Many adolescents spend a significant amount of time engaging in social interactions online (Sjolie et al., 2024). However, despite the increased use of digital technology, levels of digital competence have not improved (Fraillon, 2024). This contribution explores how analogue game-based learning can address this challenge by promoting data literacy in upper-secondary education contexts. Data literacy can be understood as the essential skills and knowledge required to critically, competently, and responsibly navigate an increasingly digitised and data-driven society (Castañeda et al., 2024; Pangrazio & Selwyn, 2019). Previous research on game-based learning has shown the capacity of games to promote rich learning experiences (Bayeck, 2020; Sousa et al., 2023). 

The present study is situated in the use of two non-digital games for data literacy. In 2023, a flexible toolkit of learning games was created in the Data Literacy for Citizenship Erasmus+ project (DALI, 2023) with the intention to support adult learners’ data literacy (Castañeda et al., 2024). Following the completion of the DALI project, two of the games were further developed and playtested for the context of upper secondary education in Norway (Klykken, 2025; SLATE, 2024).

In 2024, 147 physical class sets containing the two data literacy learning games were sent out to 42 upper secondary schools across Vestland County. Additional online teaching resources were provided to aid the teachers' use of the data literacy game package, titled Delta i Data! (SLATE, 2024). The Delta i Data! initiative was part of a collaboration between the University of Bergen and Vestland County Council, with the intention to support teachers’ work with AI in schools, as well as the EduTrust AI project (SLATE, 2024). While the games were primarily developed to foster data literacy, they were also intended to support student–student relationship building. For this reason, the game packages were distributed in early August 2024, enabling teachers to utilise them at the start of the school year.

 This contribution presents the case of how upper-secondary teachers implemented and evaluated the usability and impact of the Delta i Data! games as part of their teaching.

The analysis is guided by the following research question:

• How do upper-secondary teachers report on the affordances and challenges of using non-digital learning games for data literacy with their students?

This case study aims to generate insights into the teachers' practical implementation of the Delta i Data! games and their perspectives on the affordances and challenges of using the games in their teaching. An invitation was sent to all 42 schools, inviting teachers to complete an online questionnaire containing quantitative and qualitative, open-ended questions (Braun et al., 2021). The questionnaire included, for instance, questions about how and with what intention they had used the games, and how they perceived the impact in terms of relation-building and student learning. A total of 20 teachers and department leaders from 14 schools responded, and they reported having used the games with a total of 628 students. An inductive coding approach was adopted to analyse the qualitative dataset, identifying recurring patterns and developing themes (Braun et al., 2021).

This contribution explores upper-secondary teachers’ perspectives on the affordances and challenges of using non-digital learning games for data literacy with their students. Preliminary analysis highlights that the teachers saw a high relevance in using the Delta i Data! games for relationship building. Using the games appears to have generated a high level of social inclusion, engagement, and participation across student groups. Regarding the students' learning about data, the preliminary analysis indicates that the teachers observed a more varied impact. While many found the games beneficial for reflection on topics such as data trails and privacy issues, some encountered difficulties when using the games for digital competency development. Many reported that the games offered a good starting point for conversations about issues such as privacy and the role of digital data in everyday digital practices. Other teachers, however, explain that they chose to use the games solely for relation-building and not for addressing data literacy with their students. Some teachers reported difficulties in linking the game activities to the data literacy learning goals, for instance, through reflective activities with students. Initial findings highlight the games’ relational affordances while also revealing some challenges associated with using these games for learning, including balancing the entertaining and educational aspects of gameplay, and the need to incorporate contextualising pre-game and post-play activities (Arnab, 2020; Kim & Pavlov, 2019). Acknowledgements The Trond Mohn Research Foundation supported this study through the EduTrust AI project (TMS2023TMT03). Vestland County Council financed the printing of the Delta i Data! game packages.

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