Engaging online students through the gamification of learning materials

The present and the future

Abstract

The benefits of gamification in learning and instructional design to help engage and improve student learning online are investigated in this paper. The use of scenario-based learning and alternate reality gaming (ARG) are identified as key representations for improving user engagement, productivity and help shift away from classroom based learning activities towards fully self-paced and collaborative online activities. The paper outlines the reasoning behind, and the advantages of, using scenario-based and alternate reality gaming as an instructional tool in tertiary online education.