Games for change – and learning – are here to stay. But uptake by educators at school and tertiary levels remain lower than it could be.
This article explores a daunting list of inhibiting factors that reduce the chances of games becoming more widely adopted as educational methods. Such factors have been documented since the 1960’s and apparently remain as unyielding in their resistance to the notion of playing to learn as when they were first identified.
So, the urgent question for proponents of using concepts of play – including simulation, games and virtual reality as examples – is why this state of affairs has remained static for so long. And there is the consequent question of what such proponents need to do to help educators make the ‘seismic’ shift from resistance to adoption of games for learning? Existing barriers to playful engagement with learning can be reduced over time and will involve sustained action by individuals and/or organisations to increase playfulness in learning environments.