Abstract

In the widening field of Game Based learning, games are included and addressed in many different ways. In this paper, the authors explore the possibility of using games to strengthen students’ digital literacy and more specifically their reflective understanding of video games, which we label ludoliteracy by adopting the term from José P. Zagal. For some years, digital literacy has been considered a pivotal competence due to the increasing digitization of information. It is simply not possible to become an actively participating citizen in society today without the skills and competencies required to navigate the digital information. Digital media are becoming ever more ubiquitous and intertwined, and games are a central component of this process. It is thus imperative that games are included in educational settings, and that we develop a framework for this inclusion. This leads to our primary research question: How can we define “ludoliteracy” and how can games be included in education in order to develop this literacy with students? As we are working within a new field at an early stage, neither theory nor practice is thoroughly consolidated. Our approach is therefore one of convergence, where we are fusing together available theory with our own empirical studies in order to build a more comprehensive framework for ensuring a sufficient understanding of video games. We draw on the last century of research from the field of game studies, and the knowledge gained in relation to the broader digital literacy. Game studies have provided us with important insights, and should be considered part of the foundation for any approach to game based learning, not least one that is concerned with ludoliteracy. Building upon these pillars of theory, we have carried out several empirical projects with students at different levels in order to shed light on possible approaches towards ludoliteracy.