Gamification in education: real benefits or educational entertainment? DOI:

Abstract

Proponents of gamification, on the one hand, claim that gamification leads to learning gains. They claim that gamification reinforces important skills in education, such as problem solving, collaboration and communication. In addition, they argue that the need for interaction in a gamified approach to education encourages students to play an active role in the learning process, which increases the participation of students in forums, projects and other online learning activities. Detractors of gamification, meanwhile, argue that it derails learning with aimless distractions, adds unnecessary stress to the competition and does not take into account the pedagogical needs of certain students. Research on gamification is gaining momentum and promises to help adjudicate many of the issues raised in this controversy. Therefore, we conducted a second-order review to examine the evidence-based discourse on this aspect of gamification. We found that, although the review literature suitably summarizes the evidence in support of effectiveness in terms of cognitive, emotional / motivational and behavioral outcomes, certain design problems remain unresolved.