Children's Play in the Context of Digital Transformation: Cultural and Historical Perspective (Part 2)

Abstract

The article focuses on the problem of classification of digital play. Key approaches to classifying types of traditional play activity in foreign and in Russian psychology are studied. The authors argue that for the majority of foreign researchers the criteria for indicating a type of play is represented either by the level of its cognitive complexity (J. Piaget, K.H. Rubin, K. Stagnitti, S. Smilansky, N. Takata) or by the character of social interactions, in which the child is involved in the process of play (M.B. Parten, J. Mildred). Classifications of play, suggested by Russian scholars (E.E. Kravtsova, S.L. Novoselova, N.Ya. Mikhailenko and N.A. Korotkova, E.O. Smirnova), are discussed. The authors stress the need of differentiating between the concepts of “digital play” and “digital game”. They also discuss the possibility of applying classifications of video games and those of traditional play for the analysis of digital play. The article also focuses on the classification of digital play elaborated by J. Marsh on the basis of the taxonomy of play types by B. Hughes. Authors argue that for indicating types of digital play it might be more efficient to apply classifications of traditional play under condition of their adaptation.