Blogged into the System: A Systematic Review of the Gamification in e-Learning before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mihai Burlacu, Claudiu Coman () and Maria Cristina Bularca
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Mihai Burlacu: Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brașov, Romania
Claudiu Coman: Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brașov, Romania
Maria Cristina Bularca: Faculty of Sociology and Communication, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brașov, Romania

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-35

Abstract: Gamification is becoming more relevant, especially after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine. The purpose of our paper is to analyse the changes which occurred in the effects of gamification on e-learning as a result of the COVID-19 quarantine emergence in the spring of 2020. This paper describes the scientific contributions about the game elements most frequently implemented and their effects on those that use e-learning platforms, as well as the factors that contribute to the development of effective gamification in e-learning before and during the pandemic. Drawing upon the PRISMA framework, a number of 103 articles were identified in two databases: the Web of Science and Scopus. This paper discusses the previous works associated with the corpus of knowledge built around gamification in the past decade. This research shows that before the COVID-19 pandemic, even though many papers were written on gamification in education prior to 2019, there is a trend regarding the multiple mentions of using storylines, challenges, or badges in order to create and maintain competition among users, which in turn may influence and increase the level of social interactions and the coalescence of communities.

Keywords: gamification; e-learning; gamification elements; effective gamification; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:6476-:d:1120732

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