Teachers´ acceptance of educational video games: A comprehensive literature review

Abstract

Educational video games (EVGs) are receiving an increasing attention as an approach to teach new generations of learners, such as millennials, who make an intense use of video games, interactive technologies, and digital networks. Extant academic literature suggest several benefits of using EVGs including increasing students’ motivation towards learning and enhancing engagement in the learning process. However, teachers are the real agents of change in the classroom and they choose whether to adopt or nor a given technological innovation in their courses. While a great effort has been devoted over the last years to better understanding EVGs effects on learning, research on teachers’ acceptance of EVGs is scarcer. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive literature review has been undertaken to summarize the main findings of this stream of research. To fill this research gap, the main goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive literature review on teachers’ acceptance of EVGs. Main findings suggest a wide range of barriers and drivers influencing teachers’ acceptance of EVGs including i) technical and organizational support, ii) training on EVGs, iii) previous gaming experience, and iv) personal factors such as openness and innovativeness. Findings are summarized in nine propositions with implications for Teacher Training Programmes development. © 2017, Italian e-Learning Association.