Serious Fun:
Making Games Work in the Classroom
Radka Malá
The 32nd P.A.R.K. Conference 28/03/2026
let's get started
I think that's enough with the game. Could we go back to studying now?
-a frustrated English student
Creativity
fun
WOW Effect
Autonomy
engaging
Visual
break from the routine
Interactive
We mean well!
94%
students consider game-based learning a significant motivator for classroom participation
Chan & Lo (2022)
Useful games
Playtime!
01
KNOW your PURPOSE
Never use the game as an end in itself
A game should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class had nothing better to do.
Lee (1979)
Playtime!
the bragging game
02
make sure it's clear
Provide simple instructions or a model
Playtime!
STANDING BINGO
03
ENGAGe & ACTIVATE
Make sure students are not passive
Playtime!
THE HUMAN JIGSAW PUZZLE
04
BE A PART OF IT
Monitor & help
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Playtime!
70%
of students are visual or tactile learners
Props make a difference!
What you remember the most of any lesson is your own contribution to it - allow such moments to happen.
Hermann Ebbinghaus
The forgetting curve
The checklist
Make sure your students have fun. Meaningful fun.
Thank you!
metodik@venturesbooks.com
radka.mala@giramondo.cz
20xx
Include infographics in your creations
85%
purchases are emotional
The passion that storytelling evokes is our ally to influence the teaching and learning process.
20xx
Insert a great video for your presentation and use this space to describe it. The multimedia content is essential in a presentation, to leave everyone speechless. Moreover, this way you will summarize the content and entertain your audience.
Use videos
02
Narrative beings
Generate experiences with your content.
Contextualize your topic
Pose a dramatic question; it is the essential ingredient for keeping the audience's attention. It is usually posed in a subtle manner at the beginning of the story to intrigue the audience and is resolved at the end.
Measure results and experiment
+ info
It has a WOW effect. Very WOW.
03
Social beings
85%
The passion that storytelling provokes is our ally in influencing the teaching and learning process. What you read: interactivity and animation can turn the most boring content into something fun. At Genially, we also create our designs to facilitate understanding and learning, so you can level up with interactivity and turn your content into something that adds value and engages.
emotional purchases are emotional
01
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and share it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating as always is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates. Visual content is a cross-cutting, universal language, like music. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from different cultures.
Visual beings
Contextualize your topic
20xx
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and share it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating the usual way is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates. Visual content is a cross-cutting, universal language, like music. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from different cultures.
Share your idea with an image
04
Insert a great video for your presentation and use this space to describe it. The multimedia content is essential in a presentation to leave everyone speechless. Additionally, this way you will synthesize the content and entertain your audience.
Digital beings
Contextualize your topic
- It is clear and structured
- It tells stories hierarchically.
- It makes 'match' with your audience.
- It adapts fonts and color to the theme.
- It includes images and entertains.
- It represents data with charts.
- It uses timelines.
- It is animated and interactive.
- It excites the brain through multimedia elements.
- It does NOT overdo the bullet points.
A great presentation is clear and structured to convey information in an orderly and hierarchical manner, achieving to deliver content that excites the brain. For this, animation and interactivity are two fundamental pillars. Labels, windows, links, audios... With Genially you can include any type of interactivity to add additional content and include animation to capture your audience's attention.
20xx
Write a great headline
Contextualize your topic
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and promote it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating as always is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates.
20xx
You can put a highlighted title
Generate experiences with your content.
Measure results and experiment
Pose a dramatic question; it is the essential ingredient to keep the audience's attention. It is usually posed subtly at the beginning of the story to intrigue the audience and is resolved at the end.
It has a WOW effect. Very WOW.
+ info
Serious Fun_PARK 2026
rad.mala
Created on March 17, 2026
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Transcript
Serious Fun:
Making Games Work in the Classroom
Radka Malá
The 32nd P.A.R.K. Conference 28/03/2026
let's get started
I think that's enough with the game. Could we go back to studying now?
-a frustrated English student
Creativity
fun
WOW Effect
Autonomy
engaging
Visual
break from the routine
Interactive
We mean well!
94%
students consider game-based learning a significant motivator for classroom participation
Chan & Lo (2022)
Useful games
Playtime!
01
KNOW your PURPOSE
Never use the game as an end in itself
A game should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class had nothing better to do.
Lee (1979)
Playtime!
the bragging game
02
make sure it's clear
Provide simple instructions or a model
Playtime!
STANDING BINGO
03
ENGAGe & ACTIVATE
Make sure students are not passive
Playtime!
THE HUMAN JIGSAW PUZZLE
04
BE A PART OF IT
Monitor & help
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Verb Puzzle
Time Machine
the Cute Talkers
Beat about the Bush
HomEnglish
Fun Domino
Playtime!
70%
of students are visual or tactile learners
Props make a difference!
What you remember the most of any lesson is your own contribution to it - allow such moments to happen.
Hermann Ebbinghaus
The forgetting curve
The checklist
Make sure your students have fun. Meaningful fun.
Thank you!
metodik@venturesbooks.com
radka.mala@giramondo.cz
20xx
Include infographics in your creations
85%
purchases are emotional
The passion that storytelling evokes is our ally to influence the teaching and learning process.
20xx
Insert a great video for your presentation and use this space to describe it. The multimedia content is essential in a presentation, to leave everyone speechless. Moreover, this way you will summarize the content and entertain your audience.
Use videos
02
Narrative beings
Generate experiences with your content.
Contextualize your topic
Pose a dramatic question; it is the essential ingredient for keeping the audience's attention. It is usually posed in a subtle manner at the beginning of the story to intrigue the audience and is resolved at the end.
Measure results and experiment
+ info
It has a WOW effect. Very WOW.
03
Social beings
85%
The passion that storytelling provokes is our ally in influencing the teaching and learning process. What you read: interactivity and animation can turn the most boring content into something fun. At Genially, we also create our designs to facilitate understanding and learning, so you can level up with interactivity and turn your content into something that adds value and engages.
emotional purchases are emotional
01
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and share it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating as always is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates. Visual content is a cross-cutting, universal language, like music. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from different cultures.
Visual beings
Contextualize your topic
20xx
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and share it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating the usual way is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates. Visual content is a cross-cutting, universal language, like music. We are capable of understanding images from millions of years ago, even from different cultures.
Share your idea with an image
04
Insert a great video for your presentation and use this space to describe it. The multimedia content is essential in a presentation to leave everyone speechless. Additionally, this way you will synthesize the content and entertain your audience.
Digital beings
Contextualize your topic
A great presentation is clear and structured to convey information in an orderly and hierarchical manner, achieving to deliver content that excites the brain. For this, animation and interactivity are two fundamental pillars. Labels, windows, links, audios... With Genially you can include any type of interactivity to add additional content and include animation to capture your audience's attention.
20xx
Write a great headline
Contextualize your topic
Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and promote it anywhere. We don't like to bore. We don't want to be repetitive. Communicating as always is boring and doesn't engage. We do it differently. We sabotage boredom. We create what the brain likes to consume because it stimulates.
20xx
You can put a highlighted title
Generate experiences with your content.
Measure results and experiment
Pose a dramatic question; it is the essential ingredient to keep the audience's attention. It is usually posed subtly at the beginning of the story to intrigue the audience and is resolved at the end.
It has a WOW effect. Very WOW.
+ info