Virtual games represent one of the most important contemporary possibilities to enhance learning processes in educational environments. There is ample evidence of their applications in teaching cultural aspects, citizenship, science, and the development of critical thinking, among many others. However, despite the scientific support, many questions arise about the effectiveness of gamification in education. Most studies and reviews of empirical studies on gamification indicate that they generally have a positive effect on motivation, concentration, and other cognitive aspects, as well as on interaction and prosocial behavior. However, there are gaps in terms of purposes and outcomes between gamification and the application of serious games. This is a review aimed at elucidating these differences, to argue for the reinvention of educational processes.
The research finds justification given the incidence and magnitude they currently have in the human social sphere in the framework of the so-called Society 2.0. Derived from this framework, this approach must specially consider education as a vital social process. The same happens with information and communication technologies since they are frequently and increasingly used as mediation in educational contexts and because of their undeniable mediation in human interactions. Consequently, one of the most relevant questions tackled in this research refers to the disciplines required to provide a sufficiently broad theoretical and conceptual background for the scientific basis of the convergence between communication, edutainment, coexistence and otherness to effectively transform the last two concepts into measurable variables. The paper results from the content and a systemic analysis using ATLAS.ti software of published scientific documents for the last two decades about the phenomena of coexistence and otherness. As a main result, the researchers present a taxonomy that includes dimensions and indicators that enable the conversion of both constructs into measurable variables. Thus, a convergence to address the scientific study of coexistence and otherness from communication and edutainment emerged. The review also provides a theoretical basis for designing intervention models aimed at promoting coexistence. Edutainment is also incorporated as a novel tool to promote pro-social attitudes.
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