APPLICATION OF GAMIFICATION AND GAME-BASED LEARNING IN EDUCATION

Huge development of information and communication technologies (ICT) in last 20 years has significantly influenced even the field of education. As a result, many new methods and forms of education have appeared. They utilize modern technologies in order to make educational processes more efficient. One of the most important changes may be the usage of e-learning which has – especially in the concept of guided self-studying – a positive effect.

One of the latest trends in the education which applies information and communication technologies is the integration of elements of gamification and game-based learning. These approaches lie in application of elements of computer games, especially increased motivation, activation, joy of playing, problem solving, etc. They find their use mostly as extension of e-learning (study support). It is possible to find identical aspects also in the area outside the e-learning or the internet generally – in the field of the experiential education.

The implementation of gamification and game-based learning into e-learning education is time and competency-demanding activity. Its main goal is to reach given educational objectives which may be supported from the structure point of view i.e. without direct influence on the contents of the education (gamification); or from the content point of view (game-based learning). The highest level is the synthesis of both mentioned approaches which leads to creation of comprehensive educational material.

This paper deals with the aspects of gamification and game-based learning and with the exploitation of their potential in formal education as tools which make achieving of given goal more efficient. The paper also includes a model of a design of educational material (study support which uses gamification or game-based learning), both from the material structure and the material content point of view.