In recent years, university teaching methods have evolved and almost all higher education institutions use e-learning platforms to deliver courses and learning activities. However, these digital learning environments present significant dropout and low completion rates. This is primarily due to the lack of student motivation and engagement. Gamification which can be defined as the application of game design elements in non-game activities has been used to address the issue of learner distraction and stimulate students’ involvement in the course. However, choosing the right combination of game elements remains a challenge for gamification designers and practitioners due to the lack of proven design approaches, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works regardless of the gamification context. Therefore, our study focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of gamification in online learning in higher education that can serve as a resource for gamification practitioners when designing gamified systems. In this paper, we aimed to systematically explore the different game elements and gamification theory that have been used in empirical studies; establish different ways in which these game elements have been combined and provide a review of the state-of-the-art of approaches proposed in the literature for gamifying e-learning systems in higher education. A systematic search of databases was conducted to select articles related to gamification in digital higher education for this review, namely, Scopus and Google Scholar databases. We included studies that consider the definition of gamification as the application of game design elements in non-game activities, designed for online higher education. We excluded papers that use the term of gamification to refer to game-based learning, serious games, games, video games, and those that consider face-to-face learning environments. We found that PBL elements (points, badges, and leaderboards), levels, and feedback and are the most commonly used elements for gamifying e-learning systems in higher education. We also observed the increasing use of deeper elements like challenges and storytelling. Furthermore, we noticed that of 39 primary studies, only nine studies were underpinned by motivational theories, and only two other studies used theoretical gamification frameworks proposed in the literature to build their e-learning systems. Finally, our classification of gamification approaches reveals the trend towards customization and personalization in gamification and highlights the lack of studies on content gamification compared to structural gamification.
This paper deals with instructional design in a university context. It is a part of a project called "e-LATE" (e-Learning Activities for Technical English). These activities are designed as units of study for students in computer science in Algeria. "e-Shop" is designed using communicative language learning and collaborative learning approaches. Both obey to Piaget's cognitive theory & Vygotsky social constructivism. The scenario is built on role play as a learning situation. In «e-Shop », students play different roles: vendors, clients, and dealers -in a computer shop. The game may be run both in a face to face or distance mode. In recent years, language acquisition is focused on the learning process rather than language teaching. What is targeted is not only the learner's linguistic competence but the development of his communicative ability as well (Krish, 2001). Another approach, that practitioners use, is the collaborative approach as it increases the learners' motivation (The Collaborative Learning Project). We designed an instructional activity named «e-Shop » that uses firstly, the communicative approach to enable learners get better language skills, then role-playing, as a learning situation, because it uses different communicative techniques and develops fluency in the language, promotes interaction in the classroom and increases motivation (Krish, 2001); finally collaborative work so as to run those approaches among peers. This latter implies a cognitive conflict between/among peers that calls for a debate on a given subject and therefore let students communicate and show/express their opinions.
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