GCompris is an educational software of a wide range of games and activities for children ages two to ten years old. According to the website, it has been around for over 20 years and contains 150 learning activities. The activities span a multitude of subjects including math, reading, science, social studies, music, and art. After playing through some of the games, I think the students in my class would gravitate towards the dice and dominos game for math and the puzzles.
While GCompris hosts many games, I found some of them are clunky, confusing, and not worth using in the in the classroom. Others are geared toward young children and would not be suitable for my students, while others would be too advanced. Teachers will need to familiarize themselves with the rules and nuances of the games and activities prior to presenting them to students to alleviate any frustration.
The students in my K-2 special education class have delays in reading and math that are addressed in their IEP goals. Several of them struggle to identify letters and numbers. GCompris can be used in the classroom to address the students’ individual needs. With careful selection of activities found on GCompris, students can be given opportunities to practice the skills related to their IEP goals. In addition to the individual goals, students would have opportunities to play games related to music, art, science, and social studies through the game.
Access to GCompris games requires downloading the software suite onto a computer. Since the software runs on the computer, my students can use the games and activities on the smartboard. While the software contains numerous games, I found some to be clunky, confusing, and not worth using. A few of my students are easily frustrated when learning how to navigate and play games. To alleviate added frustration for the students, I would start with choosing one game at a time to introduce. I would make sure I fully understand how to play and help guide them through the game.
“Videogames feature authentic assessment not only because success hinges on students’ application of learned information in a new yet relevant context, but also because students are asked to be creators and/or problem solvers.” (Abrams & Gerber, 2021) Student’s successful use of the games and activities on GCompris will provide additional support with IEP goals. Student’s will be able to practice the concepts and skills needed to move through their yearly goals.
Reference
Timothée Giet. (2025). GCompris educational software. GCompris. https://gcompris.net/index-en.html
Special Issues, Volume 1: Critical Media Literacy : Bringing Lives to Texts, edited by Tom Liam Lynch, National Council of Teachers of English, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/empire-ebooks/detail.action?docID=7101610.
Created from empire-ebooks on 2025-06-25 03:43:45.
Hi Heidi,
ReplyDeleteThis platform seems very interesting. I have never heard of it before. My students are 3 and 4 years old and some of the games might be suitable for them. A lot of them are super excited to work for iPad use at the end of their lesson. The games they play now are building words and counting, but they do not really teach them the letters. They pretty much have to match the letters that are in the words. This site might be a better option for summer school this year and the following years.