The Current State of the Gamification in E-Learning

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a systematic literature review of literature reviews (a meta-study) of gamification topics in e-learning with a purpose to present a high-level overview of the state of the development of the selected field.
 The systematic literature review of literature reviews (2010 - 2019) was performed. The academic papers (literature reviews) from several academic databases such as DOAJ, ScienceDirect, Google Sholar and WOS were examined and filtered for further study. The selected articles were analysed for sub-topics (e.g. the efficiency of gamification mechanisms) and summarized.
 In last 5 years, the research of gamification in various fields (mobile apps, e-health, human resource management, business development, e-learning) is getting traction and the number of research articles and systematic reviews of research articles is increasing. After filtering literature review articles, we have found out that only a handful of them – 19, which summarizes 2631 studies, are directly related to gamification in e-learning.
 This study shows that the following gamification mechanisms in e-learning proved themselves efficient in almost all underlying studies, but there is no broad consensus on terminology and how to group of different gamification related concepts.
 The research is limited to the following scholarly databases: DOAJ, Elsevier, Google Scholar, and WOS. We are aware that there is a possibility we missed some systematic literature reviews on this topic, which was indexed in other well-known databases or published using different terminology in the title or abstract.
 The article can serve as a starting point for the research for the scholars and especially post-graduate students who are getting familiar with the e-learning, gamification and performing systematic literature reviews. Also, developers of e-learning systems and course designers could benefit from this article by finding out which gamification mechanisms are most researched, most efficient and worth implementing.
 To our knowledge, this kind of meta-analysis of the literature reviews hasn’t been done in the field of gamification in e-learning for the year 2019.

E-Learning Platforms as Leverage for Education for Sustainable Development

“…The trend of gamification mechanism usage in various contexts (sales, marketing, learning, human resource management) is increasing (Rozman & Donath, 2019). Gamification mechanisms and game elements are used in course design to build learner resilience and motivation.…”

Gamifying mathematics education through Kahoot: Fostering motivation and achievement in the classroom

“…One of the ways of introducing digital elements into a non-digital learning environment to strengthen learning is through gamification. Gamification involves the application of game dynamics, psychology, and mechanics to non-game situations and applications, as explained by Rozman and Donath (2019). Incorporating game elements such as scores, badges, rankings, rewards, and levelling-up into non-game learning environments characterizes gamification.…”

The Effects of Gamification in Education: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The increased use of technology, including the internet, social media, mobile devices, cellphones, and other tools, has had an impact on higher education institutions' pedagogical procedures (Alzahrani & Alhalafawy, 2022). Gamification is the process of applying game dynamics, psychology, and mechanics to situations and applications that are not games (Rozman & Donath, 2019). Gamification uses behavioural economics, loyalty program design, and game design to create the ideal environment for behavior change and positive results (Rozman & Donath, 2019).…”

“…Gamification is the process of applying game dynamics, psychology, and mechanics to situations and applications that are not games (Rozman & Donath, 2019). Gamification uses behavioural economics, loyalty program design, and game design to create the ideal environment for behavior change and positive results (Rozman & Donath, 2019). E-learning and gamification can be successfully combined.…”

“…Gamification is frequently used in university settings, university students choose the required courses and address student issues (Toimah et al, 2021). Gamification in e-learning refers to a set of techniques and tools that raise interest in and incentive for using and finishing a course in the e-learning environment (Rozman & Donath, 2019).…”