Gamification: An Innovative Pedagogy to Onboard Students for Online Learning Success

Abstract

The unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a paradigm shift in the education sector by transitioning from the traditional face to face learning to online learning. Attitudinal studies exploring the attitudes and characteristics of the students in online learning have revealed a lack of student engagement and motivation in the online education delivery. Gamification is the principle of adding game-like elements to non-game activities and in the online learning context, it is a strategy used to enhance engagement and motivation. The recent literature suggests that if gamification is well planned and integrated in the course design, it has the potential to improve learning. However, there still lacks qualitative research to show how the different game elements can fit into different learning contexts. To address this gap, this study shows how gamification was brought into the lesson design and how different game elements were woven into a learning experience. This study adds up to the existing literature by going beyond implementing the most commonly used game elements namely point, badge and leader board. The outcome of the user experiences showed that the “glearners” were motivated and propelled through the learning content in a fun and enjoyable way.