Gamification as an Educational Technology Tool in Engaging and Motivating Students; An Analyses Review

Abstract

The use of educational technology has been improving in schools since the turn of the century. The current educational curriculum has been revamped to incorporate information, communications and technology (ICT). The immersion has either been a stand-alone subject or infused into elements of other subjects, most prominently in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In some educational technology research, it has shown that infusion of technology has shown contrasting results when it came to teaching and learning. Although, there have also been studies that shown improvement in motivation of the students in this technology laced classrooms, yet it did not lead to a better cognitive understanding. Furthermore with the problems such as difficulty in accessing to technology, teacher misconception about technology usage in classroom, student disengagement towards learning in classroom, we could not see the full extent of the educational technology capability. And so this spawns for the introduction of games as an educational tool; as it is related with enjoyment and is far off from its relation to work. With the infusion of technology, it has produced off shoots such as game based learning, serious games and more recently gamification. As gamification refers to the inclusion of „gamefulness‟ to existing systems as opposed to creating an entirely new game; thus paves the way for easier implementation as an educational tool. Therefore this paper will discuss about the role of gamification as an educational technology tool in engaging and motivating students; based on analyses review of several literatures.