ABSTRACT
Digital play has been introduced into the literature to name an emerging new way of playing (e.g. Edwards 2014; Ellis and Blashki 2007; Johnson and Christie 2009; Linderoth, Lantz-Andersson and Linderstrom 2002; Moore 2014; Stephen and Plowman 2014; Thai et al. 2009; Verenikina and Kervin 2011). Stephen and Plowman (2014: 336) note that digital play is defined as a “model of play that derives from screen-based computer games”. In contrast, a cultural-historical conception of play sees children traditionally engaging in three-dimensional physical and social worlds, where they create imaginary situations, changing the meaning of actions and objects to give a new sense to the situation (Vygotsky 1966). So how might digital play relate to this cultural-historical conception of play, which has recently been brought to pedagogical life in the contemporary context of playworlds (Hakkarainen et al. 2013; Lindqvist 1995)?
