Digital Game-Based Learning Can Develop Students’ Literacy Skills and Meet Learning Standards in the US

Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL) was considered as an effective way to engage learners and enhance learning performance. This case study demonstrates a design case that uses DGBL to support writing practices using student-centered pedagogy in K-12 education. Minecraft is used as a tool of transferring students’ imagination and abstract design to actual writing and building. We investigated a curriculum of adopting Minecraft in writing practices and analyzed students’ writing artifacts to identify the elements that fulfill US Common Core State Standards (CCSS) requirements in a rich digital learning environment. In this study, we found that using DGBL could develop students’ literacy skills that meet CCSS in a student-centered curriculum and eventually support students to prepare for standardized tests. Implications for K-12 educators are also considered.