Classroom games that work on school devices and networks

What to check before the lesson

• Does it run in the browser? School Chromebooks, iPads and shared laptops often cannot install apps. A tool that works at a web address is the safest choice.
• Do pupils need accounts? Accounts mean passwords, emails and five lost minutes. A room code and a name is much quicker, and means less pupil data.
• Is there open chat? Many school filters and safeguarding leads are wary of tools where pupils can message each other freely.
• Are there adverts? Adverts on the board in front of a class are best avoided.
• Is it allowed on the network? Try it on a school device on the school network, not on your phone at home.
• What age is it for? Check the tool's terms. Many online services are for users aged 13 and over.

How school filters decide

Most schools use a web filter such as FortiGuard, Securly, GoGuardian, Lightspeed or Smoothwall. They sort sites into categories, like education, games, social media or chat, and the school chooses which categories to allow. The category comes from what most of a site is about, and new or unrated sites are sometimes blocked until someone rates them.

That is why one quiz tool can work and a similar one cannot. If a tool you want is blocked, the fix is usually a short request to IT, not a workaround. Most filters also let anyone ask for a site to be rated again.

What to send your IT team

A short email gets the quickest yes. Include:

1. The site's address, and any other addresses it needs to work.
2. What you want to use it for, in one line: “a vocabulary starter in Year 10 English”.
3. Whether pupils need accounts, whether there is chat, and whether there are adverts.
4. A link to the site's own page for teachers or schools, if it has one.

Nichenaut on school devices

Nichenaut is a free general knowledge and vocabulary quiz for pupils aged 13 and over. It was built to pass the checklist above:

• Browser only. It runs at nichenaut.app on Chromebooks, iPads, phones and laptops. Nothing to install. There is also a free iPhone app, but class mode never needs it.
• No pupil accounts. Pupils type a room code and a name.
• No chat in class rooms. Only preset reactions. The teacher can remove a player or skip a prompt.
• No adverts or paid offers in class rooms, for pupils or on the board.
• Two addresses to allow: nichenaut.app, and nichenaut-rooms.nichenaut.workers.dev, which runs the live rooms and serves the game's pictures and sounds.

The page for teachers explains what the site is in plain words, and is the best link to send your IT team. Questions from schools about the site can go to the contact address on that page.

Try a class mission