Abstract:

Games are a popular form of entertainment that can keep individuals motivated and engaged for hours at a time. Our motivations to sink multiple hours into playing games have been studied by researchers, instructional designers, and game designers alike, with the goal of understanding and highlighting the elements that have positive or negative effects on the players. Games have also been recognised as a potential teaching and learning tools due to their capability to integrate content and elements that nurture intrinsic motivation, learner engagement, and facilitate different approaches to learning. The purpose of this study is to provide insight on teachers’ use, or lack thereof, of game-based learning in elementary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education. The study focuses on exploring what makes games beneficial teaching tools, the perceived challenges that hinder the adoption of games, and the potential of digital supplementary resources to facilitate the use of games as teaching tools in classroom contexts.

The study is based on existing theory on motivation, pedagogy, and the facilitation of tools in education, in addition to data collected from Norwegian teachers using a mixed methods approach. The data gathering was conducted in two stages. The first stage utilised a parallel gathering approach, where data was gathered in the same time span through an online questionnaire and through semi-structured interviews. The objective of the research in stage two of the study was to evaluate the practical potential of different digital resources to facilitate the use of games as teaching tools in classroom contexts.

The results reveal that games are to some degree viewed to be beneficial teaching tools by teachers, and that games of different types are utilised in Norwegian classrooms. However, the results suggest that many teachers have limited knowledge connected to the content and elements in games that form beneficial learning environments. The results of the research also reveal that there are multiple perceived challenges that hinder the adoption of games as teaching tools and the results also indicate that games are used more frequently in classroom contexts with younger students, primarily due to fewer requirements connected to the game content. Games are also more likely to be implemented as teaching tools if they are perceived as easy to access, learn, and to use in lessons.

The results show that digital supplementary resources, such as videos and websites containing information, can assist teachers in acquiring knowledge about games as teaching tools, help them acquire and learn new games, and provide recommendations for beneficial classroom implementation. Teachers can also utilise digital resources as a supportive tool during lessons.

Keywords:

Games, Education, Motivation, Digital Resources.