Online Games for Class: Teacher-Friendly Ideas for Review and Vocabulary Practice

Online quiz games can be used as one classroom activity for review or vocabulary practice. In language teaching, educational online games are among the classroom methods that can incorporate multimedia (MEXTESOL Journal).

Start with the content students will review, then decide what response you will check afterwards. This article focuses on teacher-hosted quiz activities rather than treating a game as a replacement for instruction. A review of game-based learning in business training and development states that activities should align with learning goals and outcomes and show that learning can be evaluated and achieved (World Journal of Science Technology and Sustainable Development).

Editorial disclosure: Educators Support is the content author; Fatima is Founder and Publisher. Research, drafting, and verification use the Educators Support automated editorial workflow. This article does not imply human or clinical review.

Plan the review target before selecting a game

Choose one narrow item for the activity rather than treating the game as a review of an entire topic. For example, write: “Students will recall the meanings of the eight key terms from this week’s unit.” Keep the target visible while you prepare the questions.

Next, decide what student response you will look at after the activity. You might use a one-question entry prompt before the game, a brief observation note during it, or a written exit question afterwards. Select one point to check, then keep that choice with the lesson materials.

A four-question planning card

Use the card before choosing a game format or writing a question set. If the target is “recall the meanings of eight terms,” write prompts that ask students to match, identify, or define those terms. If the intended response is a sentence using one selected term, reserve that task for the post-game check rather than adding unrelated content questions.

Keep the follow-up small and specific. A teacher might write, “Revisit the difference between ‘predator’ and ‘prey’ tomorrow,” or “Ask students to explain their choice for question six.” For further ideas about choosing and recording classroom checks, explore these formative assessment strategies for the classroom.

Use quiz games for a defined classroom task

Once the review target and follow-up check are set, use the quiz game for that single part of the lesson. Keep questions tied to the stated vocabulary or review content, and leave unrelated prompts for another activity. Gimkit is one example of a platform on which instructors can create quiz games and host them in class (Canadian medical education journal).

Decide in advance where the game fits: after introducing the material, during a review period, or before the planned written check. State the boundary aloud: “This round is only about the vocabulary from today’s reading.” For wider context on placing activities within a lesson, see what classroom management means.

Worked example: a vocabulary review set

Target: Review eight words from the current reading text.

1. List the eight words on the planning card already prepared for the lesson.
2. Write one prompt for each word. Include a definition-to-word match, a word-to-context match, or a sentence-completion prompt.
3. Check each prompt against the target. Remove any question about a different part of the text, even if it would be enjoyable to include.
4. Run the quiz as the review activity.
5. Use the preselected evaluation point afterwards: ask students to complete one short non-game item that uses two target words.

For example, the post-game item might read: “Write two sentences. Use reluctant in one sentence and observe in the other.” Record the prompts or words you want to revisit in a later lesson. Keep the note brief: “Return to the context question for reluctant” or “Ask for another sentence using observe.”

What one seventh-grade vocabulary study found

An experimental study examined vocabulary learning among 93 seventh-grade students learning English as a foreign language. The students were assigned to one of three classroom groups: educational videos, online educational games, or conventional teaching. The programme included a pre-test at the beginning and a post-test at the end (MEXTESOL Journal).

In this study, the online educational games group had higher achievement than both the educational-video group and the conventional-teaching group (MEXTESOL Journal). The study authors interpreted the results as suggesting that multimedia learning had a significant effect on vocabulary enhancement (MEXTESOL Journal).

How to read the finding responsibly

Keep the study description attached to the result. It concerned seventh-grade English-as-a-foreign-language learners, vocabulary acquisition, three specified teaching approaches, and a pre-/post-test programme. It was not a test of every subject, age group, classroom setting, or online quiz format.

Use the finding as research context when considering a vocabulary-review activity, rather than as a prediction for a particular class. Before drawing on it, name the vocabulary that students will review, decide what comparison or check will follow the activity, and record what students can demonstrate afterwards. For example, a teacher might select eight recently taught words, prepare questions requiring students to identify or use those words, and then use a separate short check after the game.

Do not treat a single study as a universal recommendation. A classroom game can be considered alongside the lesson’s stated learning goal, the words being reviewed, and the teacher’s planned way of examining student responses.

Choose terms and formats that match the lesson purpose

Gamification is a collection of techniques that may be applied to educational and workplace activities; it may also sit around game-based learning, serious games, or simulations as a wrapper rather than naming one single activity format (World Journal of Science Technology and Sustainable Development).

For classroom review, start with what pupils are expected to revisit and what you will look at afterwards. If the intended evidence is answers to questions on previously taught content or a defined vocabulary set, choose a quiz-game approach. Do not select a simulation simply because it has a more specialised label.

Quick format comparison

For example, write: “Review these ten recently taught terms. Record each response to the meaning-and-use prompts.” Then choose the least elaborate format that fits that statement. A platform example is Gimkit, which allows instructors to create quiz games and host them in class (Canadian medical education journal).

Keep the activity alongside your planned formative assessment strategies for the classroom and the wider decisions involved in what classroom management means. When adapting the activity for another class, retain the stated review target and response check. No platform or routine guarantees outcomes.

Set up one focused review round

For your next lesson, choose one vocabulary set or review target, write the questions around it, and decide in advance what student responses you will look at afterwards. Keep the game within that single purpose before expanding its use.