Current Research and Practices of Gamification in Technology-Enhanced Learning

Dear Colleagues,

The MDPI Information Journal invites submissions to a Special Issue on “Current Research and Practices of Gamification in Technology-Enhanced Learning”.

Gamification in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) has become an increasingly popular learning design strategy applied to enhance the learning gains, enjoyment, engagement and motivation of learners in both presential and online learning settings enhanced by diverse digital technologies such as learning management systems, collaboration tools, mobile and wearable technologies for learning, and augmented and virtual reality. A number of approaches to gamification have evolved over time and have either competed with each other or have been combined with each other for optimal outcomes. Some of these approaches have included BLAP amification, meaningful gamification, and deep gamification. In recent years, there has been more and more research on gamification in technology-enhanced learning using different points and rewards systems, different cooperation and competition elements such as challenges, battles, leaderboards, achievements, different level structures and customisable avatar designs as well as different forms of displaying objectives, progress, outcomes, peers and feedback. The focus has oftentimes been on comparing learner engagement and motivation in gamified and nongamified learning systems and applications, exploring how gamification may impact learning behaviours and learning outcomes in online learning settings such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). In particular, research on gamification in MOOCs has addressed the question of how gamification may help improve motivation, retention and completion rates.

However, research in the field of gamification remains largely inconclusive and the results are rarely comparable. A number of metastudies and literature reviews have attempted to present empirical results, but the results appear to be mixed. Although gamification research has been maturing, the research landscape is scattered, and studies tend to test different implementations of gamification design in different contexts and with different effect measures, which makes it very difficult to compare the results. Some of the key challenges have included methodological shortcomings such as small sample sizes and missing control groups, analysing the result of the whole gamified system vs. investigating the impact of individual design aspects in the system, measuring mostly short-term effects vs. long-term effects, the use of nonstandardised research methods and instruments, reliance on outdated understanding of human motivation, little research on the impact of individual gamification elements and relationships between these elements on learning and learners in gamified learning systems which combine multiple elements and little attention paid to the negative effects of gamification. A number of publications taking a metalevel view of gamification have concluded that a higher quality of research and a synthesis of findings from current research are needed to arrive at more conclusive findings in the field of gamification in technology-enhanced learning.

This Special Issue aims to explore novel design practices and research methods in the field of gamification in technology-enhanced learning. This Special Issue in particular aims to attract substantial contributions in the field with a focus on design and research frameworks as well as high-quality methods for collecting evidence on the effects of gamification in TEL, which will be of value to practitioners and researchers and will help to guide future design and research on gamification in technology-enhanced learning.

Topics of the call:

• Current practices for designing effective gamification in TEL;
• Novel applications and research contexts for gamification in TEL;
• Current challenges in designing gamification in TEL including emerging technologies such as AR/VR;
• Current studies on the perceptions and attitudes towards gamification in TEL;
• Current approaches to designing gamification in TEL for diverse learner/player types;
• Conceptual and ethical challenges in designing gamification in TEL, including proposed solutions;
• Measuring the effectiveness of gamification elements and relationships between them in the context of TEL;
• Current approaches to measuring the long-term effects of gamification in TEL;
• Effects of sociodemographic, contextual and situational factors on the effectiveness of gamification in TEL;
• Methodological innovations in design and research on gamification in TEL;
• Contemporary theories for designing and analysing the effects of gamification in TEL;
• Current studies on the negative effects of gamification in TEL;
• Current approaches to providing high-quality research and valid evidence on gamification in TEL.

Prof. Dr. Ilona Buchem
Prof. Dr. Oriol Borrás Gené
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• technology-enhanced learning (TEL)
• gamification
• innovation