The COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions around the globe to close or move to a remote format. This article focuses on the transition of an in-person undergraduate physical geography lab to online synchronous learning during the Fall 2020 semester. Findings suggest the importance of abundant learning materials as well as showing…

The relationship between adolescents' use of video games and their well-being is controversial and largely unexplored during the COVID -19 pandemic. This study examined the association between adolescent video game use and well-being during a nationwide lockdown (March-May 2020) and investigated whether this association was mediated by emotional…

This study investigated how children describe their play activities and associate learning with play. Accordingly, 23 early childhood children from different cities and age groups were included in this phenomenological research study. Incorporating images of children's drawings of their favourite playtime and semi-structured interviews, three main…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the power of affective pedagogies and playful literacies to resist neoliberal framings of video game play and design in educational contexts. Design/methodology/approach: Focusing on the Giga-Games Camp, a video game design camp for adolescents, the authors mobilize different methodological…

When we give meanings to a physical space, we engage in place-making. With technologies, the place-making activities can be extended to virtual and hybrid spaces. In games, actual or virtual space can gain narrative and meaning transforming into a playce (i.e., a place for play). We suggest that playce-making (i.e., transforming a space into a…

Computational thinking (CT) education has drawn increasing attention from educators and researchers. This study conducted a meta-analysis of 27 empirical studies to examine the effectiveness of game-based learning (GBL) for fostering students' CT. The effects of various factors on the learning process for acquiring CT were also examined. The…

Using national longitudinal data of students during their 9th and 11th grades, we address popular concerns over screen time activities distracting students' academic pursuits. We examine gender differences in the types of screen time use, expecting the skill-based activity of video gaming to be more common among boys and the socially oriented…

Digital games, especially simulations, have supported student learning outcomes in the areas of science and agriculture in classrooms and nonformal settings. Simulations contribute robustly to student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and agriculture content areas, especially when they are aligned with…

The authors provide a deep reading of the fictional small American town of Possum Springs in the 2017 adventure game "Night in the Woods" ("NiTW") to demonstrate how game architecture and environments have become richer and more complex spaces for narrative development and storytelling. The act of navigating the game's town,…

Video games are becoming ubiquitous in Western societies. However, this virtual leisure has received little attention from researchers in career counseling, leaving career counselors relatively unprepared to work with video game players. In this article, we propose three types of interventions to capitalize on the benefits of playing video games…

Literature indicates that both academic tasks (Deater-Deckard et al. 2013; Skinner et al. "Educational and Psychological Measurement," 69(3): 493-525, 2009) and video gaming (Irwin "The Journal of Psychology," 133, 157-164, 1999; Laffan et al. "Computers in Human Behavior," 65, 544-549, 2016; Whitton "Simulation…

Esports are not a conventional fit with a traditional model of college life. However, this has not stopped them from becoming extraordinarily popular, particularly among independent colleges. In the broader culture, esports have an entire ecosystem supporting them. International events can draw crowds in the hundreds of millions, and professional…

Institutions of higher education have been traditionally tasked with the challenge of educating individuals for a changing economy and society. As the economy and education drive innovation, highly skilled workers are required to keep up the new status quo. However, as the perceived value of higher education shifts, institutions of higher…

This study examined whether exergames could improve physical, functional, and cognitive functions in people with Down syndrome. Twelve adults with DS, aged over 35 (M = 50.35, SD = 7.45), were randomly assigned to a Wii-based program (n = 6) or a control group (n = 6), and completed physical (Chair Stand Test, 6-Minute Walk Test), functional (TUG,…

Digital games can provide fun, motivating, and challenging experiences for students in the classroom. Recent research on educational games has shown that game play can positively influence academic achievement, engagement, and 21st century skills (Abdul Jabbar & Felicia, 2015; Qian & Clark, 2016). When playing games, students solve…