Abstract:

One of the issues in e-learning is the lack of learners’ motivation. Many learners have initial motivation but lose it if an e-learning setting is insufficiently engaging. Gamification (i.e. the use of game elements and game design techniques in non-game contexts) is one of the recent concepts to activate learners and get them engaged in learning activities.

Games are powerful because many people become addicted to the games they have played. Therefore, the idea is to take advantage of a person's commitment to a game for a serious purpose, e.g. to keep motivation, focus on a subject and foster efficient learning.
Gamification is one of the emerging strategies in many fields, including e-learning.

However, tools and pedagogical solutions are needed to implement gamification in e-learning. Therefore, the main objective of the research was to find out which game elements are suitable for using in an e-learning setting, incorporate suitable gamification tools in an LMS system, use appropriate game design techniques, create a gamified e-course and, finally, to check students’ learning performance, motivation and satisfaction after using a normal or a gamified e-course.

Two groups of 30 learners were involved in the research. The control group was learning from ordinary e-learning material. The experimental group was learning from gamified e-learning material. The e-learning course for the experimental group also had gamified instructional design.

Pre-knowledge was evaluated of the participants in each group at the beginning of the e-courses. The participants’ gained knowledge was evaluated at the end of the e-courses. Moreover, the participants filled out questionnaires to identify user experience and satisfaction.
Participants who learned from gamified e-learning material in a gamified e-learning setting achieved better results than the participants from the control group. They were more satisfied with the e-course and more active in collaboration activities. They were engaged in gamified learning activities.

Keywords:

Gamification, e-learning, gamified learning.