In this post we’re looking at a few classroom games I’ve adapted for online classes. As a majority of my classes have been one-to-one, that’s been my primary focus, but they can work for small group classes too.

Here’s a link to download the template – [online adaptation template]Download

To Adapt or not?

There are a few things to consider before you adapt a classroom game for your online lessons:

•     Consider the limitations of remote learning

•     Explore what’s already available

•     Does the interactive part of the game work when the players aren’t in the same room?

•     Will you reuse the lesson / is it a worthwhile time investment?

There are so many apps and games online that what you’re trying to make or adapt might exist already. Since you’re able to easily share links with students and play these games remotely, see if there’s a version you can use online before you spend time on your own.

Next, think about the interactions that make the game work. I’ve found that some of my favourite classroom games just don’t work online, or require so much work to adapt that it would be better to make something specifically for an online class, rather than adapting something pre-made. There are a lot of interesting things you can do when teaching remotely that you could never do in a classroom.

Finally, whenever you’re making something for a lesson it’s always better to spend time on something that you can use again and again, rather than something you’re only going to use once.

What follows are a few games I have used with success in my online classes.

Deduction Puzzle

Here’s a link to the original: https://teachinggamesefl.com/2016/03/01/picture-puzzle/

The online version is much the same, except I use a shared screen and I take the role of the second player. The player chooses which box to remove, then describes what they see and speculates on what is happening outside of the parts that have been revealed so far.

If you were playing with a small group, they could take it in turns or write their responses

When playing a game like this in a one-to-one class, it’s important to think about your role as the second player. You should be a good model of the answers you’re hoping for, and leave any language feedback until the end of the game.

To make the puzzles, you can take any of the photos from the original activity and resize the blue boxes for that picture. You could do the same with any picture that had lots of people and plenty to talk about. I have included two examples and a custom template to use.

Unfolding Mysteries

Here’s a link to the original: https://teachinggamesefl.com/2016/05/23/past-modals-unfolding-mysteries/

The online version works the same as the original. I reveal the clues by shrinking the blue box. Students can speculate out loud, or type their guesses.

Similarly, after we’ve played a few rounds with me revealing the clues, I would ask students to make their own mysteries. One-to-one, or in small groups, students can reveal their mystery one clue at a time, either speaking or in the chat box.

Quick discussion – exam prep

Here’s a link to the original: https://teachinggamesefl.com/2017/02/22/quick-discussion-activity-cities-and-amenities/

This isn’t really a game, but I like how this has worked in my exam classes. The original randomises the questions and the various locations of a city with two decks of cards. This grid system translates that random selection quite well, as students choose grid locations to reveal different places.

You could easily use the same template to choose random items in lots of games and activities as an alternative to decks of cards.

The discussion itself works well either in one-to-one lessons or group classes with break-out rooms.

Here’s another link to the templates – [Online adaptation templates]Download

Finally

Thanks for reading and I hope you find this useful

I was a little hesitant to post anything about online teaching, as there are so many excellent resources online, and my focus has always been classroom games. While the activities in this post have worked well for me, this is by no means my area of expertise. However, as more and more of my teaching is online there is likely to be more online based content in the future.