This project, now completed, investigated the actual and potential role of games (including digital and non-digital, gameplay, game design, and gamification) to support ‘transformative learning opportunities’ for diverse learners in New Zealand schools.

The project foregrounded the experiences of New Zealand teachers and learners as game players, game selectors, or game makers. It aimed to understand:

  • how users and players think about games in relation to learning
  • what personal and pedagogical choices they make when games are used in learning environments
  • what happens in the learning environment when games are part of the picture.

This data was woven together with theory from the growing international literature on games for learning to provide a critical perspective on possible directions for games to support New Zealand learners to develop their potential.

Project team

Rachel Bolstad, Sue McDowall, Elliot Lawes