Acknowledgements

I would firstly like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Rory Ewins, whose expertise, patience and understanding has made this journey a more fulfilling one.

I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone at the College of Humanities and Social Science – Moray House School of Education, who supported me throughout the MSc Digital Education. I am grateful for the invaluable constructive criticism I always received from all course organisers and tutors through all the courses that I followed. I would like to particularly thank Dr Hamish Macleod who helped me realise that all those years playing computer games were not a waste of time and who also helped inspire this study.

I would also like to thank my parents, Vincent and Kathleen, for the support they provided me with throughout my entire life and for providing me with a good education and a loving, safe upbringing.

I would also like to offer a special acknowledgement to my wife, Helen, for being patient throughout the last few years, for encouraging me throughout this academic adventure and for giving me strength at times when I felt down.