A Review of Gamification Platforms for Higher Education

Abstract

Providing an engaging yet meaningful learning experience for higher education students can be proven challenging. Teachers constantly try to find ways to strengthen the students' cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement but often encounter administrative, pedagogical and technical challenges. Recently, in their effort to engage students in the learning process, higher education teachers are experimenting with the concept of gamification and the use of game elements into courses and classrooms. Nevertheless, gamification most of the times requires a system or platform in order to be successful. This paper provides a thorough review of current gamification platforms that can be utilized in a higher education setting and discusses challenges and opportunities experienced by both teachers and students while using them. Five popular gamification platforms are critically evaluated in order to assist teachers in choosing the right platform for their needs. For each platform, we present the supported gamification elements in terms of Dynamics, Mechanics and Components and we evaluate the type of gamification offered (reward-based or meaningful). Finally, we provide easy-to-interpret comparison tables with the characteristics of each platform.