DimensionU is an educational esports platform. As a leading developer of educational video games for math and language arts, DimensionU has a track record of helping improve student achievement. The company offers standards-aligned multiplayer video games that reinforce key math and literacy skills for grades three through nine and provides educators with comprehensive online reporting and management tools to help inform their instruction, support student learning, engage students and differentiate curriculum among learners. Students learn in an exciting, fast-paced and competitive virtual environment available on the web and for mobile devices. For more information, visit www.dimensionu.com or follow DimensionU on Facebook @DimensionU and Instagram @DimensionUgames.
Formats/platforms used:
Web / Mobile (iOS & Android)
Primary website URL:
What does DimensionU help with?
DimensionU offers a way to reduce the achievement gap by meeting students on their individual learning levels, and by offering a way to practice content that may have been taught quickly or from prior years. DimensionU provides a product that is appealing in its action-gaming opportunities while providing relevant content to improve performance. More specifically, DimensionU develops fluency and quickly improves automaticity of math and literacy skills that are critical foundations to student success in higher level coursework at the secondary level. For example, success in Algebra requires strong automaticity in lower level mathematic skills that some students never master to a high level of fluency. DimensionU can be used at any grade level to reinforce and develop that fluency while supporting the learner through engagement.
In addition, teachers often struggle with group-based activities that address varied skill levels within a classroom. DimensionU helps by enabling students to interact individually or as a team, while differentiating curriculum among the individual learners. Imagine a group of 6th grade students who academically function anywhere from a 5th grade to a 7th grade level. DimensionU allows them all to engage collectively on one “playing field”, even as a team, while each practicing their individualized curriculum.
Problem solved:
DimensionU helps to solve several problems for students:
- Lack of interest in curriculum
- Lack of Math Self-Esteem – (A common phrase often referred to by renowned mathematics educator, Dr. Valerie Jones at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, and user of DimensionU games.), as it relates to a students’ perception of themselves as a “math person”.
- Lack of Fluency / Automaticity in skills
Grade/age range:
DimensionU supports Grades 3 – 9 or Ages 8 and up. Anyone needing reinforcement/practice in those curriculum grade-level ranges – even adults, can use our product, which makes it a great solution for having parents interact with their children, especially since we now have a generation of parents that grew up playing video games.
Core/Supplemental/Special needs:
Core- Aligned to state and common core standards
Supplemental- students can practice above/below grade level content
Special Needs- allows students to work on independent math/literacy levels vs actual grade level.
Standards:
Subject: Math and Literacy (ELA)
Standards: Mapped to U.S. state standards including Common Core and State Testing Objectives.
Lesson time needed:
We recommend an average of 10-15 minutes per day (or per lesson), during regular class time or up to 30 minutes during out of school time. DimensionU games can be used in a little as 5-minutes time increments, making it an excellent warm-up or bell-ringer activity.
Pricing model:
Pricing is based on an annual license and available for purchase on a per student or per site basis. Educators have the flexibility to swap out licenses among users throughout the school year without additional charges.
Additional services:
Depending on the implementation model, DimensionU offers multiple support services to train educators on using DimensionU with students:
- Online tutorials that walk educators through various components in short time increments. This enables educators to obtain support according to their own schedules. All of these are included with any license purchase.
- Live virtual courses that are divided into a course series and offered at varying times and schedules. These courses are designed to last 15-20 minutes and provide opportunities for live Q&A and group discussion.
- Esports Competition hosting – live and virtual. DimensionU provides support services to organizations interested in hosting a live or virtual esporting event using DimensionU games.
What makes DimensionU unique?
What makes DimensionU unique, is that we are the only EdTech company offering an Esports for Education platform where students from varied skill and grade levels can engage with one another in a first-person multiplayer game environment and remain anonymous from a curriculum vantage point. We bring a diversity of academic abilities together on a level playing field.
Characteristics:
The DimensionU esports platform is designed to be easily accessible to users through either a standard web-browser or mobile app interface. Users log into either interface via a username and password, make a few simple selections to facilitate set-up and begin interaction within a safe, secure, multiplayer video game environment. Each game is supported with embedded in-game tutorials as well as instructional assistance as needed. Game play is segmented into short, discrete instances lasting anywhere from 5-20-minute time increments that are easily repeated and easily changeable to meet both user curricular needs and game preferences. The game environment defaults to a 1st person perspective to reflect a modern and authentic game experience but can be quickly modified to a 3rd person perspective to coincide with a user’s individual preferences. Users are presented with math or literacy-based problems to solve throughout the duration and these problems are integrated alongside the game play so that the dynamics of game play and solving problems are both instrumental to a user’s success.
The design principal at work is a learn-by-doing methodology. Fundamental game design principles are incorporated to 1) challenge learners to continue playing and 2) reduce the opportunity to simply guess. Responding correctly to problems is tied directly to a user’s success within the game. Unlike a typical worksheet of questions, users are encouraged and motivated to keep progressing by the game dynamics. In addition, users are provided with end game curricular review to support their understanding of incorrectly solved problems.
For educators, the DimensionU program provides two primary user tools: 1) A Teachers app accessible via the web or mobile devices, which enable educators to direct specific curriculum and game play parameters as desired for their students. 2) A web-based reporting and management portal that allows educators to track student and class performance over various time intervals as well as manage student accounts and group-based reporting features.
Here's what users are saying:
“My students at Knights love DimensionU and beg me to get on it! It's incredibly interactive. Everyone from struggling math students to our highest achievers benefit from using the program!”
-- Kristy Fisher, Middle School Teacher, Hillsborough County Public Schools
“I love using DimensionU with my students...for tutoring or intervention. I can get immediate results for where they are having trouble. After the game, I can have students pull up their missed questions. We can talk about it as a group to help all students, even the ones that haven't had a chance to see the question. I also like being able to assign different levels and/or tasks to students depending on what they need. And it doesn't hurt that my kids beg to play DimensionU.”
-- Stacy McGough, Elementary School Teacher, Garland Independent School District
“DimensionU has had a positive impact on my students as it challenges them to push themselves to learn even more. It offers an avenue for struggling students, or those with special needs to build confidence in their math abilities.”
-- Courtney Huff, Elementary School Teacher, Rome CSD
