Digital Game Habits of Primary School Students: A Cross-Country Comparison

Game is both one of the indispensable elements for children's development and important tools that provide physiological, cognitive, affective, and social development for children. Given the technological conditions of the 21st century, children are increasingly turning to digital games and using various technological tools to play them. This study aims to examine the digital gaming habits of primary school students and how these habits change in the context of three different countries. The research was conducted with a phenomenological design using qualitative research methods. The study group was selected from one primary school each in Türkiye, North Macedonia, and Spain. A total of 18 students, one from each country and six from each school, expressed their views on digital gaming habits. The data for the study were collected with the help of semi-structured interview questions developed by Taştekin (2019). The data obtained was coded using the content analysis method and displayed under 11 themes. As a result of the research, it was revealed that primary school students in all three countries mostly prefer to play games on devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers. In addition, while Turkish and Spanish students stated that they mostly prefer action games (war, escape, football, etc.), Macedonian students stated that they mostly prefer to play intelligence games. Based on these results, it is suggested that tablets, smartphones and computers, which primary school students are interested in playing games, should be encouraged to be used for educational digital games and for this purpose, educational digital games that can be integrated into primary school courses should be designed.