Abstract #3254

Abstract: A prominent trend in studies examining digital technologies within literacy education is ephemerality, in the sense that emphasis is given on exploring the pedagogic possibilities of every new technology (e.g., Word Processing, Internet, Social Media, Video Games, A.I.). This presentation advocates for the necessity of an ontological shift toward identifying enduring parameters not tied to specific technologies but rather transcendent and diachronic in nature. To illustrate this perspective, I will examine scholarly discourse on videogames in education over the last two decades (e.g. Cole et al., 2024; Nash 2025) and argue that this examination could be essential for feeding the ongoing discussions surrounding the role of artificial intelligence in literacy education.

I will draw on data from two large-scale research projects. The first project (2011-2015) involves a combined analysis of quantitative (1,185 questionnaires) and qualitative data (6 ethnographic case studies) from children aged 11-15 (see Koutsogiannis & Adampa, 2022). The second project utilizes data from a survey conducted with 912 children aged 10-18 in June 2020, immediately following the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on these data, I will challenge two prevalent assumptions. The first posits that videogames characterize children’s out-of-school literacy practices; however, my analysis reveals that children's engagement with videogames is not uniform but intertwined with aspects of their multifaceted literate identities (Koutsogiannis & Adampa, 2022). The second assumption suggests that the integration of videogames into education will positively impact teaching by making it more attractive for children and facilitating learning. My analysis reveals that this perspective is simplistic, primarily because it overlooks the "grammar” of educational systems (see Koutsogiannis, in Bacalja et al., 2024).

By addressing these assumptions, I contend that the shift from ephemerality to diachronicity is critical for comprehending the nexus between digital technologies and education, extending beyond the scope of videogames. Therefore, this perspective is instrumental in shaping the current dialogue on the application of Artificial Intelligence within literacy education.

References

Bacalja, A., Nichols, T. P., Robinson, B., Bhatt, I., Kucharczyk, S., Zomer, C., Nash, B., Dupont, B., de Cock, R., Zaman, B., Bonenfant, M., Grosemans, E., Schamroth Abrams, S., Vallis, C., Koutsogiannis, D., Dishon, G., Reed, J., Byers, T., Fawzy, R. M., Hsu, H.-P., Lowien, N., Barton, G., Callow, J., Liu, Z., Serafini, F., Vermeire, Z., deHaan, J., Croasdale, A., Torres-Toukoumidis, A., & Xu, X. (2024). Postdigital videogames literacies: Thinking with, through, and beyond James Gee’s learning principles. Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-024-00510-3

Cole, C., Parada, R. H., & Mackenzie, E. (2024). A scoping review of video games and learning in secondary classrooms. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 56(5), 544–577. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2023.2186546

Koutsogiannis, D., & Adampa, V. (2022). Videogames and (language) education: Towards a critical post-videogaming perspective. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 22(2), 1–28.

Nash, B. (2025). Video games and literacy learning: Exploring the research. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 30, 509–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-024-09787-6

From videogames to Aritificial Intelligence in (literacy) education: ephemerality or diachronicity?