Barriers to the Use of Games-Based Learning in Pre-School Settings

Abstract

The main aim of this research is to investigate how teachers perceive the barriers that limit the adoption and implementation of games-based learning in early childhood education on Cyprus. Teachers are working in public and private pre-schools. A 19-item questionnaire was administered to 148 early childhood teachers in Cyprus (78 public pre-school teachers and 70 private pre-school teachers). Factor analysis reveals three types of barriers to the use of games-based learning in early childhood classroom: lack of confidence, lack of support, and lack of equipment. The higher the teachers' self-efficacy in using digital games is, the lower the level of teachers' perception regarding the barrier lack of confidence becomes. Teachers with no frequent use of computer and digital games in the classroom perceive lack of confidence as a major barrier. Public pre-schools teachers have significantly more positive attitudes toward the usefulness of GBL than private pre-schools teachers.

Barriers and Hindrances to the Effective Use of Games in Education: Systematic Literature Review and Intervention Strategies

“…Material barriers are associated with the lack of games per se, or the lack of funding to acquire them. Lack of games -more specifically educational games in schools -is a salient aspect of this study, as well as their high cost (Alqurashi and Alqurashi, 2017;Jääskä and Aaltonen, 2022;Manesis, 2020). Besides games, a more general issue of lack of funding for educational activities is also noted as a fundamental hurdle to the implementation of GBL in these contexts (Kaimara et al, 2021).…”

“…For technological barriers, several studies in the sample emphasized the negative impact of infrastructure issues in GBL interventions, such as inadequate internet network service, outdated computers, or a lack of technical staff and software (Alqurashi and Alqurashi, 2017;Jääskä and Aaltonen, 2022;Kaimara et al, 2021;Manesis, 2020;Marklund and Taylor, 2016). This combined with the literacy phenomenon and the inability of teachers to solve technical issues that may emerge during interventions contribute to a sense of frustration and negative game experiences both for teachers and students (Jääskä and Aaltonen, 2022).…”

ICT Equipment in the Kindergartens for Sustainable Education from Kindergarten Principals’ Perspectives in the Czech Republic

“…On the other hand, frequent use of reading software on a PC has a negative correlation with reading results. In terms of the availability of technology in pre-school education, insufficient equipment was shown as one of the main barriers to development [14]. In this way, it supports the previously published conclusions [15], one of the factors limiting the successful implementation of ICT in education as "lack of equipment", hiding the following under this collective name: outdated, incompatible or unreliable computers, lack of computers, lack of internet access or the internet is not easily accessible, lack of equipment funding, and lack of good educational software.…”

Gamification in the STEM Domain Subject: The Prospective Method to Strengthen Teaching and Learning

“…In theory, games can enhance the appeal and motivation of STEM subjects (Papastergiou, 2009;Piaget, 2013;Chu & Chang, 2014). However, many challenges must be faced (Manesis, 2020;Kaimara et al, 2021;Stankova et al, 2021). The negative effects of Gamification found in previous research are disparity in facilities, too much time allocation, too many students in class, and the difficulty of integrating games into learning according to the curriculum (Lee et al, 2022), such as the tight ranking system (win/lose) in games (Toda et al, 2018).…”