Gamification as an e-learning tool: A Literature Review

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to highlight the status of gamification of the educational process as an element of e-learning. The use of the game space in the educational process requires compliance with a number of specific conditions, so the task of the study is to determine the organisational and functional characteristics of gamification. The methodology involves the use of the principles of qualitative research, which analyses scientific views (53 sources were analysed) on the use of gamification in the educational process. The systematic literature review is conducted using the PRISMA 2020 flowchart, which allowed for a variable selection of sources relevant to the study of the current problem. The results of the study indicate the following trends in the positioning of gamification tools in the e-learning cluster: auxiliary status of gamification (42%), reinforcing status of the game factor (39%), alternative status of game-based learning (15%), negative feedback on the actualisation of gamification (4%). The literature review confirms the trend of involving a game case in the educational paradigm. At the same time, the role and format of gamification does not have a clear algorithm for implementation and functioning in learning activities, which indicates the need to streamline this cluster of e-learning. The scientific and pedagogical discourse today does not have a clear answer to the general positioning of gamification in the educational system. Institutionally, gamification is enshrined in educational strategies due to global trends in the digitalisation of society, but at the organisational and functional level, there are contradictions about the status of the game space in the structure of e-learning. The study identified two cases of game-based learning platforms in the innovative educational space: an autonomous online game-based learning format (54%) and a game tool as an element of the digital learning environment (46%). The scientific novelty of the study is focused on the correlation of indicators of quantitative increase in the level of gamification and qualitative indicators of the effectiveness of this e-learning case. Prospects for scientific research are focused on developing a strategy for the development of gamification in the educational sphere in general and in the context of e-learning in particular. Conclusion. Thus, gamification has gained positions in the e-learning system and is forming its own niche in the educational paradigm. The rapid digitalisation of the socio-cultural space causes the diversity and disorder of the organisation of the e-learning game case (especially in the context of the educational and pedagogical status), which is expressed in the scientific discourse of the last five years.