LEARNING THROUGH RECONSTRUCTING REALITY: VIDEO GAMES AS AN ALTERNATIVE ‘TOOL’. ISSUES OF RESEARCH AND IMPLEMENTATION ANASTASIOS KOLLIAS, PhD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, FACULTY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION CONSTANTINOS LIASKOS, PhD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, FACULTY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION NIKOLAOS PAPADAKIS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PELOPONNESE, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES KEYWORDS: VIDEO GAMES, VIDEO GAMES DESIGN, COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH, IMPLEMENTATION, CURRICULUM Introduction Without a doubt computer technology holds great potential for improving the way that people learn. Through the use of network resources, learners can engage in individualized instruction where they can investigate and learn concepts and content to meet their specific needs. A significant number of case studies conducted by academic researchers are published every year concerning the new “Edutainment” (education and entertainmen t, education via entertainment) form of modern educational approach, most important of which is the “Games To Teach” project under the concurrence of Microsoft and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Edutainment materials are bringing about a change in the definition of the learning process as they attract and hold the attention of the learners by engaging their emotions through a computer monitor full of vividly coloured animations (Buckingham and Scanlon, 2000). Playing games is an important part of our social and mental development. The advent of personal computers with superior graphics systems has precipitated an explosion in game software. The multimillion game industries produce many different kinds of games which cultivate cognitive functions, motivation and remove players from the “real world”. It involves an interactive pedagogy and, in Buckingham et al's words, totally depends on an obsessive insistence that learning is inevitably "fun”. Many researches (Lepper and Cordova, 1992; Quinn, 1994, 1997) underline that the games can benefit educational practice and learning, if they combine fun elements with aspects of instructional design and system design that include motivational, learning and interactive components. These facts demonstrate a close association between play and learning. Computer games are gaining unprecedented access to the homes, minds and souls of people today. Hence, it has become increasingly important for game developers and educators to study the application of computers for enhancing the education offered to the next generation of students.