PLAY AS A LEADING ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN IN A DIGITALLY-MEDIATED ENVIRONMENT IN THE HOME SETTING Submitted by Jane Caughey Dip. T. (Primary), B. Ed. (4th Year), Grad. Dip. Ed. (Computers in Education) A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education (Research) Research Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education Faculty of Education and Arts Australian Catholic University 2021 Play as a leading activity in a digitally-mediated environment i KEYWORDS virtual worlds, video chat, sociodramatic play, primary school children, imagination Play as a leading activity in a digitally-mediated environment ii ABSTRACT This research investigated play as a leading activity for children in a digitally-mediated environment in the home setting. Specifically, it explored how two separately located 7- to 8-year- old girls, who are friends in the real world, engaged in sociodramatic play with each other by interacting as avatars in the same online virtual world environment whilst synchronously using video communication tools to discuss their play. Underpinned by interpretivist philosophical assumptions and informed by the cultural-historical approach to research, this inquiry employed a qualitative single-case study design to gain insight into the unique nature of this contemporary form of play. Drawing on the cultural-historical theoretical concept of play as a leading activity, the research examined and analysed how children in separate home settings, located within the same regional city in Victoria, Australia, used their imagination to give rise to sociodramatic play in a contemporary context through networked digital technologies. This process enabled theoretical insight to be gained into specific psychological benefits afforded by this play practice to better inform parents about recognising the potential for virtual world gameplay via video chat to support children’s cognitive developmental outcomes. Findings emerging from this investigation were used to describe the defining features and fundamental characteristics of play as a leading activity in a digitally-mediated environment. Important factors influencing children’s ability to engage in this contemporary form of play in the home setting were also identified. Play as a leading activity in a digitally-mediated environment iii TABLE OF CONTENTS KEYWORDS............................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................... x STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP AND SOURCES ............................................................ xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Context of the study ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Personal orientation to the research......................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Children’s playful use of digital technologies in the home ..................................................... 3 1.1.3 Emergence of digital forms of play in online spaces .............................................................. 4 1.2 Aim of the study ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1 Definitions of key terms .......................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 Research question .................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.3 Scope of the research ............................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Significance of the study .............................................................................................................. 7 1.3.1 Understanding digital forms of play ........................................................................................ 7 1.3.2 Informing parents about digital forms of play......................................................................... 8 1.4 Structural components of thesis.................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 12 2.1 Play in early childhood .............................................................................................................. 13 2.1.1 Philosophical assumptions about play in early childhood .................................................... 14 2.1.2 Play as a leading activity in early childhood ......................................................................... 15 2.1.3 Parents’ views on digital forms of play in early childhood ................................................... 17 2.2 Digitally-mediated environments.............................................................................................. 24 2.2.1 Digitally-mediated environments in the home setting .......................................................... 24 2.2.2 Digitally-mediated environments and virtual world technology ........................................... 24 2.2.3 Digitally-mediated environments and video communication tools ....................................... 27 2.2.4 Combining different software platforms in digitally-mediated environments ...................... 30 2.3 Play and digitally-mediated environments .............................................................................. 31 2.3.1 Play and virtual world technology ......................................................................................... 32 2.3.1.1 Maintaining a joint focus of attention ............................................................................. 33 2.3.1.2 Using meta-communication strategies ............................................................................ 33 2.3.1.3 Using symbolic language and behaviours ...................................................................... 34 Play as a leading activity in a digitally-mediated environment iv 2.3.2 Play and video communication tools..................................................................................... 35 2.3.3 Play as a leading activity in digitally-mediated environments .............................................. 36 CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.......................................................................... 40 3.1 Cultural-historical theory .......................................................................................................... 40 3.2 Leading activities........................................................................................................................ 41 3.2.1 Leading activities and children’s psychological development .............................................. 44 3.3 Play as a leading activity ........................................................................................................... 46 3.3.1 Imagination as a basis for play as a leading activity ............................................................. 52 3.3.2 Play as a leading activity and children’s psychological development .................................. 55 3.3.3 Play as a leading activity and the zone of proximal development ........................................ 59 3.3.4 Mastering play as a leading activity ...................................................................................... 60 3.3.5 Play as a leading activity in the digital age ........................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 66 4.1 Qualitative research designs ..................................................................................................... 66 4.1.1 Philosophical assumptions of qualitative research designs ................................................... 67 4.1.2 Interpretivism ........................................................................................................................ 68 4.1.3 Researcher position ............................................................................................................... 71 4.1.4 Qualitative case study designs ............................................................................................... 73 4.1.5 Research paradigm ................................................................................................................ 74 4.2 Methods ......................................................................................................................................