I have continued to explore, learn and improve my skills within Poptropica. There are multiple islands that all have different themes. Today, I am going to focus on the mythology island.
This game allows it’s players to work in an sandbox environment where it is safe and controlled. They are able to explore without worry of failure. As you walk through the level, you can interact with different characters and get more background information about what is going on in the game.
Poptropica definitely assumes that the students who are playing this game have context to the story of Zeus and Hercules. If they do not have any of the information before playing, they would just be moving through the worlds without learning anything. This game allows students to make their own decisions on where to go and what to explore all while getting factual information about history in a more entertaining way.
What this game is missing is the ability to play with other students online and interact with peers. This game could also be confusing to students as the navigation is difficult to use and there are no prompts in the game to explain where to go or what to do next if they get stuck.
This is a great game for students who have context and are interested in exploring the world of history in a fun and safe environment.
Educational Technology in Athletics | L. Butler 
I absolutely loved this game in elementary and middle school! My favorite islands were the historical ones that I already had a bit of background knowledge on because I felt it always helped me solve the problems at a little bit faster (at least I felt it did). I loved that each challenge was somewhat difficult but not so difficult that I wanted to give up (maybe just take a break and change my character’s outfit). I understand your difficulty with the controls I know that was something that took getting used to when I first started playing. 5th grade me found it’s sometimes easier if you use a mouse! My family loved that I was into this computer game as, like you said, it is a very safe and kid friendly environment in which to play.
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