Researchers and Educators

Today’s educators have recognised the need for Digital Literacy. This is evident in the Queensland State Education 2010 (Education Queensland 2000a) where they have committed Education Queensland to a futures orientation. Through recent research in the Literate Futures report, it has been noted that students can be seen using the ICT tools for reading and writing, speaking and listening, viewing and online ‘surfing’ to analyse and understand traditional and new worlds, real and virtual communities and environments around them.

With technology changing so rapidly and a part of so many people’s lives, researchers have delved into the process of understanding how this technology will enhance student’s lives within the school curriculum.

Papert (2008) remarked that ‘it is apparent that gaming has educative/educational significance both overtly and covertly, and both aspects are important.

Gee (2003) states that ‘When we learn a new semiotic domain in a more active way, not as passive content, three things are at stake:
We learn to experience (see, feel, and operate on) the world in new ways.Since semiotic domains usually are shared by groups of people who carry them on as distinctive social practices, we gain the potential to join this social group.

We gain resources that prepare us for future learning and problem solving in the domain and, perhaps, more important, in related domains.