Chapter 19: Computer Games and Opportunity to Learn: Implications for Teaching Students from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds

As suggested in many chapters of this book (e.g., Tobias, Fletcher, Ch 1, Ch 21; Games & Squire, this volume), there has been an emergent interest in using computer games to enhance learning and motivation. What are the implications for students of low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds? Will the use of computer games create new opportunity to learn for these students or enlarge the “digital divide”? What are the affordances and constraints of using computer games to promote learning for this group of students?

In this chapter, we use the concept “opportunity to learn” (Gee, 2003, p. 27) as an overarching idea to organize our review. Specifically, the main purpose of this chapter is to identify affordances and constraints of using computer games for learning by students who have limited access to educational material and related resources and who may otherwise be at risk in terms of lowered academic achievement or dropping out of school entirely.