Is Radix Endeavor Right for You and Your Class?
As a teacher, whenever you are interested in incorporating a given technology into your learning environment, it is imperative that you have considered if it is the right fit for your and your students’ needs. To help teachers in this regard, Bates & Poole (2003) proposed a framework that has a list of criteria in the form of the acronym, SECTIONS (Students, Ease of Use, Cost Structure, Teaching & Learning, Interactivity, Organization, Novelty and Speed), that teachers should consider when choosing to use instructional technologies for their learning environment. Below is a checklist designed from the SECTIONS model that teachers should complete to help them evaluate if Radix is an appropriate tool for their math or science classroom.
Students: Is Radix appropriate for your students?
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Radix is cross-platform and played entirely online. It requires an Internet connection, any standard web browser, and the Flash plug-in.
Minimum System Requirements:
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Organization: Do you have the confidence and ability to organize the necessary elements that are needed to introduce and facilitate the use of a digital game?
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Consider: Time to produce and modify, and design templates.
Consider:
- Are the puzzles in Radix too hard or easy for your students? Do they have the base skills or knowledge to solve some of the more complicated tasks?
- The skills required to finish each quest will build on the lessons learned in prior quests so a base knowledge of each topic will be sufficient.
- Do your students have the necessary online navigation skills? Radix is an online browser-based game which requires players to use a computer’s mouse and keyboard to navigate through the game.
- Does the game/puzzles fit your students’ learning styles? The puzzles in Radix are visual in nature and require students to use logic and reasoning to solve the problems.
Consider:
- Does your school have regular access to enough computers with Internet connections? Radix is an online game that requires an Internet connection. If you do not have enough computers so that each student has their own, you can create small groups so that students can share and tackle the problems together.
- Does your school have the technology requirements for Radix? Even though Radix is a free, online, browser-based game, it does require that the computers you will be using have an Internet connection and some minimum platform requirements.
Radix is cross-platform and played entirely online. It requires an Internet connection, any standard web browser, and the Flash plug-in.
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows and Macintosh
- Microsoft Windows XP or Mac OS 10.6
- Modern Intel Core series or AMD Athlon Processor @ 2GHz or faster
- 1GB of RAM
- 1024 x 768 display (1280 x 800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
- Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 22, Chrome 27
- Adobe Flash Player 11.2 Download
- Broadband Internet Connection required for online access to Radix
- Windows and Macintosh
- Microsoft Windows 7 or Mac OS 10.8
- Modern Intel Core series or AMD Athlon processor @ 3GHz or faster
- 2GB of RAM
- 1024 x 768 display (1280 x 800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
- Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 22, Chrome 27
- Flash plugin installed and updated. Download
- Broadband Internet Connection required for online access to Radix
Consider:
- Does your school have the necessary resources? Despite Radix being a free game, they do require functioning computers to play them on. Does your school have the budget for the necessary tech support to maintain functioning computers?
- Do students have access to computers at home? If you are planning on using Radix as an outside-the-classroom support tool, you need to make sure your students have access to computers with the necessary requirements.
Consider:
- Are your students engaged when playing digital games? Although many adolescents play digital games regularly, not all students may find them interesting.
- Are you able to adapt to a more open-structured learning environment within your classroom? It should be noted, that when the creators designed Radix, it was with the intention that students would be given the time to explore and investigate the digital world and choose which quest to pursue.
Consider:
- Do your students have the necessary patience and attention to play the game/puzzles? Despite the visual, tactile, and cognitive characteristics that Radix offers to students, it still requires that they spend considerable time in front of a computer.
- There is a risk that if you have a 1-to-1 device classroom that students will be drawn into the game and not interact with others. To avoid this a teacher may wish to have students play in small groups and thus foster group interactions and team problem solving.
Organization: Do you have the confidence and ability to organize the necessary elements that are needed to introduce and facilitate the use of a digital game?
Consider:
- Are you comfortable and familiar with using digital games? To use Radix effectively, the teacher should set up their class into teams within the program. Often, students new to digital games will need help setting up their account and how to navigate through the game.
- How comfortable are you at troubleshooting problems that arise when students are using technology? Every so often, a problem arises in the game or Internet connection in which a student may need your help to continue.
Consider:
- Are your students interested in MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Games)?
- With the speed that video games and technology is changing, will Radix still capture the attention of students?
Consider: Time to produce and modify, and design templates.
- Do you have the time to produce meaningful lesson plans to investigate the concepts covered in Radix’s puzzles? Radix is a great tool to support learning, but should only make up one of several learning activities when teaching a given math or science concept(s).
- Will students be given enough time at school (or at home) to play Radix? You should make sure that the school (or student’s house) has enough computer resources and time allotment to provide students with enough time to play the game in a meaningful way.