Abstract
Game-based learning is a buzzword heard with increasing frequency in educational technology circles, but these discussions often proceed with an insufficient understanding of the nature of play in a social and cultural context . This chapter problematises some common approaches to game-based learning by exploring social dynamics and relations of power to propose a more critically disruptive model of game-based learning . Using the Little Big Planet franchise as a case study, it argues that game-based learning serves little purpose if it replicates authority -centred, transmissive ideas of learning , and that focussing on players/students as the producers (not just consumers) of digital texts for learning is significantly more productive.
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It should be noted that these platforms for content generation are becoming more and more popular: witness Scratch, Greenfoot, Minecraft, Disney Infinity’s toybox mode and Microsoft’s Project Spark.
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Habel, C., Hope, A. (2018). Little Big Learning: Subversive Play/GBL Rebooted. In: Cermak-Sassenrath, D. (eds) Playful Disruption of Digital Media. Gaming Media and Social Effects. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1891-6_11
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