Module 7 Blog Post: Integrating Gaming & Simulation Into My Classroom (SEL)

     "Zoo U" is an interactive simulation game developed by educators and developers at Centervention with funding from the U.S. Department of Education designed to help elementary and middle school students develop social and emotional skills. The game focuses on six main learning objectives, fostering the following: communication, cooperation, emotional regulation, empathy, impulse control, and social initiation. Gameplay involves navigating various social scenarios in a zoo themed setting, where students must make decisions and interact with different characters throughout the game. Below is an example of an in-game empathy targeted scenario, where the student must respond on how to answer, decide if they should stop playing a game to find out why their friend is sitting by himself. Tone of voice is taken into account as well. Even if the student provides the wrong response, they will see potential implications of their choices displayed further in the simulation and can make multiple attempts to master the skill.

    Additionally, critical thinking, metacognition, conflict resolution and empathy are comorbidly addressed. The game can be accessed through a computer, laptop or tablet, with an overseeing account for the teacher who can then create individual student accounts. It provides a benchmark level of assessment for each student with an initial game consisting of a virtual scenario and interaction opportunity based on each of the six targeted skills. The teacher then receives a report from this assessment that identifies each students’ individual strengths and weaknesses and allows the teacher to personalize the experience further. Students then continue to play through the remaining 30 scenario games as they work towards a fun goal of running a zoo, gamifying the experience. The teacher is able to view results of each student on the educator dashboard to provide ongoing assessment throughout the game experiences. 

     The gameplay of this open source game would fit perfectly into my individual IEP goal work blocks as all of my students have a social/emotional IEP goal that mentions at least one of the six focus objectives. However, each and every one of my students, regardless of IEP goal or not, requires practice in these areas. Practicing in a low-stake environment through interacting with digital avatars allows them to make mistakes without fear of embarrassment or judgment. In this way, the game itself allows me to provide a level of scaffolding to my students’ social and emotional skills growth.

    I would introduce the game as a whole-group lesson and assist the students in customizing their own avatars, providing them with a sense of agency and ownership over their digital character and choices within the game. I will provide a demonstration on the SmartBoard of how to access the student account as well as go through a round or two of gameplay as a group to teach fluency with the game platform explicitly. Additionally, I will create a visual reference chart for students to assist them in log in, troubleshooting, general game play and perhaps unknown vocabulary they may encounter. I plan to generalize skills taught within the game throughout our entire school day, breaking each of the six targeted skills into weekly or perhaps bi-weekly themes where additional activities are centered around that week's focus skill. 

References & Image Sources: 

3CVideoProduction. (2016, October 18). Zoo U: Evidence-based online game to assess and improve children’s social-emotional skills. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4KtoEllKMs

Centervention. (2024). Zoo U: An evidence-based SEL game. SEL Interventions: Zoo U. https://www.centervention.com/zoo-u-sel-game/