Mediating and Managing: Envisioning Digital Game-based Learning in Schools

This article ventures into the realm of digital game-based learning (DGBL) from the perspective of teachers, exploring how they envision and plan their future use of DGBL. The article draws on Actor-Network Theory, focusing on scenarios, and Jasanoff’s concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. The analysis examines how a group of practising and preservice teachers has envisioned future DGBL practices and potential benefits. We study short, reflective texts written by this group as part of a DGBL course. They express visions about future activities that form an emerging sociotechnical imaginary. The article introduces a novel theoretical framing that illuminates the features of scenarios and emerging sociotechnical imaginaries. It offers fresh and valuable insights into how teachers interested in DGBL envision their future use of it. The texts also underscore the roles of teachers as leading classroom actors, as managers and mediators of digital games for learning.