prodigy used to just be a kids game similar to Pokemon. You can play Prodigy on your phone, desktop or tablet. Prodigy has 10 worlds you can explore to battle different wizards and avatars. You acquire coins by visiting places in the game.
If your avator dies, you need to pay 100 coins to come back to life. But if you get the answer wrong, then you lose health. If you get the math question correct, the avatar loses health. You create your own avatar and answer math questions to try to beat another avatar. Prodigy is a math computer game that some schools allow their students to play.