Gamification in the system of the latest technologies of the educational process during the pandemic

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Lviv Polytechnic National University

Pedagogical University of Krakow

Gamification in the system of the latest technologies of the educational process during the pandemic

Bilushchak Т.

Sabina Kwiecien

Introduction

e-learning gamification tool

In the context of the development of the digital society, the educational process requires constant improvement, since there have been fundamental changes in the strategy and tactics of studying in higher education institutions. In particular, the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 caused the transfer of the educational process to a distance learning format. The introduction of distance learning exacerbated the challenge of attracting and retaining students' attention in the learning process. That is why the study of the best educational practices, in particular, gamification as an innovative form of education, is becoming especially relevant.

The purpose of the research is to determine the role of gamification in e-learning, which allows teachers to interest and motivate students in the educational process.

Achieving the set goal determined the solution of the following research tasks: to trace the key features of educational gamification on the example of the studied scientific literature and practical information; characterise gamification tools that can be integrated into the educational process; conduct a questionnaire survey of students regarding the interest in using gamification in the educational process.

To solve the set goal and tasks, a number of general scientific and special methods of cognition were used in the paper: theoretical analysis of scientific literature regarding the features of educational gamification; analysis and synthesis for the conceptualisation of the “gamification” concept; comparative analysis to characterise the gamification tools; a sociological method, namely a survey using an interactive form of questionnaire, which will enable revealing the level of students' interest in the use of educational gamification. Actually, the empirical study was conducted using an online Google Forms questionnaire.

The issue of using gamification technology in education was primarily reflected in the scientific papers of such researchers as Ekici M., Kayimba§ioglu D., Oktekin B., Haci H., Bugaeva V., Zakharova O., Gruzd A., Smal O., Imeridze M., Bykov I., Velichko D., Para A., Rodwald P., Wawer M. [1-10].

Presentation of the main material

In the mid-2000s, such a trend as gamification appeared in the USA. However, gamification gained special attention from the scientific and educational community in 2010, when game elements were integrated into the educational process. There are many different interpretations of gamification. When Ukrainian and foreign scientific studies analyse the concept of digital educational environment, they often consider the concept of gamification of learning. Gamification is the use of certain game elements in nongame practices [11]. D. Clark in his work investigated the impact of the gamification result on the motivation of students in the educational process and established that the acquisition of skills and a great desire to acquire knowledge comes from one's own motivations, and not from external factors of influence. At the same time, the scientist found that the level of motivation for high learning results increases precisely when a student achieves an individual task [12]. K. Werbach admits that up-to-date game technologies can be applied in business processes to solve specific professional tasks with minimal expenditure of time and resources [13]. The researcher K. Kapp presents a more comprehensive understanding of gamification in the educational process. He concluded that the principles of game mechanics and thinking should be used in order to involve learners in the educational process, increase their motivation, activate learning and solve practical problems [14].

Let us consider the positive and negative aspects of using gamification in the educational process. Among all the positive advantages of gamification, we highlight the main one, which helps to focus attention on what the student does not understand or when he/she does not known in the content of a specific discipline. Thus, new content is gradually revealed or new information is provided, acquired knowledge is consolidated, and only after that, we begin to move on to learning a new topic, which significantly increases the effectiveness of the educational process. In particular, such advantages as formation of a strategic vision, creativity, a creative approach to what you do, the ability to take reasonable risks, independence and decisiveness in decision-making are considered; assistance in the formation of targeted search and information processing skills; increasing the student's level of motivation to learn the discipline due to his/her feeling of interest and excitement.

What is more, game technology is also an excellent way to form and master related competencies: organizational and communicative (ability to work in a team, establishing contact, influence on a partner, negotiations, interviews, observation, etc.), personal (self-knowledge, self-regulation), cognitive (goal setting, planning, adjustment, analysis, reflection).

Despite the significant number of positive aspects that can be expected from the introduction of gamification into the educational process, negative ones can also be noted. Since students spent more using computers, there is a possibility of increasing the negative impact on the young body and impairment of vision; a feature of the application of gaming technologies is mostly the need for access to the Internet. And these are possible risks of any technical failures, impossibility of conducting the planned class; the process of preparing tasks is quite time-consuming and requires the availability of both appropriate technical means and the level of computer literacy of both teachers and students.

There are many tools for gamification. Some of them are web tools (cloud services) and do not require the installation of special software and allow access at any time and from any place. Among the most popular gamification tools that can be integrated into the educational process are Kahoot!, Socrative, FlipQuiz, Duolingo, Ribbon Hero, ClassDojo, Goalbook.

Kahoot! is a platform that contains quizzes, discussions, surveys using gamification mechanics. Kahoot! has its own unique features of typical game and learning models, which are interactive and competitive in nature. Instead of the traditional method of reading textbooks and techniques, Kahoot! offers users to learn, play and communicate in groups, which makes the learning process more active.

Socrative is an education-oriented service for creating and conducting surveys, tests, polls, and formative tasks. Aimed at the digital generation, this educational gamification programme helps teachers adapt lessons to distance learning and better track the results. With the help of mobile devices, any lesson can become more interactive and interesting.

FlipQuiz is a new website designed to make it easier for teachers to create and display Jeopardy-style review games.

Duolingo is a mobile language-learning app that includes different courses in 40 languages. A distinctive feature of Duolingo is the use of gamification techniques that encourage users to spend more time in the application.

Ribbon Hero is an add-on available as a free download to Microsoft's suite of applications to help the user learn to use all the essential tools and features of Office 2007 or 2010. Another feature of Ribbon Hero is its ability to track the user's progress in learning to use Office features and tools, and as well as the appropriate level of complexity of the tasks. It not only teaches users in the process of game, but also continues testing outside of it. The game can adjust the learning content to ensure that they use only those features and tools that they have not encountered before.

Ribbon Hero can also be connected to Facebook - each user shares his/her results and compares his/her success with friends who also play it. Essentially, Ribbon Hero is a software, gaming tutorial that can also be about social relationships. This is one of the best examples of corporate gamification in education.

ClassDojo is a tool for managing the groups of students that helps teachers improve student behaviour during their classes. Teachers choose themselves what types of actions they consider “useful” and for which ones students receive awards.

Goalbook is an online platform that helps teachers, parents, and the very students track learning progress together. By combining the features of social networks and an individual educational programme, the program makes the process of formation simple for both students and teachers. Students, together with the teacher, formulate the objectives and the steps of the task that should be taken to achieve these objectives.

An electronic survey was conducted to determine interest in using gamification in the educational process. The second year students majoring in Social Communications and Information Activities of the Lviv Polytechnic National University and the second year students majoring in Information Management and Digital Publishing of the Pedagogical University in Krakow named after the National Education Commission (Zarzqdzanie informacjq i publikowanie cyfrowe Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie) took part in the survey. Respondents had to answer seven questions regarding their interest in using gamification in the educational process. The obtained data allow us to see the level of students' interest in gamified materials.

Twenty-two Ukrainian students aged 19 to 20 and fourteen Polish students aged 19 to 24 took part in the survey.

The sample includes representatives of the following age categories:

In Figures 1-2 we can see that the distribution of respondents according to sex of Ukrainian students is as follows: female - 86.4%, male - 13.6%.

Fig. 1. Distribution of respondents according to sex of Ukrainian students

The distribution of respondents according to sex of Polish students is as follows: female - 78.6%, male - 21.4%.

Fig. 2. Distribution of respondents according to sex of Polish students

We introduced the sex issue, because views on the interest in gamified materials in the educational process may differ for both women and men.

The next question, whether using gamification in higher education is a good idea, Ukrainian students answered yes - 90.9%, no - 9.1%, Polish students answered yes - 92.9%, no - 7.1% to the same question.

Since in games people achieve some personal goals set for themselves, which increases their motivation. We asked the following question - Do you need strategic thinking to play the game? The results were distributed as follows: Ukrainian students answered yes - 95.5%, no - 4.5%; Polish students answered yes - 92.2%, no - 7.1%.

The opinion of students regarding the influence of gamification in the educational process was interesting (Table 1.).

Table 1. Opinions of respondents regarding the influence of gamification in the educational process

As for the students' attitude towards the teacher's use of gamification elements in the process of distance learning, it turned out to be mostly positive (Figures 3-4).

Чи легше було б засвоїти / перевірити отримані знання за допомогою елементів гейміфікації

Fig. 3. The level of support by Ukrainian respondents regarding the use of gamification elements in the assimilation/testing of acquired knowledge

Fig. 4. The level of support by Polish respondents regarding the use of gamification elements in the assimilation/testing of acquired knowledge

The results of the last question, which helped to understand which means of gamification students used during learning, can be seen in Figures 5-6.

Fig. 5. The results of the gamification tools use by Ukrainian students during learning

Fig. 6. The results of the gamification tools use by Polish students during learning

Thus, the results of the survey of the Ukrainian and Polish students showed a positive assessment of the gamification use in the educational process. In addition, the results of the student survey showed that the most popular means of gamification among Ukrainian and Polish teachers, which they use during the educational process, is the Kahoot! service.

Conclusions

The conducted analysis allows us to state that gamification is becoming an attractive educational practice that offers new forms of learning and professional training. It is worth noting that the gamification technologies should be used to form certain skills in students, to present and emphasize such actions and skills that are difficult to demonstrate using traditional techniques. What is more, visualisation and simultaneous impact on various organs of senses activate cognitive activity and facilitate the assimilation of the material. The conducted survey showed that a significant number of students want to participate in classes using the principles of gamification technologies.

References

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