An online questionnaire was directed towards students undergoing various teacher training programmes at Umeå University, Sweden. The survey targeted approx. 200 students. 96 responses were recieved to questions about what challenges a teacher may face when using video games in the pedagogical practice. The answers were interpreted and placed into the categories displayed in the tag cloud below.
The study showed that a majority of the student teachers had no experience of video games being used for learning purposes, neither as pupils nor as student teachers. Almost half of the respondents stated that they would use video games in their future teaching practice but almost as many expressed uncertainty whether or not they would use video games in their teaching. Our study also showed that many student teachers are positive towards using video games in their teaching. They could also identify many challenging factors that are important to address if video games are to find their way into their pedagogical practice in the future.
The most frequently identified challenges were related to:
• teachersʼ knowledge about and experience of game based learning
• supporting structures and material that help teachers design game based learning activities
• teachersʼ general proficiency with and access to technology
Much could be done in order to overcome challenges like these. Our conclusion is that game based learning should be embraced to a higher extent in the teacher training programmes, educational support stuctures for game based learning should be improved and finally more resources and efforts should be focused towards educating teachers to become more technically skilled.