I was updating my resources page and realized that I had not written about this site.

Arcademic Skill Builders has been a hit with students in third through sixth grade.  Fourth and fifth seem to enjoy it the most, and the benefit of having certificates to print out is nice.  The games require a flash player and updated browser, though they seemed to work alright on Firefox 2.0 and an older Safari in the classrooms.

Arcademic has several subject areas–math (the basic four: adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division), language arts (reading and grammar), and states and capitals.  There are two ways to play, as well.  Students can challenge each other in multiplayer math games.  They can also play single player games and advance through stages until they complete the game, receiving a certificate.

The games are great quality visually, and the music is enjoyable.  The students made a lot of positive comments about the game quality and music.  I also sent out the site address to the teachers in the intermediate grades, and they had good things to say about it.

One issue that can occur with multiplayer mode is that the school district firewall prevents the necessary connection to Arcademic’s server.  The resolution is to contact the district IT department and request that it be unblocked.  Have him/her “set the firewall to allow outbound traffic (from the school to the outside world) on TCP port 8080.”

In the meantime, it is a good opportunity to talk about how multiplayer online games work and encourage students to challenge each other with their home computers.

Here’s some basic information from the manual page at the Arcademic Skill Builders site:

This program provides a total approach to building basic skills. Obtaining a high rate of learning requires rapid and focused repetition, high motivational levels, excitement, and involvement. Students must employ strategy under exciting circumstances to make rapid responses while being provided immediate feedback.

The strategies for using the games are best represented by three motivational features — improvement, fast action, and increasing levels of difficulty:
- Improvement. Poor performance in these games is not viewed by players as failure but as a challenge to improve. Improvement comes through two means, familiarity and strategy. As the player grows familiar with the events, he/she is able to develop and implement strategies to reduce negative consequences and improve performance.
- Fast action. Requiring a high number of responses in a short period of time is motivational and requires good performance. The individual has no time for interfering and distracting thoughts without serious penalty.
- Increasing levels of difficulty. With our routine, drill takes on an aura of excitement and challenge with the games and strategies that increasingly require the student to face a more difficult situation just as a goal is accomplished. Such a challenge leads students to maximum proficiency.