THE USAGE STATUS OF DIGITAL GAMES ACCORDING TO EDUCATIONAL LEVELS

Digital games seem to have a growing tendency in recent years in the field of education. Besides the benefits such as success, motivation and collaboration, it can also cause damages such as failure, asocial life, self-harm and addiction. It is thought that the use of digital games in education is important and should be directed in terms of development and learning psychology. The aim of the study is to determine the appropriate level of education in which digital games can be used. Survey research which is a quantitative approach was used. The sample determined by simple random sampling method consists of N=266 students who are in 3rd and 4th class in basic education department. The data collection tool was prepared by the researcher. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage and cross-tabulation and bi-directional Chi-square test was performed. Regarding the appropriate level of education in which digital games can be used, 21.4 % of all participants think that it is appropriate for preschool and 15.4 % think that it is not suitable for any level. The dependent variable is the level of education considered appropriate, and the independent variables are department, class, gender and digital game play status. A significant but very weak relationship was found between the dependent variable and the department and digital game play variables, but no significant relationship was found between the class and gender. The results show that the use of digital gaming in education is appropriate at all levels of education but more suitable for younger age groups. By believing that the different views are useful, it is suggested that the study should be repeated with different and wider samples and different methods