Thorkild Hanghøj | Aalborg University (original) (raw)

Books by Thorkild Hanghøj

Games and Education: Designs in and for Learning, 2018

We live in a time of educational transformations towards more 21st century pedagogies and learnin... more We live in a time of educational transformations towards more 21st century pedagogies and learning. In the digital age children and young people need to learn critical thinking, creativity and innovation and the ability to solve complex problems and challenges. Traditional pedagogies are in crisis and many pupils experience school as both boring and irrelevant. As a response educators and researchers need to engage in transforming education through the invention of new designs in and for learning. This book explores how games can provide new ideas and new designs for future education. Computer games have become hugely popular and engaging, but as is apparent in this book, games are not magical solutions to making education more engaging, fun and relevant. Games and Education explores new designs in and for learning and ofer inspiration to teachers, technologists and researchers interested in changing educational practices. Based on contributions from Scandinavian researchers, the book highlights participatory approaches to research and practice by providing more realistic experiences and models of how games can facilitate learning in school.

I folkeskolen spiller en 3. klasse Minecraft i dansktimen, mens to 7. klasser forestiller sig, hv... more I folkeskolen spiller en 3. klasse Minecraft i dansktimen, mens to 7. klasser forestiller sig, hvordan danmarkshistorien havde set ud, hvis Stauning var gået i krig mod Hitler. På sygeplejeuddannelsen behandler tre studerende den koldsvedende dukke Anne™, samtidig med at deres medstuderende overværer det dramatiske scenarie. Hvad gør de, hvis pulsen pludselig falder, eller feberen stiger? Det kan lyde som en leg, men faktisk er det meningsfuld læring i en gennemtænkt didaktisk ramme. Læreren trækker omverdenens praksisformer ind i klasseværelset og gør elevernes og de studerendes forestillinger om dem til udgangspunkt for undervisningen. Det er den praksis, forskere kalder scenariedidaktik. I Hvad er scenariedidaktik? gentænker bogens forfattere en række grundlæggende didaktiske perspektiver på skole og uddannelse. På den baggrund undersøger de, hvordan lærere i grundskolen og undervisere på videregående uddannelser kan forstå og bruge scenariedidaktiske tilgange, så læring føles som meningsfuld leg.

Helt på afveje - Nye fortællemåder, 2012

Denne bog er en flergangsbog til undervisning i dansk i udskolingen med tilhørende webressourcer.... more Denne bog er en flergangsbog til undervisning i dansk i udskolingen med tilhørende webressourcer. Moderne tekster og nyere fortælleformer overrasker, bryder med det traditionelle og udfordrer genrerne. I elevbogen Helt på afveje arbejder klassen med genrebegrebet og stifter bekendtskab med andre måder at fortælle på i fx hypertekster, sms-noveller, spilfortællinger, billedfortællinger og kommunikation på nettet.

Radiofortællinger tager afsæt i radiomediets historie og dramaturgiske virkemidler. Bogen lægger ... more Radiofortællinger tager afsæt i radiomediets historie og dramaturgiske virkemidler. Bogen lægger vægt på radiomontagens og radiodramaets udtryksformer, og de tre kapitler præsenterer: radiomediet og radiohistorie - fra krystalapparat til digital radio radiomontager som dokumentarisk genre med fokus på den gode fortælling radiodramaet som selvstændig kunstform med eget scenografisk udtryk Radiofortællinger indeholder en lang række opgaver, redskaber og eksempler. Opgaverne lægger op til at arbejde på tværs af danskfagets hovedområder sprog, litteratur og medier, og der er konkrete oplæg til tværfagligt projektarbejde. Radiofortællinger er blevet til i et samarbejde med DR Multimedie, som har produceret en dobbelt-cd med de fire radiodramaer, der indgår i bogen. Radiofortællingers dobbelt-cd med fire radiodramaer kan købes på www.dr.dk/netbutik. Se også www.dr.dk/radiofortaellinger.

I forlængelse af gymnasiereformens krav om integration af nye medier i dansk beskrives med fokus ... more I forlængelse af gymnasiereformens krav om integration af nye medier i dansk beskrives med fokus på spændingsfeltet mellem samtidslitteratur og mediernes udtryksformer de nye mediers fortælleform, fortællingernes indhold, og hvordan de traditionelle og de nye medier præger hinanden

articles by Thorkild Hanghøj

Language and Education, 2024

Brainstorming activities are quite common in L1 education. However, limited attention has been pa... more Brainstorming activities are quite common in L1 education. However, limited attention has been paid to the concrete unfolding of students’ idea development as a temporal, multimodal, and collaborative process. In this article, we explore how a group of four upper primary students in Year 5 (age 11–12) design a board game in a teaching unit on young people’s communication and toxic language use on social media. The unit was part of an intervention carried out in a study on game-based learning in the school subject Danish L1. Our detailed analysis shows how the students’ development process involved an interplay of different timescales at the micro, meso, and macro level, and a use of different semiotic resources such as spoken and written language as well as drawn sketches for a game board. The layers of meaning expressed through the students’ dialogic talk resulted in a metaphorical chain of reasoning, where the students’ initial loose idea was gradually transformed into a final game concept. This reasoning across modalities was enforced through the choice of bringing in paper and pen for drawing. The study concludes by discussing how we can understand idea generation as a non-linear multimodal process in the L1 classroom, which may have implications for other productive tasks.

Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 2022

The 1990s and early 2000s saw the publication of several studies and special issues on design-bas... more The 1990s and early 2000s saw the publication of several studies and special issues on design-based research (DBR) by prominent scholars within the field of educational technology (e.g., van den Akker, 1999; Design-Based Research Collective, 2003; Barab & Squire, 2004; Cobb et al., 2003; Brown, 1992). Taken together, these scholars described DBR as a new methodological approach for conducting research through a combined approach to design interventions and theory generation.
This first wave of DBR researchers, based mainly in the US, raised numerous methodological issues, which were discussed and remained an open invitation for further development in the years to follow. One researcher, Chris Dede, pointed out how DBR lacked a coherent
understanding of the standards for what constitutes quality of the approach; he criticised DBR for being promoted as the ‘Swiss army knife’ (Dede, 2004, p. 106) of methods without a sound, theoretical foundation. This metaphor has somewhat foreshadowed things to come.

Twenty years later, DBR has now become a mainstream methodological approach to conducting design interventions with educational technology in the US, in Europe, and, in particular, the Nordic countries. As a recent (Danish) example, the LEGO Foundation has funded 12 Ph.D. projects, which all study different aspects of playful learning by using DBR
as a methodological approach Playful Learning <https://playful-learning.dk/forskning/>. There have been attempts to further develop DBR, for example, by describing how projects should strive to conduct more effective, sustainable and scalable projects (Fishman et al.,
2013). Other scholars who have attempted to develop DBR draw on methods from speculative design, emphasising the transformational element of DBR (Ehret et al., 2019), thereby pushing the design element forward.

Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 2022

Design-based research (DBR) emphasises the importance of developing and refining design principle... more Design-based research (DBR) emphasises the importance of developing and refining design principles when conducting educational design experiments. However, a review of the DBR literature has shown that there is a lack of clarity as to how design principles are described and applied. In this paper, we introduce a model for articulating design principles, and enabling analysis and discussion of how these might be challenged and undergo transformation during DBR processes in local educational settings. The analysis is based on examples derived from two DBR projects relating to digital technologies. The first example is taken from a large-scale intervention project that demonstrates the importance of teachers' different dialogic approaches to teaching design thinking with Scratch. However, the rationale of large-scale project design does not allow for the integration of this emerging knowledge. The second example focuses on how a practitioner-researcher faces and manages preservice teachers' preoccupation with the curriculum, when trying to enact a design principle in a lesson within the module "Technology comprehension and digital bildung" with playful approaches to learning. The two examples illustrate how the presumably linear process of articulating design principles and gradually refining them through design experiments in practice should be seen as a far more "messy" or contingent process than is presented in most DBR methodologies. We raise the case that the realisation of design principles must address possibilities for achieving (and not achieving) agency among local educators and students. This points to a pragmatic need for rethinking and reconstructing DBR approaches in ways that pay more attention to the messiness of local adaptations and the emergence of new design principles.

L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2022

A fairly large body of research has documented how digital games can be used in L1 education. How... more A fairly large body of research has documented how digital games can be used in L1 education. However, there is still a lack of detailed studies on how literacy teachers go about teaching with games as multimodal texts in the classroom. Revisiting earlier empirical work on the use of the sandbox game Minecraft in primary school, the aim of this paper is to explore how a specific game challenge is enacted in practice as seen from a dialogic perspective. Drawing on theories on games and literacies, dialogic education, and teachers as professional practitioners, the paper presents the Game as Educational Challenge (GEC) model in order to understand how L1 teachers frame specific game challenges and facilitate dialogue with the students in relation to their game experiences. The model is used to reanalyse empirical examples of how teachers from three primary schools adopted a teaching unit with Minecraft through different pedagogical approaches. The findings show not only how the teachers' framing of the game challenges reflected their familiarity with the game, but also how they taught and related the game challenges to curricular aims in different ways. Moreover, it is found that the teachers negotiated authorial positions quite differently when facilitating classroom discussions with students about their game experiences.

L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2022

Nintendo Switch to play a game about milking a cow. The smell of Doritos permeates the room...you... more Nintendo Switch to play a game about milking a cow. The smell of Doritos permeates the room...youth are sitting against the back wall, playing on a Switch. Two are playing; five are watching. Another runs over to watch. Approximately eight [additional] youth are watching game play on the large screen...As I write this, the combination of players and observers shifts; someone stands, someone moves, someone crouches." (Field notes, youth videogaming in a public library in the northeastern United States)

L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2022

In this comparative systematic review, we analyse how the use of digital games inside and outside... more In this comparative systematic review, we analyse how the use of digital games inside and outside school settings might support primary and secondary students' literacy and language learning in relation to first language (L1) and second language (L2) educational contexts. Our findings indicate widely different patterns from utilising diverse game aspects, theories, and research methodologies in relation to the two different subject areas, which show that they are less convergent than what often is suggested in research that compares the two subjects in a globalised world. The L1 studies indicate positive findings with mainly commercial games in relation to writing, multimodal production, critical literacy, and, partly, to reading. The L2 studies report positive findings with educational games in relation to the investigated language skills (vocabulary, reading, and writing), though with an increasing number of studies conducted in outof-school settings examining commercial gaming practices. We discuss the findings from the two K-12 subjects using a cross-disciplinary perspective, and we suggest directions for future research.

Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2020

This paper presents empirical findings from a qualitative study on Minecraft as a mathematical to... more This paper presents empirical findings from a qualitative study on Minecraft as a mathematical tool and learning environment. Even though Minecraft has been used for several years in classrooms around the world, there is a lack of detailed empirical studies of how students learn subject-related content by working with the game. This study is based on a design experiment with an inquiry-based teaching unit for fifth graders, which focused on using the coordinate system embedded in Minecraft, as a means to navigate and explore the game in order to solve mathematical problems. Based on student interviews, we explore how the students experienced and switched to new perspectives on mathematical knowledge through their participation in the teaching unit. Using thematic analysis, we explore data from six group interviews. The theoretical framework is based on domain theory, dialogical theory and notions of students' mathematical agency. The key analytical findings regard the students' experience of the coordinate system as part of both the academic domain of mathematics and their everyday domain of playing Minecraft, how they actively use the coordinate system to improve play in Minecraft and how they experience new ways of participating in mathem s by offering design principles for the future use of computer games in mathematics education.

Nordic Journal of Literacy Research, 2020

The aim of this paper is to present findings from a study which is part of an ongoing Design-Base... more The aim of this paper is to present findings from a study which is part of an ongoing Design-Based Research project which explores how students can transform their everyday experiences with and attitudes towards games into game journalism within the context of Danish as a subject. Based on a theoretical framework combining domain theory with Ivanič’s theory of writing as identity construction, we analysed selected student articles and student interviews from four secondary
classrooms (Grades 7–9). The findings show that some students mainly positioned themselves through a personal discourse, which was highly influenced by their positive, negative or ambivalent attitudes to their chosen game journalistic topics. Other students mainly positioned themselves through a professional journalistic discourse by means of critical reflection and representation of multiple perspectives on their topics. Based on the students’ high level of engagement in the writing
process and the wide range of possible selves adopted by the student writers, we concluded that games and game culture represent a topic well-suited for transforming students’ everyday experiences and attitudes into journalistic texts.

Laering og medier, 2019

Research on the educational use of digital games has been going on for several decades and shows ... more Research on the educational use of digital games has been going on for several decades and shows positive results in terms of increased motivation and learning outcomes. However, the challenges and possibilities of using games in education are often unclear. In this paper, I will briefly define games and summarise the research on games and learning. Next, I will provide an overview of Danish research on four different approaches to teaching with digital games: 1) the use of learning games, 2) the use of commercial games, 3) the use of game elements in non-game contexts (gamification), and 4) working with design of games. I will provide examples on Danish research, including articles from Læring Og Medier as well as from my own research. The aim of is to present an overview of the Danish research within the field, which can contribute to qualifying the selection and facilitation of games for educational purposes.

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2018

Can the challenges encountered in cooperative video games encourage classroom inclusion? And can ... more Can the challenges encountered in cooperative video games encourage classroom inclusion? And can this experience be translated into curriculum engagement? This study describes a 3 week intervention with game-based learning activities in eight lower secondary classrooms (n = 190). The intervention combined the use of the co-op action role-playing game Torchlight II and analogue gamification aimed at including 32 students challenged by social difficulties and lack of motivation. The video game was used to create more inclusive classrooms by increasing students’ opportunities for participation through collaboration in teams. The students also participated in game-related Danish (L1) and Mathematics activities. Effects on social well-being, learning and motivational patterns were measured through teacher assessment combined with the Children's Perceived Locus of Causality-scales. The results show multidimensional effects including positive impact on at-risk students’ well-being and reduced experiences of external regulation to participate in Mathematics and Danish. The qualitative analysis not only confirms the positive findings, but also shows how the intervention created ambiguities surrounding the relationship between game activities and curriculum-related assignments. The findings indicate that the impact of game-based classrooms is not due to their fun element, but rather how they enable reframing of social participation and students’ engagement with the curriculum.

Learning Tech, 2017

På trods af den stigende udbredelse af computerspil i skolen findes der kun begrænset forskning, ... more På trods af den stigende udbredelse af computerspil i skolen findes der kun begrænset forskning, der konkret undersøger, hvad det kræver at bruge spil i undervisningen. Fokus for denne artikel er derfor at beskrive, hvad det vil sige at være en spilkompetent lærer. Det vil sige, hvordan man som lærer skal kunne udvælge, afprøve, spille, forstå, iscenesætte, facilitere og evaluere brugen af spil i undervisningen. Læreres spilkompetence kan beskrives som en kobling af to praksisformer, der dels handler om at udvise game literacy (“spilkyndighed”), dels handler om gamemastering, som er lærerens didaktiske evne til at kunne iscenesætte spilscenarier i undervisningen. Artiklen gennemgår en række empiriske eksempler på game literacy og gamemastering i forhold til brugen af komplekse computerspil som Minecraft og Torchlight II i undervisningen. Til sidst opsummerer vi didaktiske principper for, hvad det kræver at være en spilkompetent underviser.

L1 - Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2015

In recent decades, several Scandinavian research projects have had an explicit focus on how techn... more In recent decades, several Scandinavian research projects have had an explicit focus on how technology intervenes in L1 (or so-called Mother Tongue Education) practices in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish educational contexts, and how this may impact on understanding of the subject. There is currently no systematic overview of the documented possibilities and challenges related to the use of technology in L1. At the same time, there is terminological confusion in use of ‘technology’ and related concepts in L1. Finally, there is a general lack of critical reflection on the relation between technological developments, political rhetoric, and the development of L1 teaching and learning as a social practice related to specific contexts and actors. Thus, the paper attempts to answer three interrelated research questions: 1) what do we mean when we talk about ‘technology’ in L1?; 2) based on a systematic review of empirical studies, what characterizes the research field?; and 3) for discussion, which broader implications does the review suggest for a rethinking of L1 in terms of practice and research? Introducing the notion of educational boundary objects, a theoretical framework is developed, which suggests four metaphors for understanding technology within L1: as a tool, as media, as socialization, and as literacy practices. These are found useful for analyzing and comparing both theoretical perspectives and empirical research on L1. A key finding of the study is that, although the included research is characterized by a large degree of diversity, the conceptualization of technology as media is a dominating approach which downplays aesthetic, critical and tool-oriented perspectives. Another finding is the large number of studies that focus on student practices within L1 and the relationship to out-of-school literacy practices. A final finding is the emphasis on teacher uncertainty regarding how and why to integrate technology within existing paradigms of the subject. This calls for further research on how technology may be justified in L1 practice, including various forms of teacher education.

Games and Education: Designs in and for Learning, 2018

Helt på afveje - Nye fortællemåder, 2012

Language and Education, 2024

Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 2022

L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2022

Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2020

Nordic Journal of Literacy Research, 2020

Laering og medier, 2019

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2018

Learning Tech, 2017

L1 - Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2015

Læring og medier, 2012

I takt med den stigende interesse for brugen af spil på videregående uddannelser er der behov for... more I takt med den stigende interesse for brugen af spil på videregående uddannelser er der behov for at udvikle tilsvarende didaktisk tænkning, som kan hj{\ae}lpe undervisere med at integrere spil i deres undervisning. I denne artikel pr{\ae}senteres en didaktisk model, der antager at spilbaseret undervisning kan forst{\aa}s som en relation mellem fire typer af dom{\ae}ner –faglige dom{\ae}ner, p{\ae}dagogiske dom{\ae}ner, hverdagsdom{\ae}ner og givne spils scenariedom{\ae}ner – der alle udfoldes gennem kontekstspecifikke videnspraksisser og valideringskriterier for gyldig viden. Gennem analyse af to undervisningsforl{\o}b anvendes modellen til at beskrive forskellige muligheder og begr{\ae}nsninger ved brugen af spil i undervisningen, samt hvordan man ville kunne redesigne spilforl{\o}bene i forhold til at skabe mere hensigtsm{\ae}ssig integration p{\aa} tv{\ae}rs af de fire dom{\ae}ner.

Historie Og Samfundsfag, 2012

Designs for Learning, 2011

Based upon a series of design interventions with the educational computer game series Global Conf... more Based upon a series of design interventions with the educational computer game series
Global Conflicts at various secondary schools, this article explores how educational gaming can be understood as a complex interplay between four knowledge forms – i.e. students’ everyday knowledge (non-specialised knowledge), the institutionalised knowledge forms of schooling, teachers’ subject-specific knowledge (specialised knowledge forms), and game-specific knowledge forms such as professional journalism, which is one of the inspirations for the game scenario. Depending on how the GC series was enacted by different teachers and students, these knowledge forms were brought into play rather differently. More specifically, several students experienced genre clashes in relation to their expectations of what it means to play a computer game, whereas other students experienced emerging genres – e.g. when one student was able to transform the game experience into a journalistic article that challenged her classmates’ understanding of journalistic writing.

Cursiv, 2011

Games are gradually becoming accepted as a means for teaching at Danish universities. Despite thi... more Games are gradually becoming accepted as a means for teaching at Danish universities.
Despite this development, litt le is known about how to use games in university teaching, which emphasises the need for developing a didactic frame for such use. To contribute to the development of a game didactics, two cases are presented to describe possible approaches to both a) teaching with games while using the game as a method, and b) teaching about games as a means for learning. The key issue of this article, then, is to provide didactic means for combining both content and method while teaching with games.

Dansk Noter, 2011

Danskfagets didaktik; Mediepædagogik; Mediedidaktik; Elektroniske tekster; Web 2.0; Generativ poesi

Proceedings of the 18th European Conference on Game-Based Learning, 2024

A growing number of young Danes experience a drop in well-being as well as there is an increase i... more A growing number of young Danes experience a drop in well-being as well as there is an increase in diagnoses such as ADHD and autism. These challenges are often linked with school refusal and an increasing need for special education programmes. Since 2007, selected vulnerable youth (age 16-25) have been offered an alternative to regular youth education called Specially Planned Youth Education (Saerligt Tilrettelagt Ungdomsuddannelse or STU). More than 30% of students attending STUs are diagnosed with autism or ADHD. The purpose of this paper is to explore the learning potentials of esports educational programmes with this specific target group. The study presents data from an ongoing research project entitled "Esports as learning space and gateway for vulnerable youth at STU", which is supported by the Velux Foundation and currently in its second year while looking to finalise in 2026. More specifically, we analyse data from ten interviews conducted with vulnerable youth at three STUs, who participate in educational esports activities with commercial multiplayer games, primarily League of Legends, Counter-Strike or Valorant. The interviews concern the students' gaming interests, their experiences with attending the esports programmes, and their perceived learning outcomes. All interview data have been coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Patterns and recurring themes in the data have been sought after based on questions of how students perceive themselves, what activities they engage in during esports education, and what the potential learning outcomes of the education are. Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory, we analyse and discuss the students' different I-positions and identify possible transformations made possible through the STU activities, which aim to support students in obtaining an autonomous and meaningful adult life. Our preliminary findings show that students generally have more positive experiences at the STU's than at their previous education. This includes adopting different I-positions that are more committed to a community than what they experience in their leisure gaming.

Proceedings of 18th European Conference on Game-Based Learning, 2024

There is a growing interest among researchers in using board games for supporting learning in sch... more There is a growing interest among researchers in using board games for supporting learning in school contexts. Coop board games is a relatively new and promising type of games, which seems well-suited for improving students' collaboration skills. In this paper, we explore how two groups of Danish high school students interact when playing two different coop games, The Mind and Forbidden Island, and how they reflect upon their shared game experiences. The data collection is based on video observations of group interaction and student interviews, which use stimulated video recall. In this way, we are able not only to describe the students' perceived outcomes of the gaming activities, but also their in-game practices. Our data analysis is informed by microsociological perspectives (Goffman and Collins), which are used to map the group interaction rituals and social norms of the students' gaming encounters. Based on the data analysis, we identify two analytical themes, which concern the students' use of verbal and non-verbal communication practices as well as their socialisation processes. The findings suggest that coop games may be used as a valuable educational tool for qualifying high school students' collaboration skills as well as strengthening their group relations. The students especially valued playing The Mind, which they tried playing for multiple game rounds. Based on these findings, we discuss recommendations for the further use and study of coop board games in educational settings.

Proceedings of ECGBL 2021, 2021

Several studies of game-based learning in classrooms show that the role of dialogue is crucial in... more Several studies of game-based learning in classrooms show that the role of dialogue is crucial in order to ensure valuable learning outcomes. This both pertains to dialogue between students and the game, dialogues between students playing games, as well as dialogues between teachers and students in game-based learning contexts. Moreover, the dialogic aspects of learning are both important during gameplay and around digital game activities. In spite of a growing interest in the dialogic aspects of games and learning, there exists no systematic overviews or focused theoretical discussions on the why, how and what when enacting and studying dialogue around digital gameplay within educational contexts. In this paper, we will outline and discuss key theoretical approaches to conceptualising games, dialogue and learning and discuss the possibilities as well as limitations of different approaches as exemplified by selected case studies within the context of primary and secondary education (K-12). Moreover, we will discuss key aspects that need to be considered, when researching dialogue in relation to digital games and learning. First of all, researchers need to clarify what they mean by dialogue, when researching digital games and learning. This involves discussions of related concepts such as conversation, discourse, interaction, communication, debate, and discussion. Secondly, it is necessary to discuss how dialogue is shaped in a complex relationship between specific game affordances and pedagogical approaches that may potentially both open as well as close possibilities for meaningful dialogic interaction. Thirdly, it is important to bear in mind that the notion of dialogue in dialogic education may be based on different theoretical assumptions-i.e. the term may both refer to ontological aspects (e.g. relationships between participants) as well as epistemological aspects (e.g. knowledge construction). The paper marks a preliminary first step in an ongoing work that aims to conduct a systematic review of empirical work on digital games, dialogue and learning. Consequently, the paper concludes by outlining key areas of interest for further exploration of the complex relationship between digital gameplay, dialogue and learning.

Proceedings of ECGBL 2020, 2020

The aim of this paper is to present a framework for understanding how teachers experience teachin... more The aim of this paper is to present a framework for understanding how teachers experience teaching of game-based design activities with particular emphasis on teacher agency and dialogical positions. Building on earlier work, the paper presents theories for conceptualising teacher agency and dialogic positions when working with game-based design activities. The empirical context is the large-scale design intervention project GBL21 (gbl21.aau.dk), where students design and redesign games in mathematics, science and Danish. The participating teachers are introduced to a series of predesigned teaching units, which they have to adapt to their local school context. This brings us to our research question: What are the teachers' experiences with the game-based design activities in the GBL21 units? In particular, we will thematically analyse how teachers position themselves and enact agency in data from group interviews with teachers from two schools that participate in the GBL21 project. Our preliminary findings suggest that the teachers put strong emphasis on 1) creating meaningful learning opportunities as seen from the students' perspective, 2) scaffolding subject-related dialogues with the materiality of the games, and 3) balancing their adaptations of the GBL21 units in relation to the expectations to them as participants in a research project.

ECGBL 2019 Proceedings, 2019

If you want to learn how to become more creative, better at collaboration, or want to develop you... more If you want to learn how to become more creative, better at collaboration, or want to develop your critical thinking skills playing games can be a powerful activity. If you want to be even surer, then build a game. This was the conclusion of a review performed by Qian and Clark (2016) on how Game-Based Learning can develop 21st Century Skills. Understanding relations between the broad categories of "learning", "design", and "games" is crucial in the research project Game-Based Learning in the 21st Century (GBL21.aau.dk), where we introduce game design activities through 24 teaching units for three subjects respectively Math, Science, and Danish. However, finding meaningful relations between design processes, game tools, and school subjects have proven to be a challenging task. In order to handle this challenge, our paper describes existing research on how to design games as a learning activity. The contribution of the paper is to provide a better understanding of the relations between the three domains of design thinking (DT), game tools/activities, and curriculum in order to develop, game design activities, which are relevant to teaching subjects. The contribution is an insight into research in game design as an approach to teaching; as well as, a review of relevant theories on designing as learning activity, and a discussion of how to implement these approaches in teaching.

ECGBL 2019 Proceedings, 2019

The aim of this paper is to identify emerging design principles when developing, piloting and imp... more The aim of this paper is to identify emerging design principles when developing, piloting and implementing game-related Design Thinking activities for primary and lower secondary classrooms. The analyses are based on data from the large-scale intervention project GBL21 (Game-Based Learning in the 21st Century), which explores and measures how 1600 students working with game-related design activities in the subjects Danish, mathematics and science are able to develop design competencies such as being able to construct and communicate design solutions. In the paper, we focus on qualitative data from a pilot study on how two teachers adopt and enact one teaching unit in mathematics in grade 7. The challenge for the students is to design and construct a tangram game using the visual block-programming language Scratch with a set of agreed constraints (e.g. constructing pieces of a particular form). In our analysis, we identify design principles that support the enactment of the unit as exemplified by the two teachers. For our purpose, their teaching is interesting because they use quite different strategies when adopting the unit. One finding is that the material objects and close attention to dialogue are vital when coupling Design Thinking, game-like activities with subject matter (e.g. mathematics).

ECGBL 2019 Proceedings, 2019

Esports is the fastest growing sports industry globally, and esports research is becoming more pr... more Esports is the fastest growing sports industry globally, and esports research is becoming more prevalent. However, there is a lack of research on what 21 st century skills esports players develop. This study examines the experiences of nine young CS:GO players and their coach enrolled in an esports program at a sports college in the greater Copenhagen area. Through observation and group interviews we try to identify the pedagogical goals of the coach and how these are understood and experienced by the players. Based on Gee's notion of affinity space and Dialogical Self Theory, we explore how the players position themselves in relation to their esports activities as well as their perception of what it takes to be a competent player. The preliminary findings show that both the players and their coach emphasize healthy culture ('sund spilkultur') as a key aspect of the esports activities. Thus, players believe that being able to communicate well and in a respectful tone is a core competency on par with technical skills and understanding of the game. In summary, players report that their experience of better communication skills is an ongoing concern both inside and outside of the game. In addition, the players describe how their 'people skills' transfer to friends, family and school work as a result of esports training.

ECGBL 2013 Proceedings, 2013

The aim of this paper is to describe how new teacher students develop innovation competence throu... more The aim of this paper is to describe how new teacher students develop innovation competence through problem-based game design processes by participating in an intro camp. The intro camp was held for 350 new teacher students at a Danish university college in 2011, which were asked to solve the real-life problems of local schools by designing game solutions to be presented for and assessed by participating school directors and pupils. Based upon a pragmatist theoretical framework, we conceptualize the students’ development of innovation competence in relation to creative problem-solving, game frames and the interplay of different knowledge domains “inside” and “outside” of teacher education. By taking a mixed methods approach, we combine qualitative and quantitative methodologies for studying our case. This involved observations and interviews with selected groups as well as a post-camp survey with all the students. In the analysis, we focus on two analytical themes that relate to the teacher students’ problem-based game design processes and their experience of becoming future innovative practitioners. The paper concludes by discussing future perspectives on the use of problem-based game design for developing innovation competence – both within and beyond the context of teacher education.

ECGBL 2019 Proceedings, 2019

This paper presents empirical findings from a qualitative study that uses Minecraft as a mathemat... more This paper presents empirical findings from a qualitative study that uses Minecraft as a mathematical tool and learning environment. Even though Minecraft has been used for several years in classrooms all over the world, there is a lack of detailed empirical studies of what subject-related content students can learn by working with the game. The study is based on a teaching unit for 5th grade, which focused on using the coordinate system already embedded in Minecraft as a means of navigating and exploring the game in order to solve mathematical problems. Based on a design experiment with the teaching unit, we explore the following research question: How do 5th grade students experience a change in their mathematical identities when they participate in an inquiry-based teaching unit with Minecraft? A thematic analysis explore data from six group interviews. The theoretical perspectives used in the coding of data were based on domain theory and an interpretive framework for understanding students' mathematical identity. The key analytical findings regard the students' experience of the coordinate system as part of both the academic domain of mathematics and as a part of their everyday domain playing Minecraft, how students actively use the coordinate system to improve play in Minecraft, and how students experience new ways of participating in mathematics.

ECGBL Proceedings 2017, 2017

The first Danish Game-Based Learning course offered by a teachers college enrolled 42 students wi... more The first Danish Game-Based Learning course offered by a teachers college enrolled 42 students with a variety of backgrounds and interests in games. We characterize the students who enrolled in the course in terms of gaming literacies and preferences, and gauge the impact of the course in terms of building actionable skill sets. Following Sch{\"o}n (1986) we use these data to frame students’ transition from gamers or game curious teachers to developing professional repertoires.Interviews and statistical comparison to other students indicate that while student’s existing preferences for the “heavier” game motifs arousal and fantasy (Sherry et al 2006) significantly predicted their attitudes to learning though games, active experiences from the course came to determine their fledgling professional repertoires as measured though their own projections of what they will use games for in their professional careers. We expand and explain these findings using embedded mixed methods analysis, and conclude that games are a good practical case for training various teachingcompetences, but that building flexible professional repertoires requires more varied experiences than a single course can muster.

CLS Proceedings 2018, 2019

A game-based learning approach may work in 1 school, but fall flat in another. This paper details... more A game-based learning approach may work in 1 school, but fall flat in another. This paper details how 1 intervention led to different outcomes and analyzes these differences in terms of the social and cultural characteristics of 4 schools. The intervention for 3rd–5th graders included a mix of commercial-off-the-shelf gameplay, classroom exercises based on the game, and gamification aimed at classroom conduct. General effects were observed for intrinsic and external motivation using the children’s locus of causality scales (c-PLOC), plus teacher-assessed learning and well-being. Yet very different practical outcomes were observed in the 4 different schools taking part in the project. This study used an explanatory mixed-methods analysis to dive deep into the qualitative characteristics of 1 classroom where the intervention took a definite hold, concluding that successes were significantly determined by a combination of support for the teachers in the schools, visible positive results, and the specific needs at play in each classroom. Specifically, we find that, although the intervention had several kinds of positive impact, simpler gamification elements worked best with younger students and/or for teachers who struggled to maintain focus in their classrooms.

CLS Proceedings 2018, 2019

In this paper, we explore how students engage in journalistic writing activities relating to vide... more In this paper, we explore how students engage in journalistic writing activities relating to video games and game culture. The paper is based on a pilot study with student texts and interviews relating to the development of the online learning resource spiljournalist.dk, which allow Danish secondary students to publish journalistic articles through game reviews, columns and feature stories. The analytical findings indicate that students position themselves as writers through three different voices. The “gamer” students primarily based their articles on their own knowledge and experience as gamers. By contrast, the non-gamer students tended to write more critically about games and game culture from an outsider’s perspective. Finally, a third group of students primarily positioned themselves as journalists.

ECGBL Proceedings 2017, 2017

The aim of this paper is to explore how at-risk students can become included in Danish as L1 by w... more The aim of this paper is to explore how at-risk students can become included in Danish as L1 by writing gamerelatedtexts such as game guides, character analysis or fictional stories, where they describe how to play and overcome keygame challenges. The empirical data is based on The School at Play project (2015-2017), which involved a series of designinterventions with the action co-op role-playing computer game Torchlight II. The interventions were carried out in eightclasses (grades 3-6) distributed across four different Danish schools with a particular focus on four selected at-risk studentsin each class, who experienced social and subject-related difficulties. In order to analyze the students’ game-related textsand their experience of writing them, the paper presents the Game as Curriculum model for understanding meaning-making processes involved in integrating games with curricular activities. The model is inspired by frame theory (Goffman 1974) as well as research on games and literacy (Apperley and Beavis 2011). Drawing on the perspectives of New Literacy Studies (Barton and Hamilton 2000), a dialogical perspective on student voice (Bakhtin 1981, Sperling and Appleman 2011) and Gee’s (2003) notion of projective identity, I conduct an empirical analysis of three different types of students’ game-related texts as well as data from post-intervention interviews. The findings indicate the importance of designing game-related assignments, which allow students to meaningfully extend their experience of overcoming game challenges in Torchlight II as well as expressing their voices through projected identities.

ECGBL Proceedings 2015, 2015

The aim of this paper is to present findings from a pilot study that relates to an on-going resea... more The aim of this paper is to present findings from a pilot study that relates to an on-going research project on the use of digital games and game-based pedagogies for supporting children in learning difficulties. The research project is entitled “The School at Play: Learning and Inclusion through Games and Game Dynamics” (2015-2017) and has been funded by the Egmont Foundation to be implemented in eight math and Danish classes (grades 3-6) distributed across four different Danish schools. The methods involve the use of digital games for creating meaningful contexts for learning and a number of visual tools and pedagogical approaches for clarifying and reflecting on students’ progression in relation to social, curricular and game-related aims. Based on the theoretical framework of scenario-based education (Hanghøj et al., 2014), the findings from the pilot study shows how a teacher and a student position themselves in relation to the shifting frames of the game-based teaching method. The preliminary findings suggest a number of possibilities and challenges involved in using the method for providing students with new learning opportunities, which emphasizes the important role of the teacher in adapting and facilitating the method.

ECGBL Proceedings 2014, 2014

The aim of this paper is to describe the opportunities and challenges involved in designing educa... more The aim of this paper is to describe the opportunities and challenges involved in designing educational scenarios for teaching with the computer game Minecraft in mother tongue education (MTE). The empirical data presented is basedon an on‐going research project, funded by the Danish Ministry of Education, which explores the use of a particular game map entitled “The Mysterious Island” in the context of MTE in five primary school classes (age 7‐8) located at two different Danish schools. The Mysterious Island scenario is a loosely structured Robinsonade narrative that invites the students to “survive” on a deserted island. The empirical data mainly consist of classroom observations collected and analysed using an ethnographically inspired approach to discourse analysis. The data analysis is based on theoretical perspectives on scenario‐based education, which assumes that the educational use of game scenarios can be understood as a dynamic interplay of different domains and knowledge practices. In this way, the educational use of The Mysterious Island is understood as socially negotiated translations between the knowledge practices of the Robinsonade‐based game scenario, the knowledge practices of the disciplinary domain of MTE, the knowledge practices of the pedagogical domain of “schooling”, and the knowledge practices of the everyday domain, especially in relation to the students’ prior Minecraft experiences. In summary, the analysis presents preliminary findings on different teachers’ educational redesign of TheMysterious Island and the students’ reframing of the various domains and narratives involved. We conclude that the meaningful use of Minecraft in MTE depends largely on the pedagogical approaches of the teachers to redesigningmeaningful game scenarios and opportunities for students to reframe their experiences across the domains and knowledge practices involved.

In this paper a framework for describing some of the mathematical activities inherent in computer... more In this paper a framework for describing some of the mathematical activities inherent in computer game design is proposed in order to develop a framework for use in a recently conducted pilot study. The paper presents an introduction of previous work on the subject of game design and mathematics education which have mostly been tied to students making learning games involving specific mathematical content. Game design activities are reported to have a motivational pull for students. A challenge seems to be that the students are mostly motivated by the game design or the programming activities, not by understanding the mathematical content they are designing their games about. This and the authors’ own research have led to a need for articulation of the inherent mathematical activities that exists in game design. This is done through a theoretical framework with three aspects. The first is called domain-specific challenges and introduces a way of looking at game-based educational activities as a negotiation of meaning between knowledge practices and describes the role of contexts in mathematics education. This aspect is used to understand how students perceive valid mathematical activity in the relations between the game design process, mathematics as a subject, the pedagogical practices, as well as the students’ everyday experience with games. The second aspect presents algorithmic thinking and systems thinking as a basis for thinking in causalities, stochastic processes and consequences, which relates to mathematical activities in two ways; developing computer games though programming languages can relate to algorithmic thinking and systems thinking is related to the game design process. The third aspect is the instrumental approach to computational artifacts mediation as a means of understanding the mediation between user and goal through the computational artifacts being used. The framework serves as a lens for making sense of computer game design as a context for learning mathematics.

ECGBL Proceedings 2016, 2016

The aim of this paper is to explore teachers’ different pedagogical approaches to teaching the “s... more The aim of this paper is to explore teachers’ different pedagogical approaches to teaching the “sandbox” digital game Minecraft as a part of L1 primary education. The empirical data for the paper is based on a series of design interventions with a Minecraft curriculum in three different classes (two 1st grades and one 2nd grade) at three different Danish schools, which involved video observations of the teaching and interviews with the participating teachers. The project is financed by The Danish Ministry of Education (2013-2015) and is part of a larger project on “ICT in the Innovative School”, which aims to develop students’ 21st century skills. Drawing on theoretical work on professional practice (Schön, 1983), frame theory (Goffman, 1974), and Dialogic Self Theory (Ligorio, 2010), the paper aims to describe and understand how the teachers’ positioned themselves through redesign and enactment of the Minecraft curriculum. In order to achieve this aim, the paper introduces a general model for understanding teachers’ educational use of games, which describe the dynamic interplay between curricular concepts, game texts, game practices, and learning activities. Based on empirical analysis of teachers’ I-positions to the Minecraft curriculum, the paper identifies three different pedagogical approaches, which are described as execution, improvisation, and transformation.

ECGBL Proceedings 2014, 2014

What happens when a single‐player training game enters a classroom context? The use of training a... more What happens when a single‐player training game enters a classroom context? The use of training activities in game‐based learning (GBL) has often been criticized for letting players perform mechanical operations with no reflection upon the learning experiences involved (e.g. Egenfeldt‐Nielsen, 2005). Building on earlier studies of game‐based teaching (Hangh{\o}j & Brund, 2011; Hangh{\o}j 2013), this paper focuses on the role of the teacher. More specifically, the paper describes the teacher’s opportunity to create reflection among the students as well as the teacher’s ability to connect the students’ game experiences with the central goals in communicative language teaching (CLT). The paper is based on a study of The Danish Simulator when integrated in a game‐based language course with 15 students at a language center in Copenhagen during spring, 2013. The Danish Simulator consists of language drills and simulated dialogues of everyday life and provides the students with feedback on their pronunciation as they play. The empirical data consists of participatory observations of teaching and video recordings of 12 lessons over the course of three days as well as interviews with the students on their experiences with The Danish Simulator in a teaching context. Furthermore, the data include a pilot test and an interview with one student playing The Danish Simulator. The empirical data have been collected and analyzed through an ethnographically inspired approach to discourse analysis. In summary, the analysis presents preliminary findings in relation to students’ different experiences of The Danish Simulator and the teacher’s redesign of the game based teaching. It is concluded that the meaningful use of The Danish Simulator in a game‐based language course for bilingual adults depends on the students’ possibilities of negotiating the meaning of the game in a social context. Likewise, it depends on the teacher’s planning of dialogical activities which contextualize the game as a conversational object in the classroom context.

ECGBL 2013 Proceedings, 2013

The frames that set the boundaries of play in pervasive games are ambiguous, thus players must ne... more The frames that set the boundaries of play in pervasive games are ambiguous, thus players must negotiate what is part of the play when playing these games. This negotiation demands and develops creativity among players. The main contribution of this paper is to show how pervasive game designers and facilitators (e.g. game masters and/or teachers) of pervasive games can use the ambiguity and potential cheating in emergent play situations as a driver for promoting creative learning processes. More precisely, game facilitators need to respond to the on-going negotiations of different situational frames so that players are productive in relation to the goals of the game and the learning objectives. The paper outlines what pervasive games are and presents a case involving a pervasive game on global coffee trade. Next, we develop a theoretical framework that allows us to analyse how both players and facilitators need to be creative during a game session in order to play and to facilitate the game and especially how to manage ambiguity. Finally, we discuss the results of our analysis and suggest perspectives for further studies.

ECGBL Proceedings 2013, 2013

The paper develops an approach of playing and gaming activities through the perspective of both a... more The paper develops an approach of playing and gaming activities through the perspective of both activities as mood activities (Karoff 2013). The point of departure is that a game – whether it is ludic or paideiac - is a tool with which we, through our practices, achieve different moods. This based on an empirical study of children´s everyday lives, where the differences emerge through actual practices (Schmidt 2011, Heidegger 1996), i.e. through the creation of meaning in the specific situations. The overall argument is that it is not that important whether it is a playing or a gaming
activity – it is however crucial to be aware of how moods occur and what their optimal conditions are. Following Lave and Wenger (1991), participation in particular is essential. Learning this, the community of practice becomes crucial for learning the meanings of different moods as they emerge through because it is through the shared practices it becomes possible. This perspective has two dimensions: practices and moods. Practice is the concept of all the doing in the activities. Moods are the particular concept of sense and feeling of being, which is what we are drawn to when we are playing or gaming.

The Literacies of the Esports Ecosystem, 2023

Following the fast rise of esport as a global cultural phenomenon, there is an increasing need fo... more Following the fast rise of esport as a global cultural phenomenon, there is an increasing need for understanding the literacies involved in competitive online gaming. Research has claimed that game players can develop multiple literacies by finding, creating and sharing information around games. However, there has been a tendency to overlook the mundane reality of the communicative practices that unfold between esport team members during gameplay. In this chapter, we focus on communicative challenges as they unfold among players in an amateur Danish League of Legends team. The team consists of five players, is self-organised, and has no affiliation to coaches or formal esport organisations. The team's communicative practices are explored from a Goffmanian perspective in combination with Conversation Analysis to map the players' in-game interaction as well as their reflections on their gameplay. As our analysis shows, the team struggles with managing three different forms of communicative challenges, which involve adhering to social norms for in-game communication, having sufficient attention on the game activities, and attacking the face of other teammates. In this way, the findings reflect a lack of alignment of a mutual "serious" approach to playing on the team. The chapter concludes with recommendations for further research in relation to amateur players' communicative practices.

Games and Education: Designs in and for Learning, 2018

Using games for learning tends to blur boundaries across across in- and out-of-school domains. In... more Using games for learning tends to blur boundaries across across in- and out-of-school domains. In this way, it becomes difficult to describe and understand the meaning-making processes involved in game-oriented learning. In this chapter, we present the analytical framework of scenario-based education, which can be used to explore the translation processes and framings in relation to using game-oriented learning designs. The framework is used to analyse two empirical cases. The first case concerns the use of two different types of computer games (the serious game Global Conflicts: Latin America and the horror game Penumbra) in formal education and focuses on the relation between schooling and everyday life. The second case concerns the development and use of a specially designed practice simulation that invites school children into a universe as professional journalists and newspaper editors and hence builds on a designed relation between schooling and professional domains. Based on these examples, we discuss how the aims and practices of game-oriented learning designs must be translated, communicated, negotiated, integrated, and thus reframed by teachers and students in order to produce relevant and valid forms of educational knowledge.

In H. C. Arnseth, T. Hanghøj, T.D. Henriksen, M. Misfeldt, R. Ramberg & S. Selander (Eds.) Games and Education: Designs in and for Learning. Leiden: Brill., 2018

In this chapter, we draw together some of the recent findings from our research; we explicate som... more In this chapter, we draw together some of the recent findings from our research; we explicate some of the core dialogic concepts and relate them to digital games; and we try to formulate a set of principles or guidelines for a dialogic pedagogy with digital games, what we term “the GTDT model” (Games as Tools for Dialogic Teaching).

It i den innovative skole, 2018

Hvad er scemariedidaktik?, 2017

New Pedagogical Approaches in Game-enhanced Learning: Curriculum integration, 2013

This chapter outlines theoretical and empirical perspectives on how Game-Based Teaching can be in... more This chapter outlines theoretical and empirical perspectives on how Game-Based Teaching can be integrated within the context of formal schooling. Initially, this is done by describing game scenarios as models for possible actions that need to be translated into curricular knowledge practices, pedagogical knowledge practices, and everyday knowledge practices. Secondly, the chapter emphasizes how teachers must be able to shift back and forth between various interactional roles in order to facilitate game scenarios. Finally, a discussion is presented on how teachers choose different pedagogical approaches to game-based teaching, which may or may not correspond with the pedagogical models of particular games.

Serious Games in Education - a Global Perspective, 2011

The Handbook of Design Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 2008

In this chapter the authors discuss the problem of balancing theory and artifact production in de... more In this chapter the authors discuss the problem of balancing theory and artifact production in design research projects. Like other authors in this book, we believe that basic educational research benefits by being framed as a problem oriented research process, where design experiments and theoretical investigations go hand in hand. How this can be achieved - and the challenges it creates - is expressed in an ‘osmotic model’, showing the give and take of focusing simultaneously on product designs and theoretical
insights. The authors offer some guiding principles by which researchers can navigate in such a methodological setting. The principles are based on experiences from three research and development projects at Learning Lab Denmark and illustrate the multitude of challenges to be faced, when balancing the processes of product development and the generation theoretical insights.

Proceedings of ECGBL 2022, 2022

The professional practice of designing digital learning games has existed for more than four deca... more The professional practice of designing digital learning games has existed for more than four decades. Even though considerable work has been done on research and development projects that include learning games (e.g., through Design-Based Research projects), there is relatively limited research on how professional learning game designers work, and what design challenges they face when trying to develop learning games for K-12 educational contexts. In this explorative interview study, we take a closer look at the design challenges that experienced learning game designers face during the design process, and what complexities and dilemmas they need to balance in doing so. The interview study is based on extended semi-structured interviews with five experienced learning game designers from five different learning game companies from Europe and the US. Having transcribed and coded the interview data, we conducted a thematic analysis to address the following research question: How do learning game designers experience and manage the different knowledge forms and design challenges that emerge when developing games for K-12 educational contexts? To answer this question, we draw on insights from design theory and domain theory, which allows us to map and analyse how the learning game designers try to establish links between different forms of knowledge across three domains: the pedagogical domain, the disciplinary domain, and the game design domain. Based on the thematic analysis, we identify three design principles across these domains, which are central to the learning game design process: 1) creating a shared language and repertoire for the involved actors (e.g., game designers, subject matter experts, and educational practitioners) across the three domains, 2) establishing meaningful links between educational aims and game elements, and 3) considering the educational context of the learning game. Addressing these design principles are all crucial, when engaging in the highly complex task of designing games for educational purposes.

The short paper presents preliminary findings from a pilot study on how students become motivated... more The short paper presents preliminary findings from a pilot study on how students become motivated through design of learning games in math. The research is carried out in a Danish public school with two classes of 5th graders (N = 42 students). Over the course of two weeks, the students work with a design template for a runner game in the Unity 3D game design engine. The students are introduced to the concept of “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991) as a game design principle and are asked to design levels for a math runner game, which are both engaging as well as a meaningful way of learning math. In this way, the students are positioned as “math level designers”, which means that they both have to redesign the difficulty of the runner game as well as the difficulty of the mathematical questions and possible answers.

The poster presents preliminary hypotheses and findings of an on-going research project at Aalbor... more The poster presents preliminary hypotheses and findings of an on-going research project at Aalborg University, Denmark, which explores university students’ uses of collaborative writing tools like Google Docs when doing collaborative project work. The research project has a special focus on the various effects on the collaboration process of students’ various usage of the commenting functions of online writing tools.The poster received the Best Poster Award at the conference.

Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy

Games and Education: Designs in and for Learning, 2018

L1-educational Studies in Language and Literature, Jul 13, 2022

European Conference on Games Based Learning

Designs for Learning, 2011

Based upon a series of design interventions with the educational computer game series Global Conf... more Based upon a series of design interventions with the educational computer game series Global Conflicts at various secondary schools, this article explores how educational gaming can be understood as a complex interplay between four knowledge forms – i.e. students’ everyday knowledge (non-specialised knowledge), the institutionalised knowledge forms of schooling, teachers’ subject-specific knowledge (specialised knowledge forms), and game-specific knowledge forms such as professional journalism, which is one of the inspirations for the game scenario. Depending on how the GC series was enacted by different teachers and students, these knowledge forms were brought into play rather differently. More specifically, several students experienced genre clashes in relation to their expectations of what it means to play a computer game, whereas other students experienced emerging genres – e.g. when one student was able to transform the game experience into a journalistic article that challenged her classmates’ understanding of journalistic writing.

Aalborg Universitetsforlag, 2021

ECGBL Proceedings, 2020

It is widely recognized that dialogical relations between teachers and students as well as betwee... more It is widely recognized that dialogical relations between teachers and students as well as between students play a key role in order to support and achieve educational aims. At the same time, research on Game-Based Learning often focus on specific game affordances while neglecting the dialogical interaction among the involved actors in specific learning environments-e.g. teachers, students and game resources. In spite of the crucial importance of dialogic aspects in GBL, there exist relatively limited research on how to describe and understand dialogue when using games for learning. Thus, the aim of this mini track is to generate academic discussion on different ways of studying and enhancing dialogical learning through games.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:
- Theoretical frameworks for conceptualising dialogic perspectives on games and learning
- Methodological approaches for studying or assessing dialogical learning in and around games
- Different pedagogical approaches to facilitating game-related dialogue in educational contexts
- How different game elements and game design features may support (or constrain) dialogical learning. Including both analogue and digital game formats.
- How to design games or game environments, which enable different dialogical perspectives among participants.
- Empirical studies investigating teachers' use of digital games as contextual resources for dialogical teaching.

The Literacies of the Esports Ecosystem, 2023