Tip of the Week: Social Studies Simulations for Sharing list

I’m not exactly clear on how and where I ran across the Social Studies Simulations for Sharing Google Doc. I’m pretty sure that Shawn McCusker, one of the original founders of the awesome #sschat hashtag / website and social studies edtech guru, created the document back in 2012. The list splashed back on the interwebs just before the 2015 holiday break and, after apparently spending the last few years watching reruns of the West Wing, I finally became aware of it.

The research behind the use of engaging learning activities such as video games and online simulations is pretty clear. More and more teachers are using these types of tools as part of their instructional design.

Part of the problem for many teachers is that it can be difficult finding games and sims to use in their classrooms.

Shawn’s doc can help with that.

For the last three years, the shared Google Doc has been added to and edited with pages of games, sims, online tools, suggestions, and ideas for integrating games-based learning into the social studies. Head over to the Social Studies Simulations for Sharing Google Doc and get access to all sorts of goodies that have been posted by fellow social studies teachers. Add your own suggestions to the list. And together, we can all walk away smarter.

And when you’re done over there, drop by my games / sims resource page at Social Studies Central. You find more games and sims as well as useful books, mobile apps, teaching ideas, and #gbl research.