Gamification in education is still a very new concept in South Africa. Being a 21st-centuryinvention, it has already established itself in the world within the environs of the corporatemarket, marketing, training and the social world. This article will first discuss gamification(and all its other designations) and its applications in general; thereafter, the focus will be onthe application of gamification within the environment of education, and more specificallywith an emphasis on assessment. The burning question for South Africa is whethergamification can enhance a module or course on the level of higher education so much that aneducational institution cannot do without it anymore, knowing that we are working withstudents belonging to the ‘Digital Wisdom generation’. This article would like to open theway for the implementation of gamification as a transformative online assessment tool inhigher education.

From the 15th century onwards, most of the countries in Africa have been colonised by theEuropean world powers, Great Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium.South Africa was officially colonised in 1652. Apart from the European colonisation beingexecuted from the south of the continent, South Africa also experienced a migration andinvasion of people groups from the north. The indigenous people groups, inhabiting thecountry long before these two groups arrived there, will be discussed as background to the restof the article. A few factors that made the colonisation of South Africa unique within theAfrican context will be discussed.

Theological education with the help of technologyTheology seemingly does not have a major impact on society anymore. However, Christianity did not only change and form the western world over the past 2000 thousand years, it still has a substantial role to play in society. This could be done through the development of theologies, the recognition that religious topics are still major segments in the publishing industry and the transforming potential of the Christian message on people. Although theological training finds itself in a difficult position, technology offers support to teaching and learning, cuts costs and offers solutions to a number of current problems concerning the effective formation of ministers. It is no longer necessary to provide theological training through a one-size-fits-all approach -a style that kept the pre-network society boxed. The aim is to motivate educators in theology to embrace the opportunities provided by the network society in aiding with the training of ministers by utilising current and future trends of development in technology.

Technology has augmented the cognitive power of our brains to such an extent that being deprived of one's smartphone/laptop, feels like one has lost one's own cognitive capacity. (cf. Kok 2009:3)

The knowledge driven, network society that is founded upon technology, demands from students to become independent, confident and motivated life-long, self-directed learners that can transfer their knowledge, skills and values. In order to deliver this type of graduates from a diverse and unequal student pool, effective education must be provided. Educators are encouraged to focus education on student-centeredness and to use technology effectively. Alternative assessment methods that are technology driven could enable both educators and students to become more effective in this environment. This article advocates the use of alternative assessment methods by using technology driven assessment tools for possible replacement of traditional, paper based and ‘one size fits all’ assessment methods within theology. The SECTIONS framework was used to evaluate ten alternative assessment tools that are in accord with the development within society.