Personal, Pedagogic Play: A Dialogic Model for Video Game Learning

Utilizing data from semi-structured interviews (n=20), this paper explores the educational function of internationally popular, blockbuster videogames, including the ways in which players identify and operationalize these learning experiences. It proposes a framework through which different learning experiences in mainstream, culturally significant games can be categorized, utilizing dialogic learning approaches - drawn from Alexander’s (2020) application of Bakhtin (2002) - to position players in constant dialogue with the games that they play: a co-constructive pedagogy of videogames. We find that, in the context of popular videogames, implicit learning is relevant, present, and valuable alongside than explicit alternatives. Our contribution is to offer a reimagined dialogic typology which can help players, educators, caregivers and games scholars identify, utilise and research digital play-learning