Leveling Up? Digital Games, Inclusive Classrooms, and the Experiences of Diverse Learners

• In Event: Literacy, Learning, and Digital Games: Situated Learning, Imagination, and Play

Abstract

Videogames have a growing presence in formal schooling contexts with teachers increasingly keen to explore the benefits that can flow from so-called “serious play” (de Castell and Jenson, 2003). Many of these games-based initiatives are premised on claims that videogames are “learning machines” (Gee, 2004) that have the inbuilt capacity to improve student engagement, motivation and achievement while also developing so-called ‘21st century skills (New Media Consortium, 2012). A growing body of research into these arguments, however, has increasingly demonstrated the impact that context has on what actually happens when videogames are brought into schools (Stevens et al., 2008). This rather more cautious strand of literature emphasises the need for research that explicitly includes consideration of how digital game play in schools shapes, and is shaped by, teacher beliefs (about games and about learners), student characteristics (such as gender, socio-economics and cultural background) and the in and out of school gaming experiences of all those involved (including prior positive and negative experiences students may have had with various forms of digital game play and videogame cultures). Yet, as Pelletier (2009), Beavis et al (2014) and many others have emphasised, many debates about the ‘potential’ of games in schools continue to ignore the ways in which these contextual factors ultimately shape what games ‘become’: positioning games as context-free resources akin to teacher-free curriculum. Similarly, the potential for games based learning to simply reproduce existing patterns of educational and social success and failure is often overlooked.

Focusing on the impact that digital game play can have on the educational experiences of diverse learners—including those who have often been positioned on the margins of mainstream educational environments—this paper contributes to the growing body of literature that seeks to actively explore teachers’ beliefs about questions concerning what actually happens when games are brought into classroom contexts and, more specifically, what various forms of game play appear to make possible for diverse learners. Drawing upon data collected from teachers interviewed the paper explores diverse and often competing beliefs expressed by teachers about the risks and possibilities associated with videogames in education. It concludes by exploring the kinds of complementary skills that teachers require if their work with videogames is to contribute, not only to specific learning outcomes, but also to broader agendas of educational, social and gender justice.

Beavis, C., et al. (2014) Teachers’ beliefs about the possibilities and limitations of digital games in classrooms. E-learning and Digital Media. 11.6.
de Castell, S., & Jensen, J. (2003) Serious Play, Curriculum Studies, 35(6), 649-665.
Gee, J. P. (2004). Learning by design: Games as learning machines. Interactive Educational Multimedia (8), 15-23. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/IEM/article/download/204239/272773
New Media Consortium. (2012) Horizon Report K-12 Edition. http://www.nmc.org/publications/2012-horizon-report-k12
Pelletier, C. (2009) Games and Learning: what's the connection?, International Journal of Learning and Media, 1(1), 83-101.
Stevens, R., Satwicz, T., & McCarthy, L. (2008). In-game, In-world: reconnecting video game play to the rest of kids' lives. In K. Salen (Ed.), The Ecology of Games: connecting youth, games and learning (pp. 41-66). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Authors

• Leonie Rowan, Griffith University

• Sarah Prestridge, Griffith University