Gamification and Game-Based Learning: Two Strategies for the 21st Century Learner

The use of emergent technologies in education has evolved tremendously since the 21st century. For plenty of educators this has become a challenging task, most of all when 21st century learners fill the classrooms. But these digital natives differ tremendously from those who started the millennium. These students want to be challenged, engaged and motivated through a learning process, which connects them to a different learning experience. This has become a challenging task for educators due to the student profile and characteristics. Although to achieve the learning outcomes necessary for the 21st century, educators are adapting approaches suited for these learners, involving game theory, video games, and gamifying instruction. Two of these approaches are Gamification and Game-Based Learning (GBL). These two approaches have been widely used based on the theoretical approach towards game design and the opportunity they bring for the learner to be engaged and motivated throughout instruction. The following article provides a clear overview of both strategies, and howmotivation is integrated with both. In addition it provides a clear description on planning effective instruction using aligned learning objectives, research and educational implications, and resources for the teaching and learning process using these approaches and strategies

The Impact of Gamification on Employee Engagement in a Complex System of Human Resource Management Processes

Elektroniskā versija nesatur pielikumusPromocijas darba mērķis ir izpētīt spēļošanu kā rīku, ko izmanto personālvadības procesu kompleksā sistēmā, un tās potenciālu ietekmēt augstāku darbinieku iesaisti šajos procesos, kā arī izstrādāt rekomendācijas spēļotu un iesaisti veicinošu personālvadības procesu dizainam. Pētījums piedāvā hipotēzi, ka, ņemot vērā spēļu vides augsti iesaistošo raksturu, darbinieku iesaiste dažādos personālvadības procesos tiek pozitīvi ietekmēta, izmantojot spēļu elementus, kas veicina izmērāmu šo procesu rādītāju paaugstināšanos. Darba zinātniskā novitāte izpaužas spēļošanas definīcijā ar fokusu uz personālvadības procesiem, kā arī pienesumā vadībzinātņu teorijas attīstībai: izstrādāts 10-soļu modelis iesaisti veicinošai personālvadības procesu spēļošanai. Darba ietvaros izstrādātā metodoloģija spēļošanas ietekmes izpētei uz darbinieku iesaisti var tikt izmantota gan viena uzņēmuma vai uzņēmumu grupas ietvaros, gan pārrobežu pētījumiemThe aim of this study is to explore gamification as a tool used within a complex system of human resource management processes and its potential to achieve higher employee engagement with these processes, as well as to develop recommendations for gamified and engagement-positive design of the said processes. Hypothesis defended throughout the thesis argues that given highly engaging character of the game environment employee engagement with various human resource management processes can be positively influenced through the application of game elements, thus promoting improvement of the process indicators. Scientific novelty of the doctoral thesis lies in developed gamification definition with a focus on human resource management processes, as well as in contribution to the management theory development: thesis offers 10-steps model for the engagement positive gamification of human resource management processes. Methodology for research of the impact of gamification on employee engagement can be used within any business enterprise or group of enterprises, as well as for the crossborder research

Gamification in IT Service Management: A Systematic Mapping Study

Despite the benefits of adopting IT Service Management (ITSM) reference models, such initiatives do not always produce the expected results. The research literature in this area concludes that motivation, engagement, skills, experience, performance and willingness to change of the personnel involved are among the critical factors for an effective ITSM implementation. Gamification has the capability to improve people's motivation and engagement and to drive people's behavior to meet the objectives set. Besides, gamification is widely used in learning systems for increasing students' skills and competences. In the last years, many researchers have added gamification to their process improvement initiatives to increase the motivation and engagement of process participants and to address their behavior throughout the process. Thus, we consider that adopting gamification in ITSM processes can be an interesting area of study. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to analyze the actual state of research in the field of ITSM gamification and identify the key challenges that justify future research. The results of our study highlight the positive impact of adopting gamification in ITSM processes and that ITSM gamification is a novel an attractive research area with many action possibilities

GoRace: A Multi-Context and Narrative-Based Gamification Suite to Overcome Gamification Technological Challenges

Gamification is a potential approach to foster motivation and engagement in different contexts which popularity in recent years has encouraged its application in a diversity of domains, including health, education, business, society, or tourism. However, although all their promising benefits and rapidly developing, the gamification community should face a variety of theoretical, empirical, and technological challenges. Focusing on technological challenges, we can observe a need that claims for suitable gamification software tools that offer system-independence and flexibility, support the gamification design, implementation, and monitoring activities, and experiment with more game elements than only points, badges, and leaderboards. For that reason, this paper deals with the identified technological challenges by introducing a gamification software tool to cover the main lacks found. An analysis of the advances in gamification domain and their recent literature was conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the most popular gamification software tools in order to design and develop a flexible system-independent gamification software solution that goes beyond the implementation of the classic game elements. As a result, we created GoRace, a multi-context and narrative-based gamification suite that supports the entire gamification process, provides flexible and system-independent gamification solutions, and allows the creation of tailored and reusable gamification solutions that go beyond the classic game elements to immerse participants in a fun, engaging, and challenging narrative-based gamification experience

Engaging Healthcare Users through Gamification in Knowledge Sharing of Continuous Improvement in Healthcare

Knowledge management systems are key for capturing, retaining, and communicating results from projects and presenting information to staff. The purpose of a knowledge management system is to tap into the vast wisdom from projects and experts across an organization. This research focuses on the knowledge management system within the Veterans Health Administration that was developed as a repository of information on continuous improvement tools such as flowcharts, value stream mapping, 5S, and the application of these in healthcare projects. The use of social network analysis and gamification improves website organization, user participation, and dissemination of shared knowledge related to continuous improvement of operations. The purpose of gamification is to engage, teach, entertain, measure, and improve the ease of use of information systems. The goal of this research is to utilize gamification theory within the knowledge management system to drive behaviors in a targeted audience and engage users in aspects such as writing, contributing, getting the feedback, which will create a more robust, cohesive system. A thorough review of the current knowledge management system was conducted, and a gap analysis was performed comparing the goals and objectives for the system to the current results. Next, gamification techniques with the potential to improve performance were identified and strategies to implement these were developed

Using Gamification to Enhance Second Language Learning

One major competence for learners in the 21st century is acquiring a second language (L2). Based on this, L2 instruction has integrated new concepts to motivate learners in their pursue of achieving fluency. A concept that is adaptable to digital natives and digital immigrants that are learning a L2 is Gamification. As a pedagogical strategy, Gamification is basically new, but it has been used successfully in the business world. Gamification not only uses game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts (Werbach & Hunter, 2012), but also empowers and engages the learner with motivational skills towards a learning approach and sustaining a relax atmosphere. This personality factor as Brown (1994) addresses is fundamental in the teaching and learning of L2.  This article covers aspects regarding language, second language learning methodology and approaches, an overview of the integration of technology towards L2 instruction, Gamification as a concept, motivational theory, educational implications for integrating the strategy effectively, and current applications used. It also calls for a necessity of empirical evidence and research in regards to the strategy

Identifying and Modeling Factors Affecting Success or Failure of Gamification in Organizational Training

The importance of training in organizations cannot be overlooked. This has motivated organizational decision-makers to look for new ways for achieving proper training in order to reach their organizational goals. Nowadays, one of new approaches to realize the training and gaining an effective output is gamification. Many factors can influence the use of this new approach in organizational training. Therefore, the present research seeks to identify and model the factors affecting on success and failure of gamification in organizational training. Accordingly, qualitative research method is used in this research. Also, three processes is conducted to collect data needed to answer the research question. In the first step, semi-structured interview is used to identify the factors affecting on gamification of organizational training. In the second step, the Interactive Management (IM) method is used to identify and extract the most important factors among the identified factors of the previous step. Finally, Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) software was used to model the factors and determine the causal relationships among them. The results demonstrate seven important factors which are respectively staff demographic characteristics, availability of infrastructure and facilities, staff information literacy, staff attitudes toward gamification, management attitudes towards gamification, gradual inclusion of gamification in the training process, and rich (learning) content. At the end, the research findings have been discussed

Analysis on the effectiveness of the gamification process

Gamification is the concept of applying game-mechanics and design to the non-game context applications and process to make them more engaging and effective. This concept is still relatively new and is growing and evolving at a rapid pace and the success of this concept depends on all the game mechanics that are employed. This thesis aims at analyzing the effectiveness of the gamification process in the present day scenario. To analyze this, a qualitative in-depth research is done within a multi-national organization by conducting semi-structured interviews with participants from various functions and levels. It also gives a clear understanding on the concepts of gamification and also gives an in-depth review on all the elements such as mechanics, design, etc. that go into it and the measures of the effectiveness of the process with the help of various frameworks and studies that have already been done. By reviewing the literature and the analysis of the data from the interviews, recommendations and conclusions are drawn that would help understand how to make the gamification process effective in the present day scenario and also gives insights into future of gamification. Dissertation author: Sarath Chandra Koppolu Dissertation title: Analysis on the Effectiveness of the Gamification Process.Ludificação é o conceito da aplicação de mecânicas e design de jogos em aplicações e processos de contexto não lúdico, de forma a torná-los mais envolventes e eficazes. Este é um conceito relativamente novo e que está a crescer e a evoluir muito rapidamente, sendo que o sucesso deste conceito depende de todas as mecânicas de jogo que são aplicadas. Esta tese tem como objetivo analisar a eficácia do processo de ludificação no contexto dos dias presentes. Para analisar isto foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa aprofundada com uma organização multinacional através da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com participantes de vários níveis e funções. Também irá fornecer uma perceção clara sobre os conceitos de ludificação, tal como uma revisão em profundidade sobre todos os elementos como mecânica, design, etc. que são aplicados neste contexto, e as medidas de eficácia do processo, com ajuda de vários enquadramentos e estudos que já foram realizados. Através da revisão da literatura e da análise dos dados das entrevistas, recomendações e conclusões foram retiradas, de forma a ajudar a perceber como tornar o processo de ludificação eficaz no contexto dos dias de hoje e compreender o futuro da ludificação