Abstract:

Using the eLearning platform "Moodle" just to upload materials, texts and optional exercises, a lack of interest among part-time as well as full-time students has been noticed quite recently in the department of Applied Computer Science. The reasons for this development are manifold. To put it in a nutshell, the short amount of time part-time students can or want to dedicate to their studies as well as their general mindset of passing a course with the least effort possible, affects their engagement with the activities on Moodle.. Hence, many students miss viable information on the subject of their studies and do not complete the course successfully.

The paper at hand addresses this problem by discussing possible approaches to enhance learner engagement. In this context, a vital mixture of competition and curiosity in Moodle activities is essential in order to motivate students to engage more effectively with the material presented, which in turn has the effect that more activities are completed conscientiously. One approach is the tracking of learner process. This can be achieved with Plug-Ins like "Level up" or with badges allowing students to check their level of expertise within a subject. Moreover, they can compare their progress to fellow students at any time. Generating competition may have an impact on student’s motivation and thus they are more likely to engage with the activity presented. Aside from the healthy competition among students, a teacher is able to keep track of their progress within the course at any time.

Another Plug-In called "Stash" targets to the curiosity of students. Items may be placed by the teacher at any location within the course, which can be collected by the participants once they have completed an activity. Additionally, items may be traded for other items. The instinct to collect should not be underrated. If implemented correctly, the "Stash" is a viable option to guide students to do optional exercises. Other core functions of Moodle, which may support gamification, are "Completion tracking" and "Restricted Access" to resources. An online lecture may be structured to reveal certain parts if only another part or exercise has been completed before hand. In fact, it is up to the lecturer to plan such a stacked content in such a way that students do not lose the guiding thread and still remain curious for the next input.

In order to nurture the play instinct of students the teacher has to design a lecture accordingly by including gamifying elements. This paper offers a generic way to design a course in Moodle with some core gamification functions so that any participant wants to delve for hidden features - respectively content - on the one hand, and to stay in active competition with fellow students on the other hand.

Keywords:

Moodle, Gamification, Competition, Curiosity.